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1. Thoughts on the Zimmerman/Martin case
2. A tragedy in Richmond - a shot in the air
3. Reminder: supper meeting in Vinton THIS Tuesday!
4. Reminder: membership meeting in Annandale, talk on reloading
5. Help needed with email addresses for some of the Circuit Court Clerks!
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1. Thoughts on the Zimmerman/Martin case
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Let's take a look at the Zimmerman/Martin case as if it happened here in Virginia.
Virginia, like Florida, is a stand-your-ground state. Florida has a stand-your-ground statute, while Virginia law is based on common law and case law, going back 400 years.
As a citizen, if you see a suspicious person, it's best to keep your distance and, if you observe something that justifies it, call 9-1-1. A citizen does not have many of the legal protections that a police officer has.
It is a rare event that a citizen needs to get more deeply involved in a suspicious person call than to simply be an observer. Remember that to qualify under Virginia's stand-your-ground law you need to be an innocent party. If you confront the suspicious person, you can easily dance across that line. If you, in any way, become part of the problem, you lose your protections under stand-your-ground and you would have to retreat as far as you could before being able to defend yourself, if attacked. Also, if you do end up killing your attacker, if you did not contribute to the problem, it is considered justifiable homicide. If you did contribute to the problem and you retreated as far as you could, that would be considered only excusable homicide.
To be able to legally defend yourself with deadly force, you must reasonably believe that you are in **immediate** danger of being killed or grievously injured. If you find yourself in a fist fight with someone of similar height and strength, that in-and-of-itself would not justify the use of deadly force. If your assailant is significantly bigger, stronger, faster than you, or has a weapon, or there is more than one assailant, that changes things. That is called "disparity of force" and would permit the use of deadly force to defend yourself. A 150 pound 40-year-old woman being attached by a 250 pound muscular 18-year-old predator would be considered to be a disparity of force.
If a person has you pinned on the ground and starts to pound your head into the sidewalk to the point you that you reasonably believe you will be killed or grievously hurt, that would justify the use of deadly force to save your life. Even if you were part of the problem by confronting the assailant, you could use deadly force to defend yourself because you would be physically unable to retreat if pinned down and being beaten to death.
The bottom line is that deadly force is always the very last resort to stop an attack that would result in either your death or in grievous bodily injury. It is very important that you did not contribute to the problem, or your ability to defend yourself can be put in jeopardy.
Any attempt to weaken Virginia's self-defense laws next year will meet stiff resistance from VCDL.
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2. A tragedy in Richmond - a shot in the air
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AN AVOIDABLE TRAGEDY
A very rare and tragic event happened in Midlothian on the 4th of July. A shot fired into the air by someone came down and hit a 7-year-old boy, Brendon Mackey, on the top of his head, killing him. The child was walking with his father to watch a fireworks display by a lake in the Brandermill area when his father heard a "pop" sound and his son collapsed. Unaware that the child had been hit by a stray bullet, some good samaritans tried unsuccessfully to administer CPR. Once the child was moved, that's when someone observed blood on the ground where the boy's head had been laying.
The Chesterfield police are actively seeking the person who fired that shot into the air, but so far have come up empty handed.
POLITICAL AMBULANCE CHASING
Anti-gun Senator Henry Marsh, ever the political ambulance chaser, saw an opportunity to push his gun-hating agenda. He attended the funeral and said he would introduce a bill in the General Assembly to make firing a shot into the air a felony, according to a reporter who interviewed me last week.
Plenty of laws were already broken by the person firing that shot - from a county ordinance prohibiting the discharge of a firearm in the area surrounding the lake, to reckless endangerment. Another law wouldn't have made one lick of difference to someone already acting in a reckless and illegal manner.
Also, that this illogical proposal is just a symptom of Marsh's hatred of guns and his elitist contempt for citizen rights is evident by the folly of its basic premise: There is NO direction (up, down, right, left, north, south, east or west) that is an inherently safe direction to shoot. Whether any direction is safe for pointing or shooting a gun is always situational. Again, you are already responsible for any harm that is created by a bullet that you fire, regardless of the direction.
Marsh's solution to everything is more laws and more felonies. He also likes strict liability laws, where there doesn't even need to be intent to do harm. No thanks. VCDL will strongly oppose any such misguided effort.
