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1. Pro-gun bills clear committee on Friday and head to House Floor!
2. Another look at two legislative issues: lifetime CHPs and misdemeanor domestic violence
3. Sadly the Virginia State Police are becoming nothing more than a lobbying arm of the antis
4. VCDL in the news. Cliff's notes: antis not happy
5. More on the Sig wrist brace controversy
6. Short Pump Pour House - not just an anti-gun restaurant, the owner is actively belligerent to gun owners
7. Bloomberg's puppets get their lunch handed to them by a murder victim's sister
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1. Pro-gun bills clear committee on Friday and head to House Floor!
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All the pro-gun bills that were reported out of the Militia, Police, and Public Safety subcommittee on Thursday, were reported out of full committee on Friday morning. They now head to the House Floor. These are the bills that reported out Friday:
HB 1329, Delegate Ware, R. Lee, Jr., changes the concealed handgun law to honor the concealed handgun permits from all other states if the permit holder is at least 21 years old. The out-of-state permit holder will have to also show government-issued photo-identification at the request of a law-enforcement officer. By honoring all other states, Virginia permits will be honored in more states, including Georgia, New Hampshire, and Colorado. Eighteen other states already honor all permits.
HB 2009, Delegate LaRock, requires the chief law-enforcement officer to certify a request for the transfer of a firearm that is covered under the National Firearms Act (NFA), unless the officer knows the person receiving the firearms is prohibited from doing so. This bill will make ownership of NFA firearms uniform across the state. Currently the chief law-enforcement officers in some jurisdictions refuse to do any such certification, while others do them as a matter of course.
HB 2029, Delegate Wilt, re-appropriates concealed handgun permit fees between the Circuit Court Clerk and law enforcement. It also requires a National Instant Check System background check be done on concealed handgun permit holders, which will then allow the permit holders to purchase firearms without needing a background check, as per federal law.
HB 2214, Delegate Rush, lays out some particulars on how a felon’s gun rights are restored and allows for an appeal.
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2. Another look at two legislative issues: lifetime CHPs and misdemeanor domestic violence
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We decided there had to be two permits if we went with a lifetime permit:
1. A lifetime permit, that would still require a NICS check if a holder purchased a firearm, and
2. Our current five-year permit, which would include a NICS check during the application process, but which could be used to purchase a firearm without needing a NICS check
The State Police are saying that there would be a large fiscal impact on the lifetime permit (which we dispute), and Senator Dick Black's lifetime permit bill is going to die in the Senate Finance committee for lack of funds. The House version of the bill introduced by Delegate Campbell was also killed this year for similar reasons.
I expect the effort to get a lifetime CHP will continue next year.
On the misdemeanor domestic violence front, it turns out that the Courts have ruled that for a person to get their gun rights back after a conviction of misdemeanor domestic violence, the state has to first take away the person's gun rights and OTHER CIVIL RIGHTS and then restore all of those rights. Basically, the misdemeanor has to be treated like a felony. Thus, the bills that purported to restore a person's gun rights after taking them away at the state level, WILL NOT WORK AS ADVERTISED.
Thus, Senator Favola's SB 943 is a completely bad bill and I expect it to die in the Senate.
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3. Sadly the Virginia State Police are becoming nothing more than a lobbying arm of the antis
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The first time I saw the State Police lobbying for gun control was during the Kaine Administration, when the Colonel personally addressed the House Militia, Police, and Public Safety full committee in favor of a bill to close the non-existent "gun show loophole." There was no doubt then that Kaine had ordered the Colonel to do that and the Colonel had no choice in the matter.
During the McDonnell Administration, the State Police stayed neutral, only offering technical assistance to committee when asked for it. THAT is how it should be.
But with the McAuliffe Administration it is now worse than ever! On virtually every pro-gun bill, the State Police representative speaks against the bill and on every anti-gun bill the representative speaks for the bill.
Late last year, the State Police suddenly decided to reinterpret laws dealing with gun shows that would have put a massive burden on gun shows and would have taken away the privacy of gun show attendees. Fortunately, after some push back, the State Police dropped that effort.
The State Police are not even close to being impartial any more. I understand that the State Police work for the Governor and has to do what they are told. But the net effect is that now they are just another set of political hacks with an agenda.
I am NOT talking about the rank-and-file at all. They continue to do a great job enforcing laws and we rarely run into any negative issues with them.
I AM talking about the leadership of the State Police.
You'll love this one: the current Administration is doubling-down and Delegate Gilbert called them out on it at Friday's Militia, Police, and Public Safety committee hearing!
