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 THIS Thursday, August 20th
2. RTD article on celebratory gun fire
3. Enter the VCDL Poster Contest for Lobby Day 2016
4. VCDL working to fix “no weapons” sign in Wythe County park
5. Reminder: Time to renew your membership!
6. Irony and Elitism: Danville Tank Museum bans guns
7. Interesting stats: Gun-loving Virginia ranks 49th out of 50 states and DC in violent crime rate
8. Thanks to Dale City gun show volunteers
9. A high-risk restaurant to avoid in Chesterfield: Bailey’s
10. Military NOT going to charge armed Navy officer who shot back at recruitment center attacker
11. Racist attack on NRA by gun-haters
12. John Lott demolishes another “study”
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1. VCDL Membership meeting THIS Thursday, August 20th
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VCDL will have its monthly membership meeting at the Mason Government Center in Annandale, Thursday, August 20th. The meeting will be called to order at 8 PM, but fellowship starts at 7:30 PM. The meeting will adjourn to a local restaurant for continued fellowship at 9:30 PM.
We will be discussing recent events affecting gun rights in Virginia, as well as discussing tactical issues dealing with self-defense, and much more!
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
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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2. RTD article on celebratory gun fire
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http://www.richmond.com/news/local/arti ... f3a78.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/ngavejw
Virginia law aimed at punishing celebratory gunfire not being used as intended
By MARK BOWES Richmond Times-Dispatch
A new state law designed to punish more severely those who shoot and injure someone by firing a gun in celebration was not used for its intended purpose during the law’s first year but has been the basis of other firearm prosecutions.
The statute — originally dubbed “Brendon’s Law” in remembrance of Brendon Mackey, the 7-year-old Chesterfield County boy killed accidentally by gunfire at a fireworks show on July 4, 2013 — has been used 11 times statewide, and none of those charged fired a gun in celebration, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch analysis of court records.
The defendants were charged with felony reckless handling of a firearm causing serious injury in a variety of other situations, such as accidentally shooting and wounding someone while mishandling a gun or inadvertently shooting and killing a neighbor while target practicing.
Several people also were charged with the offense in connection with more serious crimes, such as malicious wounding, involuntary manslaughter and even murder. The defendants in those cases were charged with multiple offenses, and authorities tacked on a charge of felony reckless handling of a firearm as an ancillary offense.
The General Assembly passed the law in 2014, ostensibly as a means to deter people from firing guns in celebration during holidays and other events, and to punish with a felony conviction those who carelessly discharge weapons and severely hurt a bystander.
Brendon was killed by a randomly fired bullet that struck him on the top of his head while walking with his father at the Brandermill fireworks show.
While the investigation remains open, police have not disclosed any new leads after months of investigation that included forensically testing several weapons and going door-to-door in the area where experts believe the bullet could have been fired.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe supported the bill as a “common-sense measure to keep Virginians safe,” but skeptics questioned whether the law in its original form — two key provisions eventually were removed — was a duplication of existing laws and could be enforced effectively.
“The fact that nobody’s been arrested doesn’t surprise me,” said Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, the state’s leading gun rights organization.
“It’s a difficult thing to catch, in the first place. But I still don’t believe it’s actually going to make a difference whatsoever in somebody firing a gun in celebratory fashion.”
Van Cleave, who was opposed to the original bill but supported the revised version signed into law, said it does help close a loophole that didn’t address situations where “somebody knowingly and maliciously mishandles a firearm and ends up seriously hurting somebody.”
“So in that sense, we were OK with the law,” Van Cleave said. “Because laws are there to punish people for doing things they shouldn’t — especially if they know they shouldn’t — and end up harming people.
“But to say that this was really aimed at celebratory gunfire is laughable,” he said. “It won’t stop people from firing in the air. And to imply that now Virginia will be safer is baloney.”
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Andrew Goddard, legislative director of the Virginia Center for Public Safety and one of the state’s leading gun control advocates, said he also was not surprised that no one has been prosecuted under the law for celebratory gunfire.