A LOOK AT THE BALLISTICS AND DANGER INVOLVED IN SHOOTING BULLETS INTO THE AIR
Unlike a shotgun loaded with bird shot, firing a BULLET into the air is generally a bad idea because of the distances that it can cover. However, the sharper the angle, the less energy the bullet will retain upon hitting the ground. A shot straight up gives the bullet the least amount of energy on return, BUT a heavy bullet fired straight up can still retain enough energy to do harm to someone.
The police are saying it was a .40 caliber bullet fired from a gun with polygonal rifling (such as a Glock). Doing a few quick calculations shows that 180 grain bullet falling at 300 feet-per-second (both maximum values for the caliber and speed falling straight down) has only about 35 foot-pounds of energy. That is probably not enough force to penetrate the way the bullet apparently did when it hit poor little Brendon.
Well, no sooner did I write the above paragraph than I heard on the radio that the police are now saying the gun was pointing between 55 and 70 degrees. That would make more sense, as at that angle it should impart much more energy than 35 foot-pounds when it finally hits something.
(If you are interested in ballistics, including detailed information on things such as the ballistics of firing a shot in the air, I highly recommend the book "Hatcher's Notebook" by Julian S. Hatcher. Hatcher was paid by the military around WW I to study all kinds of things related to firearms, especially ballistics. I dusted off my copy to get a refresher on bullets fired upward for this article.)
ADVICE TO GUN OWNERS LIVING WITHIN 1.5 MILES OF SUNDAY PARK IN BRANDERMILL
Because of the nature of this tragedy, the police are actually canvasing neighborhoods. If you were in the area on July 4th and saw anything suspicious, be sure to share that information with the police so they can find the person who fired that shot.
However, there are two things to keep in mind if you are part of such a canvas:
1. If the police are asking generic questions to see if you saw anything suspicious, that is fine and you should absolutely share anything you might think is useful
2. If the police are asking questions where they seem to be looking at YOU as a suspect (like, "where were you at 9 PM on the night of July 4th?," "do you have a boat?" or "are you a gun owner?"), that is very different. In that case you should probably use your constitutional protections and advise that you are going to exercise your Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. Be sure to have an attorney present before answering any such question.
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Latest coverage by the Richmond Times-Dispatch: http://tinyurl.com/kyq8q5q
Random shot that killed Chesterfield boy likely fired within 5,000 foot radius
Posted: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 12:00 am
BY MARK BOWES Richmond Times-Dispatch
Police now believe a bullet that killed a 7-year-old Chesterfield County boy was fired randomly somewhere within a 5,000-foot radius from the spot where the child was fatally struck while walking with his father July 4.
Ballistics and federal firearms experts consulted by Chesterfield police believe the .40-caliber-class bullet was likely fired at a 55- to 70- degree angle and, based on that trajectory, the round likely traveled a maximum distance of about 5,000 feet, or just less than a mile, Chesterfield Capt. Chris Hensley said during a news briefing Monday.
Hensley said the bullet that killed Brendon Mackey came almost straight down. He was struck in the head as he walked to The Boathouse at Sunday Park on the Swift Creek Reservoir.
Its not an exact science, Hensley said. Were doing the best we can with the information we have.
If the bullet was fired at a 21-degree angle, Hensley said, the maximum distance would extend to 7,100 feet.
Chesterfield police, assisted by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, have begun canvassing neighborhoods within the maximum estimated range of the bullets trajectory in an attempt to find the person responsible.
Its a huge task.
In law enforcement, were used to contained scenes where an incident occurs, Hensley said. With this incident, were basically looking at a 2-mile diameter or circle thats a crime scene.
Hensley said police began canvassing neighborhoods Friday in the Brandermill area and covered 300 to 400 homes so far, or about 10 to 15 percent of the targeted area.
We did get a couple of pieces of information that were looking into, he said. And we got a lot of information (from people who said) I heard shots fired in this general area. So then we have to go back out and try to find the area and see if we can find a shell casing or something like that.
In the next few weeks, police and ATF agents will fan out through the various neighborhoods in the target area, Hensley said.
So this is going to take time, the captain said. People need to know over the next several weeks, that if they have a police officer or detective knocking on their door, its going to be in relation to this case.
Although police believe its more likely that the shot was fired within a 5,000-foot radius, we still want to continue to search within the maximum distance (of 7,100 feet) on the outside chance the bullet was fired farther away, Hensley said.
Somebody knows exactly who fired the round up in that area, and some people might think it was out of range or not possible for a bullet to travel that far but they will, Hensley said. So we need to find out, and the public needs to help us.
