Using live pigeons as targets is a cruel and barbaric sport. (It also was an Olympic sport, over a century ago, but no longer.) Once common, Pennsylvania is the only state where the sport remains legal. Consequently, Pennsylvania hosts all three U.S. gun clubs where live pigeon shoots are still conducted. Needless to say, this activity is controversial, and has sparked long-running protests.
Not only have Republicans in Pennsylvania’s legislature blocked bills to end these pigeon shoots, but Republican Gov. Tom Corbett appointed a pigeon shooter to a judgeship in Berks County, where one of the pigeon shooting gun clubs is located, whose courts are responsible for trying cases involving pigeon shooters committing gun assaults and other crimes against protesters. Read that story here. The judge is the guy with the shotgun in front of the Confederate flag, as seen in the video below.
Corbett was defeated in the 2014 election, and Pennsylvania now has a Democratic governor. Opponents of the live pigeon shoots will try once again to pass a bill in this year’s legislative session; read that story here.