Goddard believes the lack of prosecutions can be attributed in part to the absence of the words “celebratory gunfire” in the language of the watered-down bill passed into law, or language that clearly articulates the illegality of indiscriminately firing a gun with no designated target.
“The family of Brendon (Mackey) who brought the bill to the General Assembly were very keen on getting the language into the law that would specify celebratory gunfire,” Goddard said.
“But the law as written did not do that. So we didn’t really get — if you want to be very technical — Brendon’s Law.”
Consequently, “nobody’s really been told that that’s what they should be prosecuting in a clear and concise way,” he said.
Even if the law had passed with celebratory gunfire language included, Goddard said he wasn’t expecting a large number of prosecutions. “It is incredibly difficult to catch people doing it, because once it’s been done, they can blend away and you can’t trace the bullets.”
Goddard said the main objective he expected the law to accomplish was to spread the message that indiscriminately firing a gun in celebration is not only “stupid and dangerous” but also illegal.
But like Van Cleave, Goddard said he believes the law has had some beneficial effect in prosecuting people who mishandle firearms or use them irresponsibly.
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The new law, though, seemingly has done little to deter people from randomly firing guns, in celebration or otherwise — at least in the Richmond area.
Precisely one year after Brendon was killed in Chesterfield, county police received eight calls of reported gunfire during a 12-hour period between 6 p.m. on July 4, 2014, and 6 a.m. on July 5. In nearby Richmond, police responded to 49 reports of random gunfire during the same period.
This past July Fourth, Richmond received 60 calls of reported gunfire and Chesterfield received 11 calls, but the county’s numbers covered the three-day holiday period.
Brendon’s mother, Marie Harris, said she was somewhat disappointed that the law hasn’t been used in celebratory gunfire shootings.
“I thought the law was specifically for celebratory gunfire — if somebody shoots into the air and injures somebody, that they will be charged with a felony,” Harris said. “I did not know they would use the law in other ways.
“When (the law) came out, and I read it for the first time, I just initially thought it was a useless law,” said Harris, who emphasized that other family members actively pushed for the law.
However, Harris said those charged under the law in situations where they were “playing with guns or fiddling with it just for amusement and it goes off and hits somebody” would be an appropriate application.
“That would be a situation where I’d feel more like the law did work as it was intended,” she said.
Former state Sen. Henry L. Marsh III, D-Richmond, now retired, said at the time he proposed the law that existing statutes didn’t work to deter the conduct of people randomly firing guns in celebration.
Two key provisions were removed from Marsh’s original bill by a House criminal laws subcommittee.
The first provision would have made a death resulting from celebratory gunfire a Class 5 felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison; the second would have made celebratory gunfire resulting in no death or injury a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Some legislators argued there were laws already in place that essentially covered those situations — involuntary manslaughter when a death occurs and misdemeanor reckless handling of a firearm in the other scenario.
The provision that was passed and signed into law says anyone who handles a firearm “in a manner so gross, wanton and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life and causes serious bodily injury of another person resulting in permanent and significant physical impairment” is guilty of a Class 6 felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
In the first year the law has been in effect, from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015, authorities in eight localities have used the law 11 times to charge people with offenses related to the reckless handing of a firearm resulting in injury.
In Loudoun County, Roanoke and twice in Norfolk, police charged residents who accidentally fired guns while playing with or mishandling them, with rounds striking and injuring people nearby.
In Prince George County, police charged a man who accidentally shot himself while cleaning the weapon, but authorities said they did so because he was a convicted felon and cannot legally possess a firearm.
Petersburg police charged a Hopewell teenager under the law after he and his friends exchanged gunfire with another group of young men outside the Skate Factory on South Crater Road on Nov. 12. A teenage girl was struck and critically injured in the crossfire.
And in another Petersburg case, a man whom police charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a city man Dec. 31 also was charged under the new law with wounding a second man in the same incident.
Police in Norfolk and the counties of Surry and Lunenburg used the law to charge men who intentionally shot, or fired at, victims during verbal or physical confrontations.