Anyone with information can reach police at (804) 748-1251, call Crime Solvers anonymously at (804) 748-0660, visit CrimeSolvers.net or text Watson plus the tip to CRIMES (247637).
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3. Reminder: supper meeting in Vinton THIS Tuesday!
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VCDL will have a supper meeting in Vinton on Tuesday, July 16 at:
Famous Anthony's
323 E Virginia Ave.
Vinton, VA
Fellowship starts at 6:30 PM--food ordered from the menu at 7 PM. Speaker to be announced.
This event is open to all VCDL members, families and guests.
We respectfully request a RSVP with numbers in your group so proper seating can be arranged. RSVP to: al@vcdl.org
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4. Reminder: membership meeting in Annandale, talk on reloading
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VCDL member Terrell Prude (AKA "Cowboy T") knows a lot about reloading and will be sharing his knowledge with you at the Thursday, JULY 18 VCDL meeting in Annandale! Here is Terrell's description of his talk/demonstration:
THE GREAT AMMO DEARTH--AND A SOLUTION
Having trouble getting 9mm? .40 S&W? .45 Auto? How about .223? If you can even find it, how's it priced?
How neat would it be if you could--safely--make your own ammunition in the comfort of your own home? Wouldn't it be nice to just be able to pop out a box when you want to go to the range? And how about lowering your ammo costs by more than half?
Wouldn't all that be great?
Yes, all this is possible. See, I have no ammo problems. And I shoot a fair amount, about 3 times a week. I can afford to do so because rolling your own reduces your ammo costs considerably.
I'd like to explain to you how this is done. And I'd like to do it at the next VCDL meeting in Annandale.
See, I got caught by the Great Ammo Rush of 2009. This time, during the G. A. R. of 2013, I was ready. My range frequency hasn't slowed one bit during all this. And if you want to maintain your ability--which we all should be doing as gun owners--you need ammo.
It's called, "handloading", or "reloading". And it's remarkably easy to do. As my cameralady who helps me with my instructional videos puts it, "it's like needlepoint; you can do this."
COMING TO THE MEETING AND NEED SUPPLIES?
Board member Bruce Jackson will be at the meeting Thursday. If you need any supplies such as cards or brochures or desire shirts or mouse pads etc just drop him a line and let him know. His address is bruce@vcdl.org
As with all VCDL membership meetings, it is open to the public, so bring friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors.
For directions, click here:
http://www.vcdl.org/meetings.html
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5. Help needed with email addresses for some of the Circuit Court Clerks!
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The VCDL has to interact with Circuit Court Clerks all over Virginia for a variety of reasons. We have found email to be the most reliable and quickest method of contact (not to mention the most inexpensive
). Bruce Jackson is in the process of building a 'Clerk contact list' using their email addresses. He has many (75%) already, but is missing some. If you can get the email address for any of the following Clerks, or verify they do not have one, and send it to Bruce, it would be greatly appreciated. He can be reached at Bruce@vcdl.org.Here is a web address to help you help us...
http://www.courts.state.va.us/courts/circuit.html
Here are the Clerks that Bruce does not currently have an email address for:
Botetourt Circuit Court Clerk
Buchanan Circuit Court Clerk
Buckingham Circuit Court Clerk
Campbell Circuit Court Clerk
Caroline Circuit Court Clerk
Floyd Circuit Court Clerk
Goochland Circuit Court Clerk
Grayson Circuit Court Clerk
Greene Circuit Court Clerk
Greensville Circuit Court Clerk
Hampton Circuit Court Clerk
Henrico Circuit Court Clerk
Henry Circuit Court Clerk
James City County/Williamsburg Circuit Court Clerk
Lunenburg Circuit Court Clerk
Lynchburg Circuit Court Clerk
New Kent Circuit Court Clerk
Newport News Circuit Court Clerk
Northumberland Circuit Court Clerk
Pulaski Circuit Court Clerk
Rappahannock Circuit Court Clerk
Richmond Circuit Court Clerk
Russell Circuit Court Clerk
Scott Circuit Court Clerk
Shenandoah Circuit Court Clerk
Smyth Circuit Court Clerk
Staunton Circuit Court Clerk
Westmoreland Circuit Court Clerk
Williamsburg/James City County Circuit Court Clerk
York County/Poquoson Circuit Court Clerk
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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/]