PAGC Regs

[markheck1]

So...Who makes the regs for the PAGC, and who do we need to talk to to get them changed?

specifically...Semi-Auto's for Varmint Hunting.....

and Sunday Hunting

[knight0334]

So...Who makes the regs for the PAGC, and who do we need to talk to to get them changed?

specifically...Semi-Auto's for Varmint Hunting.....

and Sunday Hunting

You would need an Act of Congress to change the semi-auto thing seeing how it is coded by law, not just regulation, to disallow semi's.

[markheck1]

crap, I was afraid of that, I suppose the only way I would see that is to move

[P89]

West Virgina isn't that far away...you can take whatever you want to hunt with.

[markheck1]

I can't see driving 2 hours or so to hunt G-hogs, just so I can take the custom AR I was gonna build....maybe I'll just have to buy another bolt gun

Damn anti weenies.....always stepping on my rights with their stupid clown shoes

[WhiteFeather]

here is your answer to sunday hunting, I been one of the one pushing for hunting on game commission property only on sunday's to try out the program for a few years, but lots of hunter are against sunday hunting - go figure

http://www.mcall.com/sports/outdoors...,2703137.story

Power push for Sunday hunting
Advocates shooting for '08, but foes say lifting ban will be uphill battle

By Christian Berg

Of The Morning Call

December 11, 2007

Depending who you ask, Pennsylvania's long-standing prohibition against hunting on Sundays is a blessing or a curse.

Supporters of the ban -- including a good number of sportsmen -- say it allows hunters to spend Sundays at church and family functions, gives wildlife a break and offers hikers, horseback riders, bird watchers and others one day a week to enjoy the woods without worrying about gunshots.

''During hunting season, hunters have six days a week to be out in the woods and others have one. One day a week is fair, and I think, a nice balance,'' said Andrew Page, director of hunting campaigns at the Humane Society of the United States, the nation's largest anti-hunting organization.

Opponents of the ban, however, decry the prohibition as unfair and an outdated remnant of the old ''blue laws'' that outlawed everything from shopping to watching movies on Sundays.

''You can do almost anything on Sunday you can do on any other day of the week,'' said Chris Dolnak, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry group. ''If somebody doesn't want to [hunt on Sunday], that's their right. But to deny someone else the only opportunity they might have to take their kid out or spend a few hours in a treestand'' is wrong.

Boosting their ranks

The NSSF has a strong ally in state Rep. Edward G. Staback, chairman of the House Game and Fisheries Committee and a staunch Sunday hunting proponent.

Staback, D-Lackawanna, is the prime sponsor of House Bill 779, which would repeal the Sunday hunting ban and empower wildlife officials at the Pennsylvania Game Commission to decide when, or if, Sunday hunting should be allowed.

Sunday hunting has been illegal in Pennsylvania since before the Game Commission was created in 1895. In 1749, the state banned deer hunting on Sundays, and all Sunday hunting was outlawed in 1873. Since that time, the Legislature has authorized Sunday hunting for crows, foxes and coyotes only.

Thirty-eight states currently allow unrestricted Sunday hunting, including neighboring Ohio and New York. Sunday hunting is allowed in West Virginia on a county-by-county basis, while Sunday hunting continues to be prohibited in neighboring New Jersey and Maryland

Staback, himself an avid hunter, believes an expansion of Sunday hunting to include more popular game species such as deer, turkeys, squirrels and pheasants would help reverse a steady downward trend in hunting license sales. Between 2001 and 2006, the number of licensed hunters in Pennsylvania declined 9.7 percent, from 1.05 million to 945,892, according to commission figures.

''We have great numbers of people who would like to get back into hunting but have to work five and a half days a week and have given it up, simply because they don't have the time,'' Staback said. ''We have young people who would like to get involved but are not, simply because their father doesn't have the time to take them.

''If we had that extra day, that would paint a totally different picture, and a good number of these people would jump at the chance to go hunting.''

The Game Commission, for its part, has chosen not to take a public stand on the Sunday hunting issue. Agency spokesman Jerry Feaser said officials at the wildlife management agency aren't opposed to lifting the Sunday hunting ban but consider it a social -- not biological -- issue best decided by citizens and the legislature.

''If enacted,'' Feaser said, ''the Game Commission would implement Sunday hunting when and where appropriate, and would make any necessary changes to seasons and bag limits that would be required.''

An economic boon

In addition to potentially drawing more people to the sport, Staback noted opening up Sunday hunting would have a tremendous impact on Pennsylvania's economy.

A 2005 study commissioned by the state Legislature indicated that allowing unrestricted Sunday hunting during all seasons would pump almost $630 million a year into Pennsylvania's economy, resulting in more than 5,000 new jobs and $18 million in additional state tax revenue.

