Gossip Friday: What to Do About the Doves

From December 1958:

What will the Democrats do about the doves? This question threatens to make a long winter long for California sportsmen and conservationists as they await the start of the Democrat-controlled state legislature in January.

The cause of their concern: A pending bill which would spare doves from hunters and place them on the list of protected songbirds in California….

An avid sportsman, film star Clark Gable fired off a firm letter aiming to pump the bill full of buckshot. Gable said he would “like to go on record as definitely opposing this or any other bill which would prohibit dove shooting in California.”