Hartford Courant reporter Amanda Falcone tells us:
There’s no hunting on Sundays in Connecticut — even if a deer is the target.
State law has prohibited hunting on Sundays since at least 1877, when breaking the law meant a fine of between $7 and $25.
In recent years, lawmakers have proposed several bills that would allow hunting on Sundays, but none have been signed into law.
Many of those bills would have allowed hunting on Sundays only on private property with the owner’s permission. Some, including one that was passed by the environment committee last year, got even more specific, saying that only bow and arrow hunting would be allowed on private parcels.
There is one Sunday hunting bill being considered by lawmakers this legislative session. It was proposed by Sen. Edith Prague, D-Columbia, on behalf of a constituent, and it mirrors last year’s bill.
Historically, the state Department of Environmental Protection has supported bills that would allow limited Sunday hunting. Another day of hunting would help the state deal with its deer problem, said Mark Clavette, a wildlife biologist and the conservation education and firearms safety administrator for DEP.
Clavette noted that in most of the bills considered by lawmakers, the DEP commissioner would get to decide where to allow Sunday hunting. It would likely be limited to areas that have the greatest number of deer, such as the shoreline and Fairfield and New Haven counties, he said, adding that allowing Sunday hunting is the last tool the state has to manage the deer population.
Those who oppose Sunday hunting bills either philosophically object to hunting, or worry that hunting is dangerous, Clavette said. Some just want to enjoy the outdoors without hunters, he said.
There is no need to worry about safety, because Connecticut has an excellent safety record, Clavette added, explaining that bow and arrow hunting is safer than hunting with guns because targets are within short range and are visible. Hunters are often shooting from a higher elevation, meaning that the arrow is shot toward the ground, he said.
Connecticut is not the only state that does not allow hunting on Sundays. According to the National Rifle Association six other states ban Sunday hunting completely, including Massachusetts.
The association supports hunting on Sundays, saying that it would give the economy a boost and provide more opportunities for children to be introduced to the sport.
The sale of alcohol on Sundays has been prohibited since at least 1882 in Connecticut. At that time, law breakers were fined between $50 and $100 and could go to prison for more than six months.
Lawmakers included a ban on Sunday liquor sales as part of the original Liquor Control Act passed in 1933 at the end of prohibition, reports the state Office of Legislative Research. The office says it could not find any rationale for including the ban because, at the time, legislative proceedings were not transcribed.
While many believe the laws that ban hunting and alcohol sales on Sundays are blue laws from the 1600s, state historian Walter Woodward says that may not be the case.
Blue law was the name given to laws that were considered harsh and unreasonable in the 1600s, and the word “blue” refers to the severity of the punishments, he said, adding that laws considered today as blue laws may not have dated back that far.
“Blue law becomes a term for a law that is excessively severe and harsh,” Woodward said, adding that the term could refer to a law enacted at any time.
Woodward also points out that the 1800s was a time when immigrants from Europe flocked to Connecticut. He said he would not be surprised if lawmakers decided that accepted customs needed to be codified. It was a way to teach immigrants Connecticut’s expectations, Woodward said.
In 1979, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that the state’s law that required certain stores to close on Sundays was unconstitutional. It noted that the blue laws, codified in 1650, and had been regularly modified since 1902, and it concluded that the laws were arbitrary and discriminatory because two-thirds of the state’s work force were allowed to work on Sundays anyway.
The courts said the law’s intent to provide a common day of rest was a legitimate exercise of the legislature’s power to promote the public safety, health and general welfare, but it said the laws were so arbitrary that the state did not achieve its purpose.
http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-sunday-sales-0308.artmar08,0,176115.story