Not yet a VCDL member? Join VCDL at: http://www.vcdl.org/join
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VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings
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Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html
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1. VCDL membership meeting in Annandale on Thursday, August 21
2. Belk to gun owners: not planning any gun bans
3. Gun show volunteers needed for THIS WEEKEND in Richmond!
4. Upcoming events in Southwest Virginia - HELP NEEDED
5. Courts: police do have a duty to protect under certain circumstances
6. New gun store to have grand opening in Warrenton on September 13th!
7. VCDL puts Town of Woodstock on notice about illegal “no guns” sign
8. DC gun ruling on hold, but still having an effect
9. Bloomberg gets his hind quarters handed to him in Wisconsin
10. A call for Constitutional Carry in DC
11. Indoor shooting range opening in Prince William County
12. Memo outlines Obama's plan to use military against citizens
13. Joe the Plumber: 'Your dead kids don't trump my constitutional rights'
14. Concealed-Carry and commercial real estate
15. Maya Angelou tells Time about owning, shooting a firearm
16. [TX] US Marine with CHL fatally shoots robber in NE Harris County
17. [IA] Woman pulls handgun on would-be robber
18. [CA] Knifeman murders six
19. [CA] Reminder: Car, knife used in UCSB killing spree
20. [CA] Ex-NFL Star: More law-abiding citizens with guns could have stopped CA attack
21. [WA] Seattle cops cite 2nd amendment in lawsuit vs city
22. Four people shot at Jewish Museum in Belgium
23. Hilarious: clueless reporter becomes a laughing stock on gun issue
24. VCDL EM: Lessons learned on gun rights from 30+ years living in Connecticut
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1. VCDL membership meeting in Annandale on Thursday, August 21
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VCDL will have its regular monthly meeting in Annandale on Thursday, August 21, at the Mason District Government Center. Fellowship starts at 7:30 PM and the meeting is called to order at 8:00 PM.
Jeff Carson, Libertarian candidate for Congress in the 8th Congressional district, will speak.
The meeting is open to the public, so bring along some friends and family!
Also, Board member Bruce Jackson will be at the meeting. 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
Directions: http://vcdl.org/node/180
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2. Belk to gun owners: not planning any gun bans
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I had an inside source that said Belk was considering a possible gun ban, but that appears to now have been put to rest thanks to all your calls and emails.
Belk sent this message out on email a few days ago:
Thank you for contacting Customer Service at Belk.com.
Thank you for reaching out. On this topic, there has been no talk of any change in the Belk approach to follow state laws and the policies of our landlords.
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3. Gun show volunteers needed for THIS WEEKEND in Richmond!
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Member Tom Ariel, our new Richmond Gun Show Coordinator needs help manning the VCDL booth this weekend. If you haven’t done this before, please step forward and help us out. You’ll have fun, meet some wonderful people, and help the cause. You’ll also get in the show for free.
From Tom:
There's a gun show coming this weekend at the Richmond Raceway, August 23-24.
Saturday from 9-5 and Sunday from 10-5.
I'm needing at least one volunteer per shift for the show:
Sat 9am - 1pm
Sat 1pm - 5pm
Sun 10am - 1pm
Sun 1pm - 5pm
I will be there for the entire show.
Come and help defend your rights!
Contact me at: CentralVAgunshows@vcdl.org if you can help.
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4. Upcoming events in Southwest Virginia - HELP NEEDED
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a. SW Virginia VCDL will have our August monthly supper meeting on Monday, August 25 at:
The Great 611 Steak House
3830 Franklin Road
Roanoke, VA 24018
Fellowship starts at 6:30 PM. Food will be ordered from the menu. EM Dave Knight will have a presentation on reloading.
We have the meeting room reserved--inside and to the left in the restaurant.
We need 50 to attend, so please RSVP to al@vcdl.org
b. Customer Appreciation Days at Trader Jerry’s, Friday and Saturday, August 22 and 23 from 9 am to 5 pm each day.
Jerry has always been a big supporter of VCDL and true to form, he has invited us to have a table at the event.
HELPERS NEEDED!
Address:
Trader Jerry’s
724 W 4th Street
Salem, VA 24153
The event will have free hot dogs and soft drinks! The VCDL tent will be set up and we will need a few chairs! Our space will be just outside the front door.
Anyone wishing to assist, please contact al@vcdl.org
c. Sportsman’s Warehouse, another big VCDL supporter, has invited VCDL to have a tent area setup space on Saturday, August 23, from 9 am until 4 pm. We have a "loaner” tent. We will need a few chairs.
HELPERS NEEDED!
Address:
Sportsman’s Warehouse
3550 Ferncliff Ave NW
Roanoke, VA 24017
Anyone wishing to assist, please contact al@vcdl.org.
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5. Courts: police do have a duty to protect under certain circumstances
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Interesting ruling out of Illinois. If the police do something that enhances the danger to an individual, then the police DO have a duty to protect that individual. The case centered around two groups confronting each other. Police disarmed a man twice who was holding a stick for self-defense, then did nothing when an individual from the other side came over with a baseball bat and killed him.
Thanks to member Paul Henick for the link:
http://illinoiscarry.com/forum/index.ph ... opic=51031
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6. New gun store to have grand opening in Warrenton on September 13th!
