Pennsylvania has so many quaint old "blue laws" on the books that sometimes it seems like we're living in the 1950s. Or perhaps even the 1850s.

In our state, it is impossible to buy a car from a dealer on Sunday, and until recently you couldn't get a bottle of booze on the Lord's day. As recently as the 1960s, you could sell a bicycle on a Sunday, but not a tricycle.

You still can't hunt on Sundays, either, thanks to a law dating back to 1873. Overturning the Sunday hunting ban is a persistent topic among hunters, as well as in Harrisburg. But in fact this old law remains in the interest of all Pennsylvanians, and we all should be thankful for it -- hunters and nonhunters alike.

In recent years, some hunters' groups have pushed hard to lift the ban on Sunday hunting. A bill pending in the state Legislature would do just that.

With strong backing from the all-powerful National Rifle Association, its proponents argue that the law treats hunters as "second-class citizens," unfairly discriminating against those who have to work during the week. Some go further and blame the Sunday ban for the long-term decline of hunting. In the past three decades, the number of Pennsylvania hunters has dropped by nearly a third. For every five hunters who stop hunting or die, only three take their place.

Sunday hunting bans used to be common across the country, but now -- thanks to an aggressive NRA-led nationwide campaign -- our state is in the minority. Only about a half-dozen other states still outlaw Sunday hunting, all in the Northeast.

New York lifted its ban a few years ago, under pressure from the NRA. Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland now allow Sunday hunting as well. Some hunters argue, often vehemently, that Pennsylvania needs to get with the times and change its laws, too.

Bad idea.

While the Pennsylvania Game Commission avoids taking a public stand on the issue, spokesman Jerry Feaser points out that adding a high-participation day like Sunday would require the commission to shorten seasons and reduce bag limits, the number of animals each licensed hunter is allowed to take. "It's not the panacea that some people think it would be," he says.

Worse, it could endanger both hunters and nonhunters.

The game commission owns about 1.4 million acres of state game lands. Private landowners allow public hunting on another 3 million acres. If even half of the private landowners withdrew their land from public access because they didn't want seven-day-a-week gunfire on their properties, the remaining woods would get a lot more crowded. And dangerous.

Meanwhile, those of us who like to hike, walk our dogs or ride horses or bicycles in or near hunting lands, would feel effectively trapped in our houses from October through December -- the most beautiful time of year in our state.

I live near state game lands in Lebanon County, and during the fall Sunday is the only day when my neighbors and I can use the woods without fear of disrupting hunters (or, worse, getting in the line of fire). While nonhunters rarely are involved in hunting accidents, it happens. And it's unnerving to hear gunfire echoing off the hillsides.

Believe me, we all are looking forward to this coming Sunday, when the deer rifles are stilled and we won't have to wear orange vests to drive to the grocery store. (This is not an exaggeration; I have neighbors who do this.)

Perhaps surprisingly, many hunters agree.

"Our surveys show limited to no support among general license-holders for hunting on Sunday," says Mr. Feaser of the game commission.

That means the persistent, never-ending push for Sunday hunting represents the views of a noisy minority. And they should not get their way.

Hunting is a great Pennsylvania tradition, of course. And just about everybody loves venison, right?

But it's time to recognize that most people use the woods for reasons other than hunting -- and that Sunday should be a day for other things. Like football.

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