Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

Over 60 VCDL members were at the Falls Church City Council meeting
Monday night. I counted 10 antis. The room was so packed with VCDL
members that one of the antis sheepishly asked if she and her child
could sit by one of our members. He, of course, welcomed them to do
so.

Most of our members were from the area, but we had people as far away
as Richmond come to the meeting.

The large crowd got the attention of the City Council members, who
told some visiting dignitaries from Nicaragua that they were about to
see democracy in action.

The Mayor was not in attendance.

Several VCDL members from Falls Church spoke, as did EM Dave Vann, Ed
Levine, Ian Branson, and I.

I pointed out Bloomberg's true agenda, his vigilante actions in
Virginia and other states, and quoted some comments from the many
mayors who have left his coalition in disgust. I asked that the Mayor
relinquish her membership in Bloomberg's shameful coalition.

Ed Levine told City Council that they have an illegal handgun ban
still on the books.

Jim Sollo, president of the anti-gun Virginia Center for Public
Safety, said that 26 people had been killed by CHP holders in the U.S.
in the last 3 months. Even if that were true, what he didn't mention
was that there are almost 6 MILLION CHP holders in the US! Also,
Sollo said KILLED, not MURDERED. Big difference. A self-defense
killing is not a crime.

(After Sollo spoke, someone from our side made a loud comment. That's
something the anti-gunners do and it always makes them look bad. We
must hold ourselves to a higher standard and refrain from any kind of
outburst during government meetings. We can best get our points
across by following the proper protocol and doing so politely, but
firmly.)

Another anti-gun speaker said that VCDL was a vocal minority. That's
rich coming from a group that turned out less than 80 adults last
Lobby Day, while VCDL turned out 600!

At the end, after everyone had spoken, the Vice-Mayor said that City
Council backed the Mayor being part of the coalition and that the City
also wanted to be able to ban guns at government buildings.

At least he was honest about the Council's disgraceful agenda.

HOWEVER, this should serve as a strong reminder to all of us that some
of the worst TYRANTS are the local ones.

WE MUST ALWAYS PROTECT PREEMPTION! Mark my words: without preemption,
people like the Falls Church City Council and their Mayor would snap
your gun rights away so fast it would make your head spin.

Those of you in Falls Church need to get together and vote them all
out of office. They don't deserve to serve in the Commonwealth of
Virginia. They are more fitting to New Jersey.

** I bless preemption every single day I do my job as president of
VCDL.**

Dave Vann talked to the dignitaries from Nicaragua after we were done
speaking to City Council. The Nicaraguans, who are coming from
country that lacks many of our freedoms, had a much better
understanding of freedom than did anyone on City Council. How sad is
that?

Dave filed this report:

"It's obvious the 5 mayors from Nicaragua had common sense. They
stopped me on my way to find them. I never had a chance to offer them
the GSL stickers before they asked me for them!

We had a great time talking about Nicaragua, Costa Rica & Honduras.
One of the interpreters (the woman) gave me her card and asked me to
stay in touch.

All in all, great relations between two peoples that have something in
common, FREEDOM!

I'm going to email her and offer an open invitation for the Mayor's to
go shooting if they are ever back in the States again."

--

Video of the council meeting is here (comments on the Mayor and her
membership in Bloomberg's coalition start about 5 minutes or so into
the video):

http://fallschurch-va.granicus.com/Medi ... clip_id=29

--

Here is an article on the protest written up in the Falls Church News-
Press. The article has two mistakes: saying that no one on our side
who spoke was from Falls Church and saying that everyone on the other
side was from Falls Church. Funny that the mistakes were twisted to
make the reader believe that Falls Church residents were happy with
their government and "outsiders" weren't. Not surprising - that paper
struck me as being in the back pocket of the local politicians the
last time I spoke there some years ago and things don't seem to have
changed much.

http://tinyurl.com/yl8gczo

Gun Issue Packs City of Falls Church Council Chambers

By Nicholas F. Benton
Monday, 26 October 2009 21:47
More than 50 persons wearing bright orange stickers reading "Guns Save
Lives" packed the chambers of the Falls Church City Council Monday
night to protest Falls Church Mayor Robin Gardner's membership in the
Mayors Against Illegal Guns association founded by New York Mayor
Michael Bloomberg.

While none of the protesters stated they were residents of Falls
Church, but visiting from Loudoun County and other outlying
jurisdictions, a dozen other citizens, all Falls Church City
residents, countered the protest by speaking out in favor of the
mayor's decision. Those opposing the Mayors Against Illegal Guns were
led by Philip Van Cleve, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense
League from Newington, Virginia who accused the Mayors of a "hidden
agenda of propagating law suits and propaganda against the gun
industry."