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Member Brian Parrish is moving from being a home-based FFL dealer to having a brick-and-mortar gun store.
The store name and address will be:
Triune Shooting Sports
571 Frost Avenue
Warrenton, VA 20186
The grand opening is on Saturday, Sept 13th at 10am. Brian is working with the Warrenton Chamber of Commerce for a ribbon cutting ceremony and is inviting pro-2A local and state politicians to the event.
I plan on being there representing VCDL, so stop by and say “hello!”
Brian said he is having a number raffles and other promotions (such as buy any Glock and Triune will pay your VCDL membership fees for that year or add a year if they are already paid up).
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7. VCDL puts Town of Woodstock on notice about illegal “no guns” sign
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I have just contacted the Town of Woodstock about an illegal “no guns” sign in their W. O. Riley Park. I got a quick response from the Town Attorney that my email is being forwarded to the Town Manager for action.
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8. DC gun ruling on hold, but still having an effect
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DC is apparently holding back on enforcing its draconian gun laws for now. No, I have no plans to test them to see if the report is accurate.
Thanks to EM Ed Levine for the link:
From wtop.com: http://tinyurl.com/mfkpajr
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9. Bloomberg gets his hind quarters handed to him in Wisconsin
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I love when this happens. Ex-Mayor Moneybags loses again. This time in Wisconsin, as a pro-gun Sheriff who dared to tell citizens that they should have guns to protect themselves (I can just see Bloomberg shuddering at the though), was up for reelection. I’m glad to report the Sheriff won!
Thanks to Monte Oakes for the link:
From washingtontimes.com: http://tinyurl.com/q6x4koq
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10. A call for Constitutional Carry in DC
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This Letter to the Editor by EM Mike Stollenwerk was published in the Washington Post:
From washingtonpost.com: http://tinyurl.com/q4usml7
D.C. residents should not have to justify their need to carry guns
August 8
Robert McCartney’s call to limit the right to carry handguns in the District “to people who can justify to police that they need the weapon for self-defense” highlighted how out of touch Post columnists are with legal and social norms pertaining to gun rights [“Beretta’s hypocrisy in Maryland highlights crazy gun culture,” Metro, Aug. 3]. More than half of the states allow open or concealed carry without a license, and the number of concealed carry licenses issued nationwide is estimated to have more than doubled since 2007 to more than 11 million.
In 2008, the Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller held that the Second Amendment provides “the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation.” The phrase “in case of confrontation” highlights that this right is not preconditioned on a likelihood of confrontation.
This spring, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in Peruta v. County of San Diego held that the right to bear arms cannot be preconditioned on the demonstration of a need to carry firearms. Residents in the District should be able to carry guns in public without being required to justify to police that they need their weapons for self-defense.
Mike Stollenwerk, Alexandria
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11. Indoor shooting range opening in Prince William County
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From virginiabusiness.com: http://tinyurl.com/myd84dd
Indoor shooting range opening in Prince William County
May 23, 2014
Elite Shooting Sports LLC has announced plans to open a 65,000-square-foot shooting range in Prince William County this fall.
The company says the range, scheduled to open Oct. 4, will be one of the largest indoor shooting ranges in the country.
Construction is under way for the facility located off I-66 and Prince William County Parkway.
The building will house four separate indoor shooting ranges; two 25-yard ranges a 50-yard range and an 100-yard range. The facility will also have five classrooms, a café and a 5,000 square-foot retail area.
Elite Shooting Sports is the brainchild of Greg Wodack, a range consultant and the former manager of the National Rifle Association’s Headquarters Range in Fairfax. Wodack teamed up with local developer Coleman Rector and local investors for the project.
The facility at 7751 Doane Drive will be open to the public seven days a week. Parts of the range will also be used for agency training.
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12. Memo outlines Obama's plan to use military against citizens
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Member Bill Hine emailed me this:
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From washingtontimes.com: http://tinyurl.com/mhx3rlo
Inside the Ring: Memo outlines Obama’s plan to use the military against citizens
By Bill Gertz - The Washington Times
May 28, 2014
A 2010 Pentagon directive on military support to civilian authorities details what critics say is a troubling policy that envisions the Obama administration’s potential use of military force against Americans.
The directive contains noncontroversial provisions on support to civilian fire and emergency services, special events and the domestic use of the Army Corps of Engineers.
The troubling aspect of the directive outlines presidential authority for the use of military arms and forces, including unarmed drones, in operations against domestic unrest.
“This appears to be the latest step in the administration’s decision to use force within the United States against its citizens,” said a defense official opposed to the directive.
Directive No. 3025.18, “Defense Support of Civil Authorities,” was issued Dec. 29, 2010, and states that U.S. commanders “are provided emergency authority under this directive.”
“Federal military forces shall not be used to quell civil disturbances unless specifically authorized by the president in accordance with applicable law or permitted under emergency authority,” the directive states.
“In these circumstances, those federal military commanders have the authority, in extraordinary emergency circumstances where prior authorization by the president is impossible and duly constituted local authorities are unable to control the situation, to engage temporarily in activities that are necessary to quell large-scale, unexpected civil disturbances” under two conditions.
The conditions include military support needed “to prevent significant loss of life or wanton destruction of property and are necessary to restore governmental function and public order.” A second use is when federal, state and local authorities “are unable or decline to provide adequate protection for federal property or federal governmental functions.”