In what may be the most bizarre case involving the law, a Shenandoah County man was charged after authorities said he was conducting target practice in his yard and a stray bullet entered a neighbor’s home and killed her.
“He was target practicing at a residence,” Shenandoah sheriff’s Capt. Wes Dellinger said.
Shawn Jason Nicely also was charged with involuntary manslaughter. He is scheduled to be tried in October.
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3. Enter the VCDL Poster Contest for Lobby Day 2016
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VCDL is going to have a contest for a poster for VCDL to print and distribute promoting VCDL Lobby Day 2016, which is on Monday, January 18, 2016 at the General Assembly building in Richmond (9th and Broad Streets).
If you have a creative side and would like to make a submission, just email me your entry to president@vcdl.org by September 30th. The poster should fit on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper.
The VCDL Board of Directors will announce the winner in October.
Besides bragging rights for being the author of the official poster, the winner will get a $100 gift certificate either at Walmart or a gun store of your choice. An ammo purchase would be a good use of that gift certificate!
IMPORTANT NOTES: You must be a VCDL member to participate - if you have it handy, include your membership number with your submission. Members of the VCDL Board of Directors and their families are not eligible to participate.
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4. VCDL working to fix “no weapons” sign in Wythe County park
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Member Chad Kidd discovered illegal “No weapons” wording on a sign near the entrance of Ager Park in Wythe County. Similar wording is also found on the County’s web site (Item #5 at the bottom of the page says “Firearms and fireworks are prohibited”):
http://www.wytheco.org/index.php/parks- ... -park.html
Chad contacted the County parks people, but got no reaction and notified VCDL.
I contacted the County Attorney, pointing out such a ban is contrary to Virginia law (15.2-915) and he is going to bring the issue in front of the Board of Supervisors as soon as he can.
I’ll advise when I know more.
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5. Reminder: Time to renew your membership!
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RENEWAL INSTRUCTIONS
We are now in membership renewal season! Click here to renew online:
http://vcdl.org/renew
Or to optionally print out a membership application to be mailed in, click here:
https://vcdl.org/sites/default/files/Me ... cation.pdf
If you choose to mail in your renewal, be sure to mail it to:
VCDL Membership Processing Center
P.O. Box 254
Garrisonville, VA 22463
WANT TO BECOME A NEW MEMBER?
If you are not yet a member (just because you are on VA-ALERT does NOT make you an actual member) and want to join, click here:
http://vcdl.org/join
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6. Irony and Elitism: Danville Tank Museum bans guns
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Of all places, the Danville Tank Museum dishonors the military that used those tanks to protect our rights, including the right to self-defense, by banning guns. They go so far as to have metal detectors at the door, providing “security theater.” I have no doubt that getting a gun through their security would not be difficult and once that happens everyone inside is a sitting duck. Or a criminal waiting in the parking lot knows his victim of choice is disarmed. Just wonderful.
Last I heard, the owner said he carries a gun and that is supposed to be enough security for customers.
Hypocrisy and gun control - is any one really surprised?
No thanks and no tanks, either.
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7. Interesting stats: Gun-loving Virginia ranks 49th out of 50 states and DC in violent crime rate
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Looking at the chart whose link is at the bottom, let’s compare gun-friendly Virginia, with gun-unfriendly Maryland, just across a river from each other. (Of course, there are many factors that affect crime rates, but the antis like to blame guns, so let’s see how Virginia and Maryland stack up as neighbors.)
Rankings are from 1 (worst) to 51 (best).
Violent Crime
Virginia - 49, Maryland - 8
Murder
Virginia - 27, Maryland - 5
Rape
Virginia - 42, Maryland - 46
Robbery
Virginia - 39, Maryland - 2
Assault
Virginia - 48, Maryland - 14
Property Crime
Virginia - 44, Maryland - 25
Burglary
Virginia - 50, Maryland - 24
Larceny Theft
Virginia - 35, Maryland - 26
Car Theft
Virginia - 44, Maryland - 19
I would note since the site does not provide a link to the actual data source, one has to be careful in pronouncing it 100% accurate.