Those Falls Church City residents supporting Mayor Gardner's decision
to align with the Mayors group were led by Hannah Jordan, who a 15-
year City resident who said, "More than two years ago, 32 members of
the Falls Church community, myself included, participated in a lie-in
organizede by ProtestEasyGuns in front of our community center...in
solidarity with the victims of the Virginia Tech Massacre." She noted
450 mayors across the U.S. "support sensible gun laws" that "have one
goal in common: reducing criminal access to guns."

--

Tomorrow night I will be in Norfolk at 6:30 PM to handout GSL stickers
to our members who are coming out to address Mayor Fraim for his
involvement with Bloomberg's coalition. The City Council meeting
starts at 7 PM.

Follow up with a letter to the editor. Ask them to correct any mistakes and make your points again.

Maybe one day we will have laws to hold the press accountable for reporting just the facts. I've read that bloomberg's little campaign is bleeding mayors once they find out his real agenda. NRA has a page where you can see who's on it.

http://www.nraila.org/mayors

I was there. Great turn out by VCDL.

The Falls Church Times, an on-line newspaper run by citizens and not partisans such as Nicholas Benton, has an account of the event here:

http://fallschurchtimes.com/2009/10/27/ ... rbal-fire/

Wow... Falls Church Times requires a first and last name with any comments that you want to post to their website. I have been verbally reprimanded for not posting my name and further reprimanded for not being "A resident of Falls Church City".

http://fallschurchtimes.com/2009/10/27/ ... rbal-fire/

These people just don't understand that the Bloomberg Mayor Coalition is an epidemic that is NOT LOCAL - and although their website is a local venue, it would be nice if they would consider how their decisions affect people throughout the Commonwealth and the country.

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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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1. VCDL addresses Norfolk Mayor Fraim
2. VCDL President to be on Armed American Radio this Sunday night

***************************************************
1. VCDL addresses Norfolk Mayor Fraim
***************************************************

Last night VCDL addressed Norfolk Mayor Fraim about his membership in
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG).

We had 33 members present and the antis had 9.

The antis brought up the Virginian-Pilots bogus "study" that shows 80%
of Virginians want more gun control. Independent national polls show
numbers half that size and the trend is for that number to continue to
shrink.

I pointed out to the Mayor that now 76 mayors had left the coalition
in disgust over its true agenda - more generic gun control.

A sea of people stood when I asked who in the room wants Fraim to
resign from the coalition.

I also said that Bloomberg has acted like a vigilante in trying to
achieve his anti-gun goals.

Fraim addressed the room saying that while he didn't agree with
Bloomberg's vigilante tactics, he felt that MAIG was only trying to
achieve "more public safety" and that he planned to stay a member.

Surely Fraim isn't that naive - he is in full agreement with
Bloomberg. But he has now been notified publicly of the true aim of
Bloomberg's shameful coalition, so Fraim can't plead ignorance.

After the meeting twenty of us headed to Hooters at the Waterside Mall
to enjoy a meal. The officer we saw in the mall when we were coming
and going was polite and friendly.

--

Click here for news coverage (with video) from WTKR, Channel 3,
television:

http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-gun-fraim ... 3486.story

--

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

Here are the next two mayors will be visiting, so mark your calendars
if you live near these cities:

Portsmouth
Mayor James Holley
801 Crawford St.
November 10, 7 PM

Richmond
Mayor Dwight C. Jones
City Hall - 9th and Broad streets
November 23rd, 6 PM


***************************************************
2. VCDL President to be on Armed American Radio this Sunday night
***************************************************

I will be a guest on Armed American Radio this Sunday, November 1st
from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM. You can listen online. For more
information, click here:

http://armedamericanradio.org/2009/10/c ... 1-01-2009/


***************************************************************************
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/]

I listen to the Armed American Radio podcasts all the time. Great stuff.

Rick, the Falls Church Times guys are not nearly as bad as the Falls Church News Press. But I let them know that their policy and the its-all-about-Falls-Church mentality have their limits. If they have to argue with you about your name, that means their arguments on gun control are weak.

I been posting a couple things over there and the arguments are indeed weak. The "coalition" by bloomberg they say seeks to keep guns away from felons. Good luck on that one. Lets try enforcing the laws we already have with stiffer penalties.

Good stuff guys I wish we could get a couple more Falls Church residents to specifically denounce the mayor's membership in MAIG on that website. There are a couple of anti's already who have done so, specifically stating that they are from Falls Church.

It's pretty interesting. I'm betting most of these people have never ever had a serious conversation about gun rights. Now that their advocacy is being confronted with strong counter-arguments, they have to think... and it shows.