“Federal action, including the use of federal military forces, is authorized when necessary to protect the federal property or functions,” the directive states.
Military assistance can include loans of arms, ammunition, vessels and aircraft. The directive states clearly that it is for engaging civilians during times of unrest.
A U.S. official said the Obama administration considered but rejected deploying military force under the directive during the recent standoff with Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and his armed supporters.
Mr. Bundy is engaged in a legal battle with the federal Bureau of Land Management over unpaid grazing fees. Along with a group of protesters, Mr. Bundy in April confronted federal and local authorities in a standoff that ended when the authorities backed down.
The Pentagon directive authorizes the secretary of defense to approve the use of unarmed drones in domestic unrest. But it bans the use of missile-firing unmanned aircraft.
“Use of armed [unmanned aircraft systems] is not authorized,” the directive says.
The directive was signed by then-Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn. A copy can be found on the Pentagon website: http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corr ... 02518p.pdf.
Defense analysts say there has been a buildup of military units within non-security-related federal agencies, notably the creation of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams. The buildup has raised questions about whether the Obama administration is undermining civil liberties under the guise of counterterrorism and counternarcotics efforts.
Other agencies with SWAT teams reportedly include the Department of Agriculture, the Railroad Retirement Board, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Office of Personnel Management, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Education Department.
The militarization of federal agencies, under little-known statues that permit deputization of security officials, comes as the White House has launched verbal attacks on private citizens’ ownership of firearms despite the fact that most gun owners are law-abiding citizens.
A White House National Security Council spokeswoman declined to comment.
President Obama stated at the National Defense University a year ago: “I do not believe it would be constitutional for the government to target and kill any U.S. citizen — with a drone or with a shotgun — without due process, nor should any president deploy armed drones over U.S. soil.”
A Pentagon official who defended the directive said it was signed in December 2010 after four years of thorough consultations within the Pentagon and with other federal agencies The 2010 directive replaced several previously published directives in 1980, 1991, and 1993. The last time military forces were used to quell civil unrest was 1906 following the San Francisco earthquake to protect the federal mint and restore order in the city.
The official said: “I suppose that in a very extreme case, one can imagine a combination of natural and man-made disasters that result in the cascading failure of communication infrastructure, or some electro-magnetic pulse that shuts down all electronic communication.”
“In the event that it should happen in today’s day and age, we would want our senior military leaders in the field to do all they can to assist their fellow Americans to prevent significant loss of life or malicious destruction of property and to protect federal property or federal governmental functions,” the official said.
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13. Joe the Plumber: 'Your dead kids don't trump my constitutional rights'
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Member Bill Hine emailed me this:
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From huffingtonpost.com: http://tinyurl.com/l7yk3n7
Joe The Plumber: 'Your Dead Kids Don't Trump My Constitutional Rights' To Have Guns
by Paige Lavender
May 27, 2014
Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, insisted the deaths of innocent people "don't trump" his constitutional rights in an open letter to the families of victims in Friday's shooting rampage near the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Wurzelbacher's letter was published on Barbwire Monday, days after one shooting victim's father blamed "craven, irresponsible politicians" and the National Rifle Association for his son's death.
Wurzelbacher said the words of Richard Martinez, whose son Christopher Martinez was a victim in Friday's incident, "will be exploited by gun-grab extremists as are all tragedies involving gun violence and the mentally ill by the anti-Second Amendment Left." The former Congressional candidate told Martinez to "back off."
Wurzelbacher said his letter is directed "only to the families of the gunshot victims in Santa Barbara" and not to the families of three who were stabbed ahead of the shooting spree.
"I am sorry you lost your child. I myself have a son and daughter and the one thing I never want to go through, is what you are going through now. But: As harsh as this sounds -- your dead kids don’t trump my Constitutional rights," Wurzelbacher wrote.
Wurzelbacher acknowledged his comments are "harsh" but claimed pro-gun control activists "don't care about your family or your dead children at all."
"They sound like they do, whereas I sound uncaring and like I say, harsh," Wurzelbacher wrote. "Don’t be fooled – I care about your family and mine. The future of our very liberty lies in the balance of this fight.”
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14. Concealed-Carry and commercial real estate
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Member Walter Jackson emailed me this:
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From wvec.com: http://tinyurl.com/mwy6hxk
Concealed-Carry and Commercial Real Estate
by Vicki Gerson
April 2014
Can posting a “No guns allowed” sign on your building put you on a high-risk list? Grass Roots North Carolina says it can.
The nonprofit, all-volunteer organization is determined to defend people with concealed-carry permits who want to be allowed to carry their handguns into all bars and restaurants that serve alcohol—as long as they don’t drink. With the passage of a controversial gun law in the state that took effect on Oct. 1, 2013, the owners of restaurants and bars who don’t want guns in their businesses must post a sign. And those business owners who have posted signs are now listed on Grass Roots North Carolina’s “High Risk Restaurant List.”
“We generate a notice to the merchant that they are being reported and give them a chance to remove signs before their business’ contact information is released to tens of thousands of gun rights supporters,” says Paul Valone, president of the organization. “We don’t want gun owners to patronize these restaurants.”
