It's two days prior to voting day on A1669, the bill that would allow bow and arrow hunting on Sundays in New Jersey. The hunters already have six full days to shoot animals, and now they want the last remaining day of the week---Sunday, the day of worship. This bill is about taking all and leave nothing to decency and compassion. In Bergen county, you can't even buy lumber because it's Sunday. We still hold in awe the day we worship the Lord, the day we spend with our family, the day of rest. And we've got a bunch of bowhunters who want to kill more sentient beings on that day. Have they no decency anymore?
I have sent emails to state Assemblymen Nelson T. Albano, John F. Amodeo, and Herb Conaway, imploring them to vote against the bill. Today, my follow-up phone calls reached two out of three. Assemblyman Albano's number was eternally busy. I urge you to send in your emails and make those phone calls. When you do connect, you don't reach the public official himself but one of his staff. Everything is civil and non-combative unless you become so. You make your case, and he/she takes it from there. It's a pity that you can't make your point with the man himself. The support staff is there for a reason. The officials are busy and they have to be shielded from unruly and irrelevant callers. But, this very same setup puts a buffer between elected public officials and the people they are serving. Let's hope that these support staff do a good job at conveying our protestations. Otherwise, we need to be at a street fair during election time to have the ear of our public officials.
Assemblyman Conaway's representative took the time to discuss the matter with me. He even looked up my email, and confirmed that it was received. So, why was I on the phone? Obviously, I wanted to cover all the bases. I wanted to be heard and not just read. In our discussion, I learned that some hunters have a scheduling problem. They work Mondays through Fridays, and have only Saturday to hunt the animals. They want Sunday to have another day to kill.
Can you believe this? We're not talking about another day to shop for clothing. What's the urgency to shoot ( bow & arrow ) an animal?
I reasoned that hunters, like golfers and other avid sportspeople, take the time off from work to pursue their passion. In fact, hunters even go on long tours replete with accommodation and transportation. Keeping Sunday from being a kill day does not constitute a hardship on them. Not at all. If this is their argument, than that's total bull.
Assemblyman Nelson T. Albano,
Vice-Chair 609-465-0700
AsmAlbano@njleg.org
Assemblyman John F. Amodeo
609-677-8266
AsmAmodeo@njleg.org
Assemblyman Herb Conaway
856-461-3997
AsmConaway@njleg.org
I have sent emails to state Assemblymen Nelson T. Albano, John F. Amodeo, and Herb Conaway, imploring them to vote against the bill. Today, my follow-up phone calls reached two out of three. Assemblyman Albano's number was eternally busy. I urge you to send in your emails and make those phone calls. When you do connect, you don't reach the public official himself but one of his staff. Everything is civil and non-combative unless you become so. You make your case, and he/she takes it from there. It's a pity that you can't make your point with the man himself. The support staff is there for a reason. The officials are busy and they have to be shielded from unruly and irrelevant callers. But, this very same setup puts a buffer between elected public officials and the people they are serving. Let's hope that these support staff do a good job at conveying our protestations. Otherwise, we need to be at a street fair during election time to have the ear of our public officials.
Assemblyman Conaway's representative took the time to discuss the matter with me. He even looked up my email, and confirmed that it was received. So, why was I on the phone? Obviously, I wanted to cover all the bases. I wanted to be heard and not just read. In our discussion, I learned that some hunters have a scheduling problem. They work Mondays through Fridays, and have only Saturday to hunt the animals. They want Sunday to have another day to kill.
Can you believe this? We're not talking about another day to shop for clothing. What's the urgency to shoot ( bow & arrow ) an animal?
I reasoned that hunters, like golfers and other avid sportspeople, take the time off from work to pursue their passion. In fact, hunters even go on long tours replete with accommodation and transportation. Keeping Sunday from being a kill day does not constitute a hardship on them. Not at all. If this is their argument, than that's total bull.
Assemblyman Nelson T. Albano,
Vice-Chair 609-465-0700
AsmAlbano@njleg.org
Assemblyman John F. Amodeo
609-677-8266
AsmAmodeo@njleg.org
Assemblyman Herb Conaway
856-461-3997
AsmConaway@njleg.org
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Ecclesiastes 3:18-20