CHARLESTON, W.Va. — More than a decade after the legislature addressed the issue of hunting on Sunday in West Virginia, the matter is back at the forefront under the capitol dome in Charleston.
House Bill 4170 would drop the prohibition against hunting on Sunday in all 55 counties of West Virginia on private property. During the 2001 session, state lawmakers passed a bill which opened up hunting on Sunday on private property, but left a local option which allowed county residents to vote to restore the prohibition. The following election, it happened in 41 counties of the state.
The matter seemed settled for good until last year, when voters in seven counties exercised the option again and put the measure back on the ballot in their counties. Voters restored the allowance for hunting on private property on Sunday in those counties. The measure will be on the ballot in the May primary in Berkeley County which could become the eighth county to vote on the measure a second time since the legislation took effect.
“We believe we should eliminate the ban entirely on Sunday hunting across all 55 counties in West Virginia. Forty-two other states allow Sunday hunting,” said Jason Webb, Lobbyist for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. “We’re being bypassed by people traveling through. We see this as a real economic driver.”
But the West Virginia Farm Bureau, which has always been the chief opponent of removing the ban, stands by by its long held position.
“We’ve always had a long standing position that it’s a day of rest and a time for families to gather and enjoy each other,” said Wayne O’Dell with the Farm Bureau. “We believe the other six days are adequate to meet the sportsman’s needs.”
Since the 2001 legislation, which created the local option vote, neighboring Virginia has lifted its long held restriction on Sunday hunting and other neighboring states also have no such ban. Webb argued it is costing West Virginia potential tourist dollars in the form of hotel rooms, gasoline and other purchases.
“They’re working people, they only have so many days to take off,” he said. “If you hunt in West Virginia you have to hunt Friday and Saturday. If you hunt in Virginia, Kentucky, or Ohio, you can go spend the weekend.”
O’Dell didn’t disagree with the potential revenue impact on the state, but downplayed the significance.
“There would be a potential increase in economic activity, but we believe with the six day activity already set up in that time frame, we believe there would be little difference,” he said.
The proposed legislation is different from the existing law not only doing away with the local referendum, but would also open Sunday hunting on all land where hunting is legal, private and public. The present law confines the activity to private land only. The law would allow approximately 25 extra days of hunting during the year, although it would add only one Sunday to the popular firearms season for bucks, since Sunday hunting is disallowed on the eve of any Big Game season which opens on a Monday.
The ban is the last of the remaining blue laws and one some West Virginia lawmakers have been reluctant to let go.
“We don’t ban a lot of other things,” said Webb. “You can motorcycle ride, you can go fishing, you can shoot guns, you can go to the track, but you can’t hunt on Sunday. That just seems odd to many people.”
“That’s true, but in general we support no Sunday hunting,” said O’Dell, who added they found the local option vote acceptable as a land use rights issue. “Making it a county-wide decision localizes it even more and is a help to everyone involved.”
The bill appears to have growing support in the legislature and won approval in the House Natural Resources Committee. However, it remains stalled in the House Judiciary Committee.