Businesses such as The Smokin’ Cue and BS Jones Pub and Grill are both on Valone’s list because of their no-weapons signs, and the owners of both establishments say they have no plans to take those signs down. However, Grass Roots North Carolina is taking credit for at least nine other businesses that have taken down their signs after being listed on its website. Those, which include three Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants, have been moved to a new list, titled “Welcome Back.”
Of course, this is just how one group in one state is responding to laws requiring businesses to post signage representing their business stance on guns on the premises. Professionals who work in commercial real estate are approaching the issue from a variety of standpoints.
Concealed-carry is now the law of the land. In District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed an individual’s right to keep and bear arms in the nation’s capital. Two years later, the court affirmed this ruling at the state level, denying local governments from interfering with an individual’s rights to bear arms. After that point, areas with gun bans in place had to pass legislation that did not come into conflict with the court’s ruling. Illinois was the last state in the nation to pass a concealed-carry law last July.
Although it’s now a hotly debated issue on the national level, states have been dealing with gun rights issues in local contexts for decades. In 1976, Georgia Governor Zell Miller introduced a concealed-carry law that would become a model for future state laws.
While some states do not require any kind of permit to carry, many other states (such as Colorado and Nebraska) allow people to carry concealed weapons only with a proper permit. Florida has more than 1 million people who have concealed gun permits. However, in all these states, it’s up to a building owner to prohibit concealed guns if they wish. In Missouri and Kansas, for example, most office buildings post signage forbidding firearms.
Commercial building owners and managers are apprehensive about the concealed-carry laws in their various states, according to Ed Lowenbaum, president of Lowenbaum RET Inc., a Chicago-based company that represents businesses in leasing, building, and selling across the United States. “Commercial property owners and property managers believe this is a liability issue. They are concerned about the safety of their employees and themselves, as well as anyone else who enters their property,” he says.
Many of Lowenbaum’s commercial real estate clients are writing rules into their new leases that include barring people from bringing concealed weapons onto their premises. It is then up to the owners of the businesses, especially in multitenant buildings such as office towers, to make sure that this new rule is being enforced.
“By putting this clause in the lease, the building owner is placing the liability back onto the tenants and forcing them to monitor visitors and contractors,” Lowenbaum says. He adds that, for existing tenants, property managers usually have a clause in their current leases that allows them to make additional changes and add rules and regulations.
Lowenbaum says that in Texas, the issue is being addressed before a tenant even rents the space. Building owners are trying to avoid liability, he says; they don’t want to be sued if someone is injured or killed on their property. “Property owners aren’t putting in metal detectors yet,” says Lowenbaum. “But all it takes is one bad situation and everything could change.”
“There are many unknowns at this time because Illinois is working through the permit process and screening the applicants,” says Chicago’s Building Owners and Managers Association Executive Vice President Michael Cornicelli. He notes that in Texas, Ohio, and Illinois, for example, the law allows building owners to post signage—showing a handgun in a circle with a slash through the circle—to notify the public that they cannot bring weapons onto the premises. “If the building owner doesn’t post a sign, anyone can walk in with a concealed weapon as long as he or she has a permit.”
But what happens if a building has a sign posted stating no concealed weapons, and someone walks in with one anyway? Cornicelli says the situation raises more questions for those in commercial real estate: “If a management employee notices a violation is occurring, what is his obligation? Should the violator be confronted? Should the person notify the police that this violation is occurring? What instructions has the commercial property owner given the management company as to what should be done?”
There are other gun-related issues outside of concealed carry that some commercial practitioners should be aware of. Utah’s House Bill 76, would have allowed any individual to carry a weapon without having to obtain a concealed-carry permit, but it was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Gary Herbert. Meanwhile, Oklahoma instituted a law in 2012 that extends the right of a licensed person to openly carry a handgun, in addition to its concealed-carry law.
Some commercial property owners allow tenants to make up their minds. David Malk, vice president at CRM Properties Group Ltd. in Deerfield, Ill., has not placed signs on any of their properties prohibiting concealed weapons. However, if a tenant wants to post such a sign, he has no objection as long as the signage is in compliance with all sign rules and regulations of the shopping center and the government. To date, none of his tenants have brought their concern about having concealed weapons in any of the shopping centers to his attention.
Regardless of local sentiment, commercial practitioners should make sure that, however they choose to address this issue, they make themselves aware of the state and local laws that apply to their property.
“Currently, there isn’t a national organization that is a repository for concealed weapons information about every state or for what steps each state is doing about concealed-carry guns, Cornicelli says. “Building owners should contact their state police or local police where their building is located if they have any issues or questions about the concealed-carry law in their state.”
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15. Maya Angelou tells Time about owning, shooting a firearm
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From chicagotribune.com: http://tinyurl.com/lcbulqp
Here's some poetic justice for gun-control advocates
by John Kass
April 7, 2014
I know why the caged bird shoots.
Because some creep is at the door, turning the knob. And she's alone and rightfully afraid. But she has a gun in her hand.
And thanks to the Second Amendment that many on the political left would like to erase and rewrite — by using horrific tragedies like Sandy Hook to wipe the Constitution of irritants — Maya Angelou was able to defend herself.
That's right. She defended herself with a firearm.
Maya Angelou got her gun. And now that she's talked about it, she teaches us a lesson about making assumptions.
