For years, Sundays have offered a small measure of peace for New Jersey's wildlife, private landowners, and outdoor enthusiasts. Since 2009, hunters have been allowed to hunt deer with bows on Sundays in certain areas, but firearms have stayed off-limits that one day of the week.

A bill moving through the New Jersey Legislature, A164/S1699, would end that. If passed, hunters could use firearms to kill deer on Sundays across more than 350,000 acres of Wildlife Management Areas, as well as private property, federal military land, and the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Galloway Township.

This is not a hypothetical risk. Even under the current bow-only rules, New Jersey wildlife officials documented hunters without valid licenses or permits, hunters trespassing onto private land, deer that went untagged and unregistered, and several cases of guns fired dangerously close to homes, all in a single hunting season. Adding firearms on Sundays would raise the stakes of every one of those problems.

Private property owners already dealing with trespassers do not need another day of risk on their land. Hikers, birdwatchers, and families who rely on weekends to get outside on public land deserve at least one day without gunfire nearby. Deer, already widely hunted the rest of the week, would lose their only day of relief.

New Jersey state senators and assembly members can stop this bill before it advances further. Sign this petition to urge them to oppose A164/S1699 and keep firearms out of New Jersey's Sunday deer hunts.