Allowing Sunday hunting only during the two Sundays of the statewide firearms deer season, the report said, would generate $185 million in new spending, resulting in 1,627 new jobs and $5.4 million in additional tax revenue.

Hunters split on the issue

Despite the potential benefits of Sunday hunting, Pennsylvania hunters remain sharply divided on the issue, said Melody Zullinger, executive director of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, which represents 100,000 members.

Delegates at the federation's spring convention voted 55-45 against Staback's bill, and Zullinger said member clubs from strongly religious areas such as Lancaster and Lebanon counties have threatened to quit if the organization endorses an expansion of Sunday hunting.

A poll conducted in conjunction with the Legislature's 2005 economic impact study showed that just 50 percent of resident hunters supported an expansion of Sunday hunting, with 45 percent opposed and 5 percent unsure of their position. Among the 448 landowners who responded to the survey, 82 percent opposed expanded Sunday hunting.

Rob Sexton, vice president for government affairs at the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, said a major, grass-roots effort is needed to educate Pennsylvania sportsmen about the benefits of Sunday hunting and build a solid majority of support for the idea.

''Sunday hunting is, to me, the ultimate prize in Pennsylvania,'' Sexton said. ''But we've got to go through some evaluation and see if we've built the proper foundation. When it comes down to these knock-down, drag-out bills, if you haven't done your spade work, you are going to get beat.''

Staback, who introduced his Sunday hunting bill in March, said he hopes it will be approved by his committee sometime next spring. However, he said he will not press House leaders for a full vote on the measure unless there is enough support to pass it.

''This is one of those issues you very seldom get a second shot at,'' Staback said. ''If it's going to work, it's got to work the first time. If it goes down, I think it will be several years before it's discussed again.''

Ultimately, Dolnak said, the Sunday hunting bill will go only as far as hunters are willing to take it.

''In the final analysis, for Sunday hunting to become reality, the sportsmen of Pennsylvania have to get behind it and lead the charge,'' he said.

Farmers in the fight

In addition to rallying support from hunters, Staback must figure out a way to placate the Pennsylania Farm Bureau, which has long been Sunday hunting's most ardent political opponent.

''Our members are telling us, and have told us pretty resoundingly over the past several years, that they are opposed to any expansion in Sunday hunting,'' Farm Bureau spokesman Mark O'Neill said.

''They want a day during the season they can have their property to themselves. It is their property, and they may want to use it for peace and quiet or recreational purposes or to do repairs and not have to worry about gunshots. They just feel very strongly about that, and for some, it's also a religious issue.''

Staback said the Farm Bureau, which represents 42,500 members, exerts considerable political influence, particularly among lawmakers from rural districts across the state. He hopes to sit down with leaders of the organization to hear their concerns and see if there is any common ground.

''We're willing to work with the farm community in any way we have to to get their support,'' Staback said.

So far, however, farmers have not indicated a willingness to budge. Potential compromises -- such as limiting Sunday hunting to public land or offering increased trespassing enforcement by Game Commission officers -- have not altered the group's position, and O'Neill warned that lifting the Sunday hunting ban without the Farm Bureau's support could be counter-productive.

That's because although the Game Commission owns and maintains 1.4 million acres of state game lands for public hunting, there are another 4.4 million acres of private, mostly agricultural land enrolled in the agency's various public access programs.

''The farmers not only are opposed to [Sunday hunting], but they are the people who own a good majority of the land where hunting occurs,'' O'Neill said. ''We don't like to put out threats or anything -- that's not the type of organization we are -- but a lot of farmers have told us if Sunday hunting would be allowed, they would post their land and have no hunting allowed any day of the week.''

[NWPA shooter]

So...Who makes the regs for the PAGC, and who do we need to talk to to get them changed?

specifically...Semi-Auto's for Varmint Hunting.....

and Sunday Hunting

Same question I kept having. I think they should be legal for yotes also, Wouldn't mind building an AR myself ,but can't really see a $600 + rifle to shoot paper. I have a SKS for that. Maybe I'll just build up my 10/22 I would also like the Sunday hunting option .

[roland]

Actually, you're allowed to hunt on Sundays. Only crows though. It wouldn't be to hard for the commission to also include other game. As it is a commission ruleing and not a legislative one. I'm for sunday hunting. And for all the reasons against it, There are several for it. Except for the one about giving the animals a break. Give me a break! Animals are hunted 24/7 by preditors. And for someone that is worried about an animals well being, as to give them a break, to me is just ridiculous.

[R.W.J]

The Legislature is the one to decide about Sunday Hunting. It requires a law change.

[IV_Warrior]

I'd like to see semi's allowed, but fall into the camp that feels Sundays need to stay as is, to give non-hunters a day to be in the woods without having to constantly worry about where the hunters are.