1. VCDL membership meeting in Newport News area on March 24th2. VCDL membership meeting in Annandale on March 29th, speaker survived terrorist attack at a church3. VCDL membership meeting in Charlottesville area on April 7th to discuss insuring guns4. Thanks to Rob Seastrom5. School shootings hit close to home for one VCDL member6. Customer critically wounded during Henrico bank robbery7. Should bans against carrying concealed weapons be lifted on college campuses?8. Intruder, Oregon homeowner call police on each other9. Pew Research poll shows less support for gun control10. Brady Campaign intentionally misleading on Facebook11. LTE: Self-defense said a God-given right12. Close the car show loophole!13. Holy cow, what a novel idea!14. ATF, DOJ launch damage control effort over growing Project Gunrunner scandal15. US border town officials face gun-running charges16. Is Washington Post helping ATF circle wagons on 'Gunrunner' scandal?17. Jeff Knox has a suggestion on voting in the NRA elections18. Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli will talk at VCDL meeting in October19. A new range in Woodbridge in the works?
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1. VCDL membership meeting in Newport News area on March 24th**************************************************
EM Ron Lilly and Ed Burton have arranged for VCDL to have a membership meeting at the Lafayette Gun Club in Grafton. The meeting is on Thursday, March 24th, from 7 PM to 9:30 PM. The meeting will cover a wrap up of the General Assembly session and a variety of recent events affecting our right to keep and bear arms.
For those who have never been to the Lafayette Gun Club, this will be a great chance to see their facilities (including an indoor handgun range that is open 24/7!)
The meeting is open to the public, so bring your family, friends, and coworkers.
Here is a Google map to the Club that you can use to get directions:
http://tinyurl.com/4bfafgd
I'll see you there!
**************************************************2. VCDL membership meeting in Annandale on March 29th, speaker survived terrorist attack at a church**************************************************
VCDL will have its monthly membership meeting at the Mason Government Center in Annandale on Tuesday, March 29th, from 8 PM to 9:30 PM. Fellowship starts at 7:30 PM.
We will have two guest speakers:
Scott Martin, who is running for the 39th Virginia Senate district against Senator George Barker, will speak for a few minutes about his campaign.
Charl van Wyk, from South Africa, will be speaking about his deadly run in with terrorists at an attack on a church he was attending in South Africa in 1993 (St. James Massacre). He survived and saved lives because he was armed with a .38 snub-nosed revolver on that fateful day. This should be very, very interesting!
We will also be discussing recent events affecting our gun rights.
As with all VCDL membership meetings, this is open to the public. Bring friends, family and coworkers with you!
Directions can be found here:
http://www.vcdl.org/meetings.html
**************************************************3. VCDL membership meeting in Charlottesville area on April 7th to discuss insuring guns**************************************************
A VCDL meeting with food - hard to beat that
=46rom EM Patricia Webb:
In an effort to make membership meetings more accessible for those in western portions of the state, Rivanna Rifle and Pistol Club (RRPC) has been very generous in making their clubhouse available for VCDL meetings. We are most grateful for this.
The next VCDL meeting at Rivanna Rifle and Pistol Club will be on Thursday, April 7th. Preceding the meeting there will be a pot-luck dinner beginning at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will begin at 7:30PM. We will be discussing the advancements made this year in the General Assembly and EM Patricia Webb will talk about insuring your firearms.
Please come join us. Membership in VCDL or RRPC is not required. In fact, we encourage you to bring guests who have never been to a VCDL meeting. In addition, if you live in the vicinity and have never been to RRPC, this is an excellent opportunity to check out the range. RRRC is dedicated to the shooting sports and firearms education.
Those planning to attend the dinner please RSVP to pat.webb*vcdl.org, placing the number attending in the subject line. Example: 4/7 VCDL meeting, 2 for dinner. The drinks and a main course of homemade meatloaf will be provided. Please bring a side dish to share if you can, but don't let that stop you from coming if you can't.
RRPC's address:
1570 Old Lynchburg Road Charlottesville, VA 22903
Hope to see you there!
**************************************************4. Thanks to Rob Seastrom**************************************************
Every now and then I like to thank someone whose donations of time and effort make VCDL the great organization it is today. Rob Seastrom has been keeping the VCDL web site on the air 24/7 for many years now. He also donates the Internet connection we use and hosts our web site.
Thanks, Rob!
**************************************************5. School shootings hit close to home for one VCDL member**************************************************
Dave Lashman emailed me this in response to "the 3