Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

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VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings.html
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Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html
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Good news from the House Militia, Police and Public Safety
subcommittee #1 tonight!

1. SB 334, Senator Hanger, repeals the restaurant ban, passed out of
subcommittee UNCHANGED 4 to 0! This is exactly what we hoped it would
do. We need to make sure this bill passes the House Floor UNCHANGED
and, if it does, the restaurant ban repeal will head to the Governor's
desk! See ACTION ITEM below.

2. SB 408, Senator Vogel, allows non-CHP holders to have a loaded gun
in a locked container or compartment in a vehicle or boat, passed
UNCHANGED out of subcommittee by 3 to 1! Like SB 334, above, if it
passes the House UNCHANGED, it will head to the Governor's desk for
signing.

3. SB 501, Senator Lucas, makes it so that out-of-state DUIs count
against someone getting a CHP for 3 years, same as an in-state DUI.
Because some states simply don't have DUI laws similar to Virginia,
the subcommittee sent the bill to the House Courts of Justice to see
if any language could be worked out.

4. SB 580, Senator Marsden, which makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for
someone under the age of 18 to have an airsoft gun that can fire a
projectile at over 250 feet-per-second on K-12 school property, DIED
because no one would second a motion to pass the bill!

Thanks for killing this bill goes to EM Mike Stollenwerk, as he found
out late today that Fairfax County, which Marsden represents, ALREADY
has an ordinance that makes carrying an air gun on K-12 school
property a Class 3 misdemeanor (kudos to Mike for that discovery). I
presented that evidence to the subcommittee and said that SB 580
wasn't needed.

The subcommittee agreed.

You would think that Senator Marsden would be glad to hear that
Fairfax County already had an ordinance in place (as opposed to having
to wait until July 1 for a change to Virginia law to take effect), but
he didn't seem happy when his bill got tanked.

Marsden had supported the restaurant ban repeal as a Delegate and had
led many to believe he would be a moderate on guns and would support
the restaurant ban repeal if he became a Senator. But on the Senate
Floor two weeks ago, he voted against the repeal (and all the other
pro-self-defense bills for that matter), arguing that because the
Senate had just passed a bill allowing guns in locked compartments and
containers in vehicles (SB 408), the restaurant ban repeal was no
longer needed.

Tonight, in a form of poetic justice, VCDL argued that because Fairfax
County had that air gun ordinance, it was Senator Marsden's SB 580
that wasn't needed.

In the end, the restaurant ban repeal passed the Floor of the Senate
without Marsden's support, but Marsden's SB 580 wasn't so lucky in the
House.

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ACTION ITEM

Between Lobby Day and all of you sending emails when needed, Virginia
gun owners are a force to be reckoned with! Let's keep that forward
momentum.

We need to let the House know that we want Senator Hanger's restaurant
ban repeal, SB 334, and Senator Vogel's handgun in locked compartments
and containers in vehicles, SB 408, to both pass the House UNCHANGED.

That is important, because if either are changed, then there is
another chance that the Senate's anti-gun leadership could kill the
changed bills.

A win on the restaurant ban repeal is finally within sight - we must
NOT drop the ball now!

Here is the link. Click, fill in your name and address, and send the
message to your Delegate.

http://tinyurl.com/ydylqhu




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VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization
dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to
Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.

VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org [http://www.vcdl.org/]