North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Recommends To End The Ban On Sunday Hunting
December 6, 2006
*Sroll for Important Update*
What is probably raising an eyebrow or twenty, is the announcement of the N.C Wildlife Resources Commissions recommendation to support legislation that would lift the ban on Sunday hunting. WWAY NewsChannel says the Commission will send a report to the legislature along with a recommendation.
The commission voted to send a report to the legislature on Sunday hunting along with their vote after a consultant said the issue is one of the most polarizing he has ever seen.
According to one opponent of Sunday hunting, Mark Duda says his survey showed an overwhelming minority supported Sunday hunting.
Mark Duda (DOO’-duh) says a survey he conducted shows 65 percent of the general population opposes Sunday hunting and 25 percent support it. Duda also says any increase in license sales would be offset by the money needed to pay additional game wardens.
But one of the biggest issues involving Sunday hunting comes as no surprise to many and that’s the issue of it being Sunday – the Lord’s day, a day of rest, a family day, etc.
The Reverend Mark Creech is the executive director of the Christian Action League of North Carolina. He says his membership is very opposed to Sunday hunting under any condition.
Creech says the primary reason is the belief of members in thousands of evangelical churches that Sunday is a day of rest.
Most of those who favor an opportunity to hunt say that they respect anyone’s choice to go to church and spend time with their families but they feel strongly that people should have a choice and for those who choose not to attend church would like to go hunting instead – at least during the hunting season.
We’ll have to continue to watch this issue and see how the legislature reacts to the recommendation.
Tom Remington
*Update*
When the Wildlife Commission sent its report to the legislature, it made no recommendation. When the legislature took a look at the results of the polls taken, they opted to leave well enough alone and keep the ban in place.
Tom Remington
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I wrote about this on my blog this evening and I want to clarify some of the things that are on the Black Bear Blog. The Wildlife Resource Commission surprised me when they came out initially and recommended the lifting of the ban. From the get go it’s been clear that the lifting of the ban would have to come from the legislators and not the Commission. They have always been careful not to make a comment either way so this morning actions was surprising. Then after the recess they came back and reversed themselves which sends even more of a mixed message.
The legislators are not even in session right now so they have not made any decision on the report. The News Report from WRAL makes it sound like this matter is settled which it is not. The Governor was the catalyst behind the study so he certainly, or anyone of the legislators, can push this forward.
I have always had a question about Sunday & religon . . . If Sunday is the FIRST day of the week, “and on the seventh day he rested”, wouldn’t Saturday be the so called “DAY OF REST” noted in most religons?
And if the United States is truely a place of “freedom of religon” is it fair for church go-ers to force thier views onto the rest of society based on Sunday being THIER holy day?
Very bad argument if you ask me!
A better argument for/against Sunday hunting would be the rights of ‘others’ to be in the woods NOT hunting or private property owners closing thier land to weekend hunting because of the landowners religous beliefs!
Hmmmm. . .something to think about.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…. the best thing to do would be to have everyone choose which day (either Saturday or Sunday) that they did not want to be able to hunt and mark their license appropriately.
It lowers the pressure on the animals for two days instead of eliminating it for one and gives people an opportunity to hunt on the weekend. For the multitude of people for whom Saturday is their holy day, in places where there is no Sunday hunting they can’t go hunting unless they take time off work.
No, it’s not as easy to enforce as not letting anyone go hunting on Sunday, but it’s a good compromise.
This is 2006. Today, it is really all about choice.
[...] This is the Bible Belt and the religious aspect is getting over played by the media and even getting picked up by outdoor blogs including the Black Bear Blog. Getting some Christian organizations to give news organization a sound bite was easy but if you think that is the only strong objection to this proposal you are wrong. This is a follow up to my initial post yesterday. [...]