Angelou, the literary icon and famed poet and "Star Trek" fan, told Time magazine in a recent interview that she likes having guns around. Her comments must have been the last thing that gun controllers wanted to see.
TIME: Your mother, she was your protector. She often carried a gun, she seemed very fond of guns. Did you inherit your mother's fondness for guns?
ANGELOU: Well, I do like to have guns around. I don't like to carry them. But if somebody is going to come into my house, and I have not put out the welcome mat, I want to stop them.
TIME: Have you ever fired a weapon?
ANGELOU: Of course!
TIME: At a person?
ANGELOU: I've fired it period, not at a person I hope. I was in my house in North Carolina. It was fall. I heard someone walking on the leaves. And somebody actually turned the knob, so I said, 'Stand four feet back because I'm going to shoot now!' BOOM! BOOM! The police came by and said, 'Ms. Angelou, the shots came from inside the house.' I said, 'Well, I don't know how that happened.'"
I loved the way she told the story. Particularly the sounds she used, like the leaves. The leaves were an awfully nice touch, weren't they? "It was fall. I heard someone walking on the leaves. ..." You could hear them crunch under the predator's feet. And then the silence when the feet stopped moving there at the door and the knob turned.
Angelou couldn't tell if the lurker was armed with a firearm or perhaps had another weapon, a hammer, say, or just fists. But the poet had what she needed to counter what she thought was coming for her.
Shooting blind through a closed door is a terribly dangerous thing to do, potentially deadly, perhaps murderous in the hands of the right prosecutor.
It is the act of a student of the Shotgun Joe Biden Firearms Safety Academy, or a person driven out of her wits by panic.
I think it's fair to say that she was frightened. Angelou had been the victim of violence as a girl. And former victim or not, who wouldn't be afraid?
Unfortunately, so much of the gun control debate is about fear. Fear of what happened at the Sandy Hook school, where 26 people, most of them children, were gunned down by a madman whose parents should have noticed something was wrong and done something about it. And they didn't do something about it, and all those people are dead.
Fear, too, of the government taking weapons away from law-abiding gun owners, depriving them of their Second Amendment rights.
Fear also of the ignorance of some lawmakers, including a lead House sponsor of a proposed federal ban on high-capacity magazines.
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, of Colorado, said that her proposed ban on the sale or transfer of magazines holding more than 10 rounds would reduce violence.
"If you ban them in the future, the number of these high-capacity magazines is going to decrease dramatically over time because the bullets will have been shot and there won't be any more available," she said at a forum organized by the Denver Post.
The audience laughed as DeGette cast herself as an empty-headed blue jay because, as I'm sure Maya Angelou could tell her, an empty magazine can be reloaded with bullets.
That a lead Democratic sponsor of a controversial gun bill doesn't even know the first thing about how guns work reveals that it's all about one thing: peddling fear.
Americans had hoped for another kind of debate after Sandy Hook, a debate in which responsible gun control measures could be considered, yes, but also a discussion about mental health and a culture of violence that brings treasure to the same Hollywood crowd that hires armed bodyguards yet abhors the Second Amendment.
So why does the caged bird shoot?
Because her finger is on the trigger.
She's not thinking about gun control. She's not thinking about social elites who have the means to insulate themselves while mocking the less fortunate, those among us who cling to our guns and our religion.
She's not thinking about DeGette's stupidity or liberal demagoguery. She's thinking only about one thing.
Survival.
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16. [TX] US Marine with CHL fatally shoots robber in NE Harris County
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From News92fm.com: http://tinyurl.com/m4bvlpw
US Marine with CHL Fatally Shoots Robber in NE Harris County
by Andrew Pisano
May 29, 2014
(HOUSTON) — A military veteran with a concealed handgun license came to the rescue and exchanged gunfire with two alleged robbers Thursday in northeast Harris County, killing one of them.
It all happened shortly after noon on Wallisville Road near Beltway 8. According to investigators, the two men attempted to rob a Game Stop store when they were stopped by the 28-year-old U.S. Marine.
The Marine was eating at a restaurant next door when he saw two men pull up to the Game Stop wearing hoodies and bandanas. He yelled for someone to dial 911, and then he grabbed his concealed weapon out of his truck.
According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, that’s when one of the suspects pointed a gun at him.
One of the suspects was fatally shot. The second suspect got away but was found later and taken into custody.
Three Galena Park ISD schools were temporarily locked down as a precaution while deputies searched for the second suspect.
The Marine, who has done two tours of duty overseas, was not injured.
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17. [IA] Woman pulls handgun on would-be robber
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From kcci.com: http://tinyurl.com/ljvv5qt
Woman pulls handgun on would-be robber
by Vanessa Peng
May 23, 2014
FORT DODGE, Iowa — A man who tried to take money from a Fort Dodge textbook store didn’t get a single dime Wednesday after an employee pulled a handgun on the would-be thief.
Discount Textbooks in Fort Dodge has a gun in the back counter. Jessica McDonald, 22, turned to that firearm for her personal safety.
“I feel comfortable now using it, but I always said I never thought I would,” McDonald said.
McDonald had just opened the store a few minutes before 9 a.m. when a white man between 50 and 60 years old came into the store and started coughing. He covered his face with a bandana and demanded money.