During the hearing, the State Police spoke against Delegate Ware's bill that would honor all other CHPs and get our permits recognized by Georgia, New Hampshire, and Colorado.
No sooner had Governor McAuliffe’s state police spokesman sat down, then here comes a representative of the Virginia Public Safety and Homeland Security department. She says that her department agrees with the State Police.
At this point, Gilbert has had enough.
He asks the Public Safety rep, "Isn't it true that your department TELLS the Virginia State Police what policies they will have?"
The rep looks confused and uncomfortable all of a sudden. She quietly says, "Yes."
"So you order the State Police to take a position in front of the committee and then you come up here and say you are in agreement with the State Police, which means you are in agreement with your own position?"
The rep was clearly not very happy as she walked away from the podium.
When Gilbert is on his game, you really don't want to be on the other side.
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4. VCDL in the news. Cliff's notes: antis not happy
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http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/20 ... fter-hours
or
http://tinyurl.com/q2v85th
Senate strikes down law to allow concealed carry on school property
Legislation faced bipartisan opposition
The Virginia Senate moved Monday to strike down Senate Bill 1132 , a bill
which would have allowed individuals to carry concealed handguns on school
property outside of regular hours.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Tom Garrett, R-Buckingham, and lost in a vote
of 18 to 20. Three Republicans joined the Democratic opposition.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ ... story.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/nsu3s24
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Antis are mad that the General Assembly decided not to disarm someone in the own home because someone else got an all-to-easy-to-get protective order against them.
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/a ... b1fbd.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/ok8o5bq
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And one anti-freedom activist quoted in the story makes an inane comment about gun groups using the Second Amendment too often to push their agenda. If the antis had the Constitution on their side, they'd be shoving it down our throats every few milliseconds.
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/20 ... fter-hours
or
http://tinyurl.com/q2v85th
Senate strikes down law to allow concealed carry on school property
by Ella Shoup | Feb 06 2015 | 02/06/15 1:02am
The Virginia Senate moved Monday to strike down Senate Bill 1132 , a bill which would have allowed individuals to carry concealed handguns on school property outside of regular hours.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Tom Garrett, R-Buckingham, and lost in a vote of 18 to 20. Three Republicans joined the Democratic opposition.
Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, said she opposed the bill and felt passing the bill would have made dangerous environments around schools.
“Allowing guns onto school property will make our children less safe,” Favola said in a press release. “I don’t doubt the good intentions of lawful concealed carriers, but accidents happen and firearms can kill. Instead of tempting fate by bringing guns into schools, we should be working to enact common-sense laws that keep guns out of the hands of small children, criminals and the mentally ill.”
Lori Haas, Virginia state director for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, said the often-cited second amendment right to bear arms is a tool often employed by gun lobbyists to advance their case. [PVC: Oh, please tell me that Lori didn't actually say that! That's like saying, "Religious organizations and the media use the often-cited First Amendment to advance their case." Why would anybody use specific constitutional protections to advance their case, Lori?]
“If you’re going to ask the question, ‘Do you support taking guns away and tramping on the second amendment?’ people are going to say no,” Haas said. “But if you ask the question, ‘Do you think that convicted criminals, domestic abusers should have firearms?’ everybody is going to say no.”
Haas said she is confident Virginia will enact safer gun laws in the future.
“The average, everyday citizen understands what we’re trying to do make our families safer and our neighborhoods safer,” Haas said. “Its not an either-or proposition, as the gun lobbyists like to make it.”
Since coming into office, Gov. Terry McAuliffe has introduced a series of gun violence prevention reforms. One such bill, approved by the Virginia Senate Courts of Justice Monday is SB 1441. If passed by the House, it will allow individuals without a federal firearms license to ask state police to conduct on-site background checks on purchasers at Virginia gun shows.
SB 1132 faced support along party lines in addition to support from the National Rifle Association and the Virginia Citizens Defense League. VCDL President Phillip Van Cleave said firearms rights advocates are growing in number and becoming more politically vocal.
“We’re still on a strong upswing in terms of the number of people who favor firearms rights,” Van Cleave said. “We now have 400,000 permit holders, and the number of gun holders go beyond that. The movement to protect gun rights is very strong. The vote was very close.”
Van Cleave said the VCDL will be working this upcoming year to send more firearms rights bills to the legislature. He said one initiative would expand the right to carry concealed firearms on college campuses. Liberty University already permits all students, faculty and staff to carry concealed weapons.
