Why It Matters: In 1923, Connecticut enacted a prohibition on the ability to hunt on a Sunday. On March 24th, over a hundred years later, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) and fellow conservation partners testified in front of Connecticut’s Joint Committee on Environment to repeal all remaining statutory prohibitions on hunting on a Sunday (House Bill 7231). Which day of the week it is should not curtail hunters’ ability to participate in wildlife management and the harvesting of game.
Highlights:
- 40 states in America have no prohibitions on Sunday hunting.
- Only two states have complete prohibitions with no exceptions, such as private land use or archery only, Massachusetts and Maine.
- In 2015, Connecticut passed HB 6034 to allow Sunday hunting on private land, in certain Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), for archery deer season only, and from at least 40 yards from blazed trails.
- CSF provided testimony to repeal the prohibition on Sunday Hunting to the Connecticut Joint Committee on Environment on March 24th.
“Blue laws” were originally created to encourage the attendance of church, making it illegal to participate or practice in everyday activities, such as shopping at a store, drinking alcoholic beverages, or tilling one’s own fields. The remaining restrictions on hunting with a firearm are a major limiting factor hindering participation in hunting, and restrictions on Sunday hunting create a temporal-access barrier to youth and others that work or attend school throughout the week and are often involved in extra-curricular activities on Saturdays.
The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled, in 1979, that the “state’s Sunday closing laws” (Blue Laws) were unconstitutional and deemed them to be “arbitrary and discriminatory.” However, hunting was not included in the activities listed to be exempt. Today, hunting is the only activity that is actively prohibited due to the day of the week in Connecticut. According to testimony on March 24th, car racing is the only other prohibition for an activity on a Sunday in the Constitution State but is not being enforced.
Cultural norms have shifted throughout the years and families now face the reality of working weekends or less traditional hours and being responsible for attendance of extracurricular school activities on weekends. Limiting a hunter’s time afield due to familial responsibility should not hinder wildlife management efforts due to a prohibition of the regulated harvest of wildlife on a Sunday.
In 2015, then Governor Dan Malloy, a member of the Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus (GSC), signed into law the ability for bow hunting deer to occur on private property and some WMAs with written consent from the property owner and to take place at least 40 yards of a blazed hiking trail on Sundays. Increasing hunting opportunities on Sundays has provided private property owners and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) increased resources to manage wildlife resources in the state. However, DEEP deserves the flexibility to regulate what other wildlife needs to be effectively managed through the storied use of hunting practices and in what manner and season, not limiting the use of Sundays as a management tool to only one species and for only one particular season.
CSF continues to work with members of the Connecticut Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus when this “perennial” legislation comes to the legislature. This year, CSF joined other conservation non-profits and fellow hunters to testify both verbally and written to the Connecticut Joint Committee on Environment with nearly 80 percent support for Sunday hunting, as measured by submitted testimony. CSF is continuing to work with the legislature to repeal these archaic prohibitions to allow appropriate access to sportsmen and women to hunt during whichever part of the week best fits their busy schedules.
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