“At that point, I opened up my register and took the till out and showed him I don’t have any money in my register,” McDonald said.
He moved behind the computer.
“We were face to face, and then he, like, put the mace right in my face and said, ‘Give me all the money out of your register,’” McDonald said.
McDonald said she got the gun out of the safe and pointed it at the would-be thief. She said she told him to leave the store and backed away with the gun pointed at him.
McDonald told a person who called during the attempted robbery to call 911. The man took off, and she chased him into the parking lot while yelling, 'Call 911.'
Paul Tigges, the store’s manager, said the firearm was put there for employees’ safety.
“Anything could happen had we not had that firearm in that store and she did not have access to it,” Tigges said. “We’ll never know what might have happened.”
McDonald said she was surprised initially when she learned the gun was there.
“It was shocking to me when I started here that there is a gun and I always thought it was over the top and we didn’t need it, but I’m very glad that we have it,” she said.
Police said they do not have a suspect in connection with the case. They said it remains under investigation.
Police said the would-be thief is 5 feet 5 inches tall with gray facial hair. He was riding a smaller-framed black bike. Those with information can contact Fort Dodge police.
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18. [CA] Knifeman murders six
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Montford Oakes emailed me this:
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From patriotpost.us: http://tinyurl.com/lud3pb3
Knifeman Murders Six
May 27, 2014
A severely disturbed young man in Isla Vista, California, murdered six and wounded seven this weekend. He sought “retribution” for perceived social slights, mainly from women. Half of his victims were stabbed, others were shot and four of the wounded he hit with his car. Yet news reports refer to him only as a “gunman” in order to serve a political agenda. He used a knife, a car, a legally purchased handgun and he had only 10-round magazines (41 of them). Predictably, it took no time at all for shameless gun grabbers to call for action – against guns, not knives.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) lectured, “We must ask ourselves if an individual whose family called police with concerns about mental health, who is receiving therapy and who has had several run-ins with police should be allowed to own multiple firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.” Hindsight is 20/20, but the murderer passed a background check and even talked to police before his rampage – they found nothing worth acting on. So unless we’re going to start arresting people before they commit crimes, the best defense continues to be self-defense.
But that’s not Feinstein’s point, as even she went on to admit [emphasis added]: “When anyone, no matter their mental health or history, can so easily obtain any gun they want and as many as they want, we must recognize a problem. Unfortunately, the NRA continues to have a stranglehold on Congress, preventing even commonsense measures like universal background checks that have overwhelming support. Until that happens, we will continue to see these devastating attacks. Shame on us for allowing this to continue.” In Feinstein’s utopia, no one would have access to guns.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who was the face of the gun control push after Sandy Hook happened in his state, absurdly claimed that if Congress had only passed his gun control idiocy last year, we could have “finally” put a “stop to the madness” and “end the insanity that has killed too many young people.” He added, “I really since hope that this … unimaginable, unspeakable tragedy will provide an impetus to bring back measures that would keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people who are severely troubled or deranged like this young man was.”
As National Review recounts, however, “The bill to which Blumenthal refers would have made it illegal for gun owners to trade their firearms privately without undergoing a background check, prohibited magazines that held over ten rounds, and instituted a new ban on what politicians have termed ‘assault weapons’ – that is, standard rifles that boast certain cosmetic features. Blumenthal seems unaware that California not only has all of these rules already – and many more besides – but that the shooter, whom we will not name, broke none of them. Local police have confirmed that all of his guns were bought legally from licensed dealers; that he used only ten-round magazines (he purchased and loaded 41 of them); and that he went nowhere near a so-called ‘assault weapon,’ preferring to use three handguns. Pace Blumenthal, it remains the case that one cannot stop abominations with parchment barriers.”
The man’s family is reportedly “staunchly against guns” and “supports gun-control laws.” In fact, the family’s attorney says, “My client’s mission in life will be to try to prevent any such tragedies from happening again. This country, this world, needs to address mental illness and the ramifications from not recognizing these illnesses.”
In many ways, this latest mass murder belies deep-seated cultural problems. This young man grew up in a culture that trashes men and teaches them to take what gratification they can get (and are due) and move on. He hated women for denying what he thought was his right. If we look anywhere, it certainly shouldn’t be to the tools he used to commit his heinous last act; it should be to the cultural rot that created him.
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19. [CA] Reminder: Car, knife used in UCSB killing spree
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No fact checking at MSNBC. California already has universal background checks and that law didn’t change a thing. (Universal background checks are mentioned in the video at the 7:30 minute mark.)
Walter Jackson emailed me this:
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From breitbart.com: http://tinyurl.com/nwqepec
Blackwell Reminds Gun-Control Advocates Car, Knife also used in UCSB Killing Spree
by BreitBart TV
May 25, 2014
On MSNBC on Sunday, Ken Blackwell, Zerlina Maxwell and Bob Franken participated in host Craig Melvin’s “Brain Trust” panel segment to discuss Friday’s California killing spree and whether or not this is just another example of why there is a need for stricter gun-control measures.
Blackwell, the former mayor of Cincinnati and fellow at the Family Research Council and the American Civil Rights Union, argued there was more than just the gun control aspects of this incident. He observed it was a number of weapons he used on his victims and that the focus should be on the mental health aspects.
