That was not the first sentence I expected to read when I opened up an article about a gun club lawsuit in federal court. Regardless, it was the opening sentence, and it was an accurate description of one of the issues raised in a lawsuit filed by members of the Philadelphia Gun Club against animal rights activists who are accused of “stalking, harassment, trespass, intimidation, defamation, libel and privacy invasion.”
The club’s attorney says that the activists have researched personal lives of club members to leave fake reviews on Yelp and other sites when those people own small businesses. They also reportedly spy on these people even after they leave the club grounds. The guys who shoot at the club are not public figures, so there’s a pretty good case there. Not to mention, leaving a fake review online is an issue that’s gaining traction in courts around the country.
The article says Pennsylvania is the only state that allows pigeons to be shot. That is 100% wrong. In reality, I don’t know a single state that actually prohibits shooting pigeons (which doesn’t mean that some place like NJ may have outlawed it) but the vast majority of states haven’t. In Virginia and elsewhere they are classified as a nuisance species and may be taken at any time and in any manner by any weapon (other than on Sunday – until July 1, of course) and the shooting of pigeons is specificially authorized with regard to training dogs.