Sunday hunting sees its shadow in House subcommittee

 Just like Punxsutawney Phil this morning, Sunday hunting saw its shadow last night --all four House bills regarding Sunday hunting were tabled in subcommittee, including:

♦  HB921(Lingamfelter) that would allow hunting on Sunday on both public and private land.

♦ HB369 (Webert) that would allow Sunday hunting on private land with permission of the landowner.

♦ HB1002 (Ramadan) that would allow hunting on Sunday on private land in the counties of Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun and Prince William.

♦ HB989 (Morefield) which allows for hunting on Sunday between 2 p.m. and midnight.

Wilmer Stoneman: Sunday hunting poised to be a hot topic in the General Assembly

Hello, everyone! My name is Wilmer Stoneman, and one of the issues I cover for Farm Bureau is game laws.

With the first day of the 2012 General Assembly behind us, there are already rumblings of several bills to be introduced regarding Sunday hunting. It's too early to tell any specific details, but the Farm Bureau Governmental Relations team is monitoring the situation and will send any updates through the Capitol Connections Action Center. So please keep an eye on your e-mail!

Historically Farm Bureau, through our grassroots policy process, holds the position: “We oppose hunting on Sunday.” Representatives of a vast majority of our farmer members have annually discussed and voted for such a position since 1993. In the discussions, our members cite faith-based beliefs, as well as the ability of horse owners and riders and landowners to use the outdoors one day a week without worry from hunters.

Below are some questions that frequently get asked regarding Sunday hunting. It's important to remember these points as we move forward in the General Assembly.

2012 Virginia General Assembly convenes Jan. 11

This busiest time of year for the Governmental Relations team is upon us. The 2012 Virginia General Assembly will convene next Wednesday in Richmond, and we've been busy preparing to fight for the legislative priority issues that you, our producer members, deemed the most important.

A big thank you goes out to all of you who attended our Senatorial District meetings across the state, as well as our Field Services Directors who helped set up the meetings. We had a great turn out this year and were very successful educating our legislators about our issues.

We will be updating you on the statuses of these issues and other issues that affect agriculture as they arise in a few different ways. We will be updating the blog every Tuesday and Thursday with important articles, so please make sure you bookmark this page under your Favorites folder or subscribe by e-mail on the left of this page.