“I wonder if I missed something,” Blackwell said. “My understanding is that some of his victims were stabbed to death. Other of his victims were hit by a car that he was driving and all of a sudden, one weapon is in fact under attack and not only is it under attack, people are talking about stepping on the constitutional rights of law-biding people.”
“We had a deprived individual and some people might say not only was he narcissistic, that he was also mentally disturbed,” he continued. “We don’t know that yet, but what we do know is people seem to be concerned is the information that was kept from the public based on his First Amendment rights and all of a sudden, the conversation is going to go to the constitutional rights of law-biding citizens, when the weapons that were used by this individual were a car, a knife and guns. Let’s talk about what it is in our system that doesn’t flag this sort of personality early in the process.”
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20. [CA] Ex-NFL Star: More law-abiding citizens with guns could have stopped CA attack
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Member Walter Jackson emailed me this:
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From breitbart.com: http://tinyurl.com/nzougel
EX-NFL STAR: MORE LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS WITH GUNS COULD HAVE STOPPED CA ATTACKS
by AWR HAWKINS
May 28, 2014
Ex-NFL star Lito Sheppard says Elliot Rodger's ability to prey on University of California-Santa Barbara students would have been greatly diminished "if more people were legally carrying guns." The disturbed narcissist killed seven students, including himself, over the holiday weekend.
Speaking to TMZ, Sheppard said:
If you were in a situation like this, and you had more legal gun carriers with you, you could stop it. [Just] like, if you were in a mall and someone started shooting and you had some good people with guns there, you might be able to stop them. Or maybe you would lose only one person or two people instead of like 100.
TMZ asked if the attacks should result in tougher gun laws and he said: "It doesn't make any sense to make it tougher for responsible citizens to get guns."
Sheppard also spoke to how the criminal will always have guns and how more gun laws against law-abiding citizens simply increases the pool of guns in the "black market" for bad people.
Sheppard last competed in the NFL during the 2011 season. He played for ten years in the league primarily for the Eagles, with stints on the Jets, Raiders, and Vikings. The cornerback appeared in two Pro Bowls and boasts two 100-plus-yard pick-six returns.
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21. [WA] Seattle cops cite 2nd amendment in lawsuit vs city
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A court case that might shed light on the right to self-defense.
From examiner.com: http://tinyurl.com/l5pdrda
Seattle cops’ 2A argument in lawsuit v. city, DOJ an interesting point
by Dave Workman
May 29, 2014
When nearly one-tenth of the Seattle Police Department’s commissioned officers yesterday filed a federal lawsuit against the city and the Department of Justice over the new federally-mandated use-of-force policy, they made an argument that the guidelines violated the Second Amendment, and gun rights advocates should pay attention to that.
The document, posted by the Seattle Times online, notes on Page 15, “When a police officer is confronted with threatening behavior, he or she has the fundamental, individual right of self-defense under the Second Amendment, consistent with every other citizen, to protect himself or herself, and others, from apparent and immediate harm.”
KVI’s morning drive time host John Carlson, whose father was a police officer, was hot on this lawsuit Thursday morning. He discussed it several times during his four-hour broadcast, defending the officers’ action. It is being covered not only by the Seattle Times, but the Seattle P-I.com, KCPQ and other local news agencies, but this lawsuit could have national implications, because, as Carlson puts it, the number of plaintiffs makes this unprecedented.
“As the Court has long recognized,” the lawsuit asserts, “the rules that define and determine self-defense are of universal application and are not affected by the character of a person's employment. Indeed, where employees have a duty to protect others, their right to defend themselves and others is arguably enhanced.”
The lawsuit further contends, “However, distinct from the Fourth Amendment standard of ‘objective reasonableness’ is a long tradition of self-defense law that establishes a ‘reasonable’ belief standard. As such, there need only be ‘reasonable grounds’ for a person's belief that he or she is in imminent or immediate danger at the time of the acts in self-defense or defense of others.”
In legal and self-defense circles, this is known generically as the “reasonable man doctrine.” It is a cornerstone of Washington State’s self-defense statute. It amounts to allowing an act of self-defense, including the use of lethal force, on the principle that any reasonable person would do the same thing, facing the same set of circumstances, knowing what you knew at the time.
“Like objective reasonableness,” the lawsuit contends, “the reasonable belief standard does not rest on the ‘actual facts’ of the situation, but rather on the ‘apparent danger’ perceived by the individual acting in defense of self or others. Moreover, under the Second Amendment, the more serious the apparent danger perceived at the moment of self-defense or defense of others, the less detached or ‘objective’ the test of reasonableness has to be.”
Named as defendants in the case are several people, including former anti-gun Mayor Mike McGinn, who was in office when the federal investigation of SPD’s use-of-force was initiated. Since leaving office, McGinn has been out of the spotlight. This could bring him back.
While Seattle Times readers seem to be leaning against the 125 officers who filed the complaint, gun rights activists may hope the lawsuit has traction. If a court were to uphold the lawsuit, it would include the argument that the Second Amendment means what it says, and that it encompasses, without specifically spelling it out, an individual right of self-defense, as explained in the 2008 Heller and 2010 McDonald rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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22. Four people shot at Jewish Museum in Belgium
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Member Jay Davis sent me this:
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A "mass shooting" in Belgium this weekend. This won't make heavy rotation because they have very strict gun control in Belgium, so the fact that it happened doesn't fit the anti-gun agenda. Instead it proves gun control won't save people from psychopaths who aim to cause harm.
