While the advantages of having time being on one's side has been a staple on the playlists of radio stations since 1964, it is even better to have the law on one's side.
That is the tune Hunters United for Sunday Hunting organizers and the group's supporters are singing today as the countdown clock ticks ever closer to a possible decision on its lawsuit to end Pennsylvania's blue law that prohibits across-the-board Sunday hunting. Currently, 42 states allow hunting of all legal game species, but in Pennsylvania only crows, coyotes, starlings and foxes may be hunted, and trappers may dispatch a furbearer caught in a trap.
"It is because of these inconsistencies and many others that those of us who founded HUSH came to realize that the ban on Sunday is unconstitutional on several fronts and may actually be guaranteed by the Second Amendment," HUSH founding president Kathy Davis said. "Also, by legalizing fox hunting in 1990 it showed discrimination in that a sport enjoyed by the wealthy received special consideration, but the common man who wants to take his child rabbit hunting is unable to do so on a Sunday.
"That a raccoon in a trap is allowed to be shot, but raccoons may not be hunted is just one of the many contradictions in our hunting laws that the legislators have refused to address over the years. Our laws are so confusing that some people believe they can hunt groundhogs on Sunday, but that's illegal - even if one is hunting their own land.
"Then there is the situation with hunting preserves where it's legal to hunt deer, but it's illegal to hunt pheasants on a commercial hunting preserve. It is legal, however, to hunt pheasants on a non-commercial preserve, and it goes on and on."
Because of these contradictions and ambiguities, HUSH filed suit in court July 16 to give the Pennsylvania Game Commission board of game commissioners the right to create hunting seasons. Action must be taken by a panel of judges within 60 days of that filing date.
This bypassed legislators, who, for political reasons and to keep the support of certain special-interest groups, have stonewalled expanding Sunday hunting for the last 15 years. They have voted to legalize gambling and other activities without concern that Sunday is the traditional day of religious services.
"It was unfortunate that the Pennsylvania Game Commission had to be named in the suit as a matter of formality," Davis said. "All of us are strong supporters of the direction the board is going on most issues dealing with allowing Sunday hunting, and many of the members welcome our suit as a means to expand Sunday hunting in some form.
"Unlike others who have sued the Game Commission over issues such as deer management, the cost to the agency is minimal with our suit because it will be defended by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office. Our suit had to name the agency because it is illegal to sue the state legislators."
Davis said the fact that concealed-carry laws for handguns are written to allow their use for protection and hunting brings hunting under the protected umbrella of the Second Amendment. Also, the fact that certain species may be hunted and different rules cover the type of hunting that may be done for other species is seen as one of the strong points in the HUSH suit, as was the case of a Lehigh Valley-based grocery store against O'Hare Township.
"In 1978, the owners of Kroger Grocery Store decided they were going to be open for business on Sundays," Davis said. "As a result, they were cited by O'Hare Township and the case went to court.
"There the court rules that the blue laws regarding Sunday sales were so riddled with exceptions that there was no way to separate what could and could not be sold. For instance, drugs and medicine could be sold, but if someone needed cotton swabs, they were illegal to sell.
"As a person who enjoys taking out a lot of new hunters, who are both adults and youngsters, I need to have Sunday. We've heard all the arguments against Sunday hunting, but in almost every instance they have been based on emotion and personal opinions and each have been disproved with facts."
Information on HUSH is available on its Facebook page and website at www.huntsunday.com.