“We want to do that for all universities,” Van Cleave said. “If you have a permit, you can do it. You have to be 21. These are the good guys, you want them around.”
However, Haas said the academic community is against the movement to bring guns to schools — one of the many reasons why the bill failed.
“The K-12 schools are currently gun-free zones, so most of the school systems were opposed to this bill,” Haas said. “Firearms have no place on the playground.”
Some University students voiced opposition to the idea of allowing concealed weapons on Grounds. Third-year college student Henry Reynolds said it would not benefit the community.
“I don’t think that the bill would promote the general welfare of the community,” Reynolds said. “I think Virginia should have background checks for firearms.”
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5. More on the Sig wrist brace controversy
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I got this on the Sig arm brace for handguns from Matthew J. Bergstrom with Arsenal Attorneys:
--
I wanted to draw your attention to the news on SIG-style arm or wrist braces reported in a previous Update.
The information in that report is based on a November 2014 ATF letter; however ATF subsequently revoked that letter to adopt a broader and more restrictive position as of January 2015.
Bottom line: no brace may be shouldered without first registering that firearm as a short barrel rifle or a short barrel shotgun assuming the wrist brace thereby becomes a shoulder stock and all other criteria for an SBR or SBS are satisfied.
So if you’re like the many people who have an AR pistol with a wrist brace and a barrel less than 16” long, that firearm may not be shouldered without first obtaining a tax stamp to make it a short barrel rifle. ATF could have gone a bridge too far, but for now gun owners should be cautious. The full text of the January 2015 ATF letter can be found here:
https://www.arsenalattorneys.com/blog/a ... -tax-stamp
or
http://tinyurl.com/jwro358
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6. Short Pump Pour House - not just an anti-gun restaurant, the owner is actively belligerent to gun owners
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From member Joe Cacciotti:
I have been defending the Right to own and carry a gun, open or concealed, and have been criticized for my defense by the Owner of Short Pump Pour House (Bobby Walsh).
I asked him if he allows his customers to bring guns into his sports bar.
Here, in his own words is his answer, which is NO. Maybe his customers may want to support a sports bar that does support the 2nd Amendment and the Right to own and carry.
"Joe we do not allow them here nor at any place I have managed. Making fun of you is much more relevant than answering the stuff you have learned to parrot. Your understanding is severely limited and it shows. Your comments make a mockery of the idea that you are"debating" the issue. No one I know walks around all day afraid of their shadow so they don't need a gun. The Second Admendment does not give the right of 34% of the population to hold the other 66% as hostage to their raving paranoia."
Here's the restaurant's Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/ShortPumpPourHouse?pnref=story
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7. Bloomberg's puppets get their lunch handed to them by a murder victim's sister
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Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people. They pray for people to be murdered with a firearm so they can dance in the blood of the victim as they push their gun-grabbing agenda.
While they got their wish for a murder, they didn't plan on what happened next when they tried to "recruit" the victim's sister, who had no interest in being their puppet. There is audio and video included on the web site.
http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/02/04/m ... phone-call
or
http://tinyurl.com/nm275n4
Anti-Gun Group Calls Murder Victim's Sister & Gets a Shocking Message
As seen on Fox and Friends
An anti-gun group reached out to a murder victim's sister to support a push for more gun control laws in Oregon.
Her response left a shocked anti-gun representative sputtering and backtracking.
In 2013, 27-year-old Jessie Doyle was shot and killed by her estranged husband, Josh Cavett.
The anti-gun organization Everytown for Gun Safety reached out to Doyle's sister, Jennie Cochran, assuming that she would support their cause.
Audio of a phone call between Cochran and Ann Wright of Everytown for Gun Safety shows just how wrong that assumption was.
In the call, Wright asked if Cochran would feel comfortable sharing her story so people would understand the need for stronger gun laws.
"I'm very pro-gun, as is Jessie, so I would really hope that you guys don't use her story for anything," Cochran responded. "Because the only thing that would have saved her was a gun."
On "Fox and Friends" this morning, Cochran explained that there's no way the police would have been able to respond in time to prevent her sister's murder.
"[Cavett] is a felon. He's gonna have a gun, and the only thing that would have leveled it out is if she had one too," she said.
"It was already illegal for him to have a gun. He was a felon ... they're gonna get them. There's a black market out there and they're always gonna have them."
Cochran told Brian Kilmeade that she didn't want the anti-gun group to take her sister's story and use it to create more victims.
"When they push for more gun laws, they're creating a society of victims," she explained.
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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/]