From bignewsnetwork.com: http://tinyurl.com/mrvawlj
People shot dead while walking through Jewish museum
by Big News Network
May 24, 2014
A Jewish museum in Belgium has been targeted by a supposed anti-Semitic man.
Three people died at the scene, and a fourth person was critically wounded after the Jewish Museum of Belgium was entered by the lone gunman.
No suspect has been detained in the murders as he was able to quickly drive away from the scene.
The gunman, who was carrying a backpack, entered the museum and opened fire.
The deaths were later confirmed by Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, who was near the museum when the shooting took place.
He quickly went to the venue to discover two victims lying in the museum lobby.
Others, he was told, were still inside the building.
Two Israelis, Emanuel and Miriam Riva, a middle aged holiday from Tel Aviv, and a French woman who was a volunteer at the museum were killed instantly. A Belgian man in his 20s who worked on the museum's reception desk was seriously injured and is fighting for his life in hospital. On Sunday a number of media outlets reported the man had died, however a Belgium Federal Magistrate, Wenke Roggen, confirmed the man was alive but "in very critical condition."
The mayor of the city of Brussels appeared on television saying because the attack happened inside the Jewish Museum an investigation would be held into anti-semitic implications.
Interior Minister Joelle Milquet told reporters that a strong presumption that the shooting was an anti-semitic attack would remain until other proof could be ascertained.
She said it was unlikely the attack was random.
Belgian police are looking for the car in which the gunman escaped.
They have details of the make and number of the vehicle, which was seen speeding off by witnesses.
Pope Francis who is visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories said he was deeply saddened by the killings. "My thoughts go out to those who lost their lives in the attack in Brussels," he said Sunday. "I entrust the victims to God."
Belgium Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo condemned the attack. "In Belgium we are not accustomed to such acts of barbarity," he said.
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23. Hilarious: clueless reporter becomes a laughing stock on gun issue
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This is one reason I encourage reporters who want to write stories on guns to at least go to the range and shoot a gun. That way they have some vague idea what they are writing about.
A hapless reporter was actually trying to confirm on Twitter that certain items in a photo were “rubber bullets.”
The problem? Those items were earplugs!
CAUTION: the merciless response from gun owners will destroy your funny bone. Mine still hurts.
Thanks to member Thomas Carroll for the link:
http://www.ijreview.com/2014/08/169042- ... -ridicule/
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24. VCDL EM: Lessons learned on gun rights from 30+ years living in Connecticut
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From EM Dave Knight in Radford:
A lesson learned from 30+ years living in Connecticut
After the CT "Pistol Permit" law was enacted in the early 1960s to restrict carrying concealed handguns to those who jumped thru the hoops and paid the fee (tax on liberty), a perception developed that open carry was somehow illegal, despite there being no statute restricting it.
When I became a NRA Instructor in 1992, this misperception was so well established that the CT Board of Firearm Permit Examiners published a Q & A booklet for Pistol Permit holders claiming that it was illegal for a permit holder to allow a lawfully-concealed handgun to be "observed". Of course, no one questioned them, as they were the final arbiters of disputes and denials!
Some time later, I inquired of the State Police whether open carry was legal, and was told that "it was legal, but we'll arrest anyone who does so for disturbing the peace". Local police (in Newtown and Prospect, CT, where I knew the chiefs) said that open-carry was 100% legal, and they would not have a problem if they saw someone open-carrying.
Then in 2010, a soldier was arrested for "allowing his [lawfully carried] sidearm to be observed", which apparently caused the staff and customers of a pizza restaurant to panic! Despite much weeping & gnashing of “gummint" teeth, the case was dismissed (with prejudice IIRC).
Nevertheless, while it is still legal to open carry in CT, and while CT is listed in most places as an "open carry state", most residents will not do so for fear of an overreaching State Police and the vast number of perpetually-angry anti-self-defense head-cases roaming the state looking to complain about anyone who open carries. We've seen some of those at VCDL booths as recently as Steppin Out...
Since I left the People’s Republic of Connecticut in 2004, the gun laws there have gotten horrendously worse, to the point of driving some gun-related businesses and many residents to move to other states. For example:
Ammunition Certificates
Effective October 1, 2013
If you do not intend to purchase anymore firearms
after October 1, 2013 but would like to continue to
purchase ammunition, you will be required to pos-
sess a Ammunition Certificate, or be listed as an
exempted person, i.e., police officer. You must ap-
ply on a form DESPP-417C, and come to one of the
DESPP permit offices to have your photograph
taken. The fee is $35.00 for a 5 year certificate and
your renewal will be sent 90 days prior to expiration.
Really???
There, but for the grace of those willing to open-carry and risk ridicule by hoplophobic antis and harassment by over-zealous or ignorant LEOS, go we-the-people!
Although I carry discretely much of the time, (for tactical reasons), I am increasing the time I spend OCing, for the reasons stated above. It would really be a shame if VA went the way of CT because law-abiding gun owners, especially VCDL members and supporters, didn't care enough to OC at least some of the time!
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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/]