Important update Fredericksburg, Alexandria, Gloucster, more

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VA-ALERT: VCDL - Important update Fredericksburg, Alexandria, Gloucester, more

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Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html
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Things have exploded on a whole range of fronts over the last week, and VCDL is on top of all of them.

1. Alexandria PD has just removed the "no weapons" sign from the door of their building!
2. VCDL files injunction against Fredericksburg gun buy-up, fails on technicality
3. Gloucester has illegal gun ordinance on their books
4. Gloucester Sheriff puts up and retracts flyer on the legality of Tannerite

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1. Alexandria PD has just removed the "no weapons" sign from the door of their building!
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I have just received notice from a member that the Alexandria police department has just removed the illegal "no weapons" sticker from the doors on their building!

No sooner did I write the above sentence, then my cell phone range and it was the Alexandria Chief of Police, Earl L. Cook.

We had a pleasant conversation about the recent issues with Alexandria. He was polite and professional and emphasized to me that his department is in no way unsupportive of the gun rights of citizens. He said he ordered the "no weapons" sign taken down. Citizens can carry in all the public areas in the station, including areas for documents, fingerprinting, etc. Metal detectors remain for those who are going into the secure area of the building, where all doors are locked and visitors need to be escorted.

The Chief also said that his officers were sent to the same locations they visited with the original flyer to present the new flyer instead. He acknowledged that there is no way to guarantee that the new flyers made it into all the same hands that the old flyer went into.

Finally the Chief assured me that 911 operators would also be trained on handling calls on someone open carrying.

The Chief and I agreed to keep an open line of communication directly to each other.

The issue of the "no weapons" sign on the door is now closed as far as VCDL is concerned.

We STILL have issues to bring up tomorrow morning at the Alexandria City Council hearing:

1. I need to inform City Council that damage was unfortunately done by misinforming the public on Virginia gun laws by officers in full uniform. That misinformation could lead to unnecessary and dangerous confrontations between police and lawfully-armed-citizens. I will add that Chief Cook had his officers trying to go back to where the old flyers were handed out and provide the new replacement. I will also say that the Chief said he is making sure his officers and 911 operators are up to speed on open carry.

2. Any such flyer should have been thoroughly vetted before it was released, a vetting that was only applied to the new flyer. Again, to his credit, the Chief said he has learned his lesson on that issue and it won't happen again.

3. George McAndrews, who works for the City Attorney's office, told VCDL EM Ed Levine that the City would NOT be removing the "no weapons" sign on the police department's doors. Those signs WERE removed, but who is Mr. McAndrews to be speaking on behalf of the City making such a definitive statement? He said, "We are not going to allow guns into our police department. We just are not." Audio of the conversation is here and is one of the reasons that VCDL was originally gearing up for a lawsuit:

From soundcloud.com: http://tinyurl.com/pdqaj45

4. VCDL will also provide 500 VCDL Carry Cards, which summarize Virginia carry laws, for the Alexandria police officers free of charge. The Chief agreed that the cards would be useful to his officers.

VCDL, the Alexandria PD did fix the flyer and put out a contrite statement about it. The PD made mistakes, but have reached out to VCDL and gun owners. We appreciate Chief Cook's honesty and professionalism in dealing with the issues. After Saturday's City Council meeting we will move on and hopefully have a good working relationship with Alexandria, just as we currently enjoy with other localities.

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EM Ed Levine filled in for me on Fox 5 News in DC this morning and I thank him for that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0DVuV9_UKk


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2. VCDL files in junction agains Fredericksburg gun buy-up, fails on technicality
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VCDL filed an emergency injunction to block the City of Fredericksburg from performing an illegal gun buy-up on Saturday. Fredericksburg plans on destroying any guns that are handed over to the police, but the law requires any such guns are offered at auction to gun dealers. Fredericksburg also has no ordinance allowing the City to participate in the event, something also required by the law.

Our attorney, Robert Herron (not Robert Herron, our statewide gun show coordinator), EM Patricia Webb (an FFL), and I were present in court.

The City definitely did NOT want to get into the actual merits of the case, so they argued on a technicality that VCDL didn't have standing as an organization in that particular code section and they claimed that VCDL should also have sued the person who was donating the $100 for each gun sold.

It turned out the judge's hands were tied by a previous Supreme Court ruling and he had to deny our injunction based on lack of standing and for not having brought the money donor into the lawsuit.

The law does't say anything about the donor being responsible for how the locality handles the buy-up, so it didn't seem that the donor needed to be brought into the suit.

Filing the injunction was worthwhile as we did learn that the current law (15.2-915.5) needs to be changed to be like the preemption law (15.2-915), which gives a group like VCDL standing and to provides that legal fees could be reimbursed by the locality if they lose in court. We are working to get such a bill introduced in the General Assembly for this January. Stay tuned.

Finally, the City made a motion that VCDL reimburse the City for its legal fees, claiming our injunction was frivolous. The judge rejected the City's motion, saying that he did not believe the injunction as frivolous.


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3. Gloucester has illegal gun ordinance on their books
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Gloucester has the following ordinance on the books:

• Sec. 13.5-5. - Concealed weapons prohibited.

Unauthorized persons shall not carry concealed weapons, nor shall they have on or about their person dangerous or deadly weapons other than firearms, in public park and recreational facilities.

(Ord. of 3-5-2002)

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I contacted the Gloucester County Attorney and told him the ordinance was not allowed by law and had been preempted. The County Attorney, however, said he disagrees and will NOT recommend the ordinance be repealed.

I have sent an email to the Board of Supervisors advising them of the ordinance, the law, and indicated that we would prefer to solve this problem directly rather than in court. The ordinance needs to be repealed.

I also contacted the Gloucester Parks department and they are planning on putting up new signs soon and those signs will not mention guns, unlike their current sign, which quotes the above illegal ordinance.

Depending on the response from the Board of Supervisors, I may or may not have an action item. For now, we will just stand by.


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4. Gloucster Sheriff puts up and then retracts flyer on the legality of Tannerite
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The Glouster Sheriff posted a flyer on his Facebook page yesterday which said that setting off Tannerite was a felony.

EM Ed Levine contacted the Sheriff's office by email and pointed to a recent Attorney General opinion that Tannerite was NOT illegal.

The Sheriff responded positively and apologetically, stating that he was unaware of the AG opinion, and that the flyer was removed from the web site.

Bottom line - using tannerite as it was intended is perfectly legal in Virginia.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Once the two parts of Tannerite are mixed, then and only then, is it illegal to transport Tannerite. Mix them and use the mixture up while at the range.

All nicely done and It was mostly over by the time I learned of the issue. This issue is now closed as the Sheriff took responsibility for the mistake and fixed the problem. That's the way to do it.

Here is Sheriff Darrell W. Warren Jr.'s email to Ed:

Our office had heard of exploding targets being an issue in Hanover County and I believe they released a flier on the subject. Our office responded to two calls last weekend with complaints about some type of explosion occurring near their homes. When the deputies met with the individuals who were target practicing, they learned that the targets were the source of the neighbors’ concerns and they cleared the scene. Unfortunately, none of us here were familiar with the AG’s opinion on this issue so we issued the bulletin in an effort to educate citizens and prevent harm to anyone who participates in the activity. Now that you have made us aware, we have removed the posting from our Facebook page and we have shared the opinion with all of our deputies.

I can assure you that I fully support the 2nd Amendment and when I hear or read that an armed citizen has defended themselves or another from a would be attacker, two words come to mind, “Crime Prevention.”




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(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.

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