Thanks to Board member Dale Welch for the link:
http://jpfo.org/alerts2015/alert20150812.htm
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8. Thanks to Dale City gun show volunteers
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VCDL thanks Dale City gun show coordinator, Richard Kroh, and the following members/volunteers for their time and efforts: Tom Pietras, Keith Bailey, Jay Beckeman, Richard Retzloff, Britt Kelly,
Tess Ailshire, Jamie Ailshire, Claria Jackson, Michael Greelish, Terrell Prude, and Jean Golub. Thanks also to Jim Roberson and Jack Carwile for helping to set up.
It's volunteers like these who make VCDL the powerhouse it is. Thanks again!
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9. A high-risk restaurant to avoid in Chesterfield: Bailey’s
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Member Clayton Rhoades sent me a photo of a "no-guns” sign on the door of Bailey’s Restaurant, part of the Fox & Hound chain, located at Huguenot & Robious Road in Chesterfield County. Clayton had a polite conversation with management, but they are not interested in changing their policy.
That is their right. Of course, we have the right to choose a different restaurant to eat at, especially considering that most public mass shootings happen in gun-free zones.
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10. Military NOT going to charge armed Navy officer who shot back at recruitment center attacker
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I certainly hope the Department of Defense doesn’t change their minds. A huge backlash against any charges being brought against Lt. Cmdr. Tim White for defending his recruitment center seems to have done the trick. Who knows how many lives he might have saved by returning fire.
Thanks to James Durso for the link:
http://www.stripes.com/source-no-charge ... k-1.361644
or
http://tinyurl.com/ppgosp2
Source: No charges against Navy officer for weapons violations in Chattanooga attack
U.S. Navy
By Tara Copp
Stars and Stripes
Published: August 5, 2015
WASHINGTON — Lt. Cmdr. Tim White, the Navy officer who fired a sidearm in defense during the attack on Navy Operational Support Center in Chattanooga, Tenn., will not face charges, an official familiar with the investigation told Stars and Stripes on Wednesday.
White was reported to be one of two servicemembers carrying sidearms at the time of the attack, which could have led to charges. The Department of Defense prohibits all military personnel other than security forces from carrying arms while on base unless they are in a combat zone.
The Navy is still investigating the shooting, where a lone gunman attacked two separate military facilities. The shootings resulted in the deaths of four Marines and one sailor.
After reports that White would be charged spurred a national backlash, the Navy countered last week. “At this time we can confirm no service member has been charged with an offense,” the Navy said in a statement.
It also faced a backlash over why troops at “soft” military targets such as recruiting centers — which are often in easy-to-reach places like shopping malls — were not allowed to carry weapons, and Secretary of Defense Ash Carter directed a review to determine how security at these types of facilities could be improved.
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11. Racist attack on NRA by gun-haters
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While it is hardly VCDL’s job to defend the NRA, I must say as an NRA member that the pure racism in the first video, below, and the totally unjustified attack on the NRA and its membership is truly disgusting. But welcome to gun control, which started in the United States as a way to control blacks and other minorities. Gun control’s underlying mission is still the same and it’s ironic that so many blacks want gun control, without realizing what it is they are really asking for.
The racists who are pushing gun control must be laughing at how well their deception has worked with minorities over the years!
From my own experience watching the NRA’s actions, I can say that VCDL and the NRA share the key belief that all men are created equal and they have the right to self-defense and the defense of innocent life.
Thanks to member Brian Sheaffer for the links below.
In this one the NRA is treated as if it were a racist organization. If you don’t find any of it funny (it’s supposed to be comic), that’s because for something to be funny, it has to have at least an element of truth to it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzLoyY-ypPQ
Here Colion Noir fires back at racist gun-controllers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNktEtEQpDM
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12. John Lott demolishes another “study”
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Researchers attempt to prove that states with higher gun ownership have a higher police-mortality-rate due to being shot. Nice try, but John Lott knocks the cigar out of their mouth before they can smoke it.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/08/ ... eaths.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/q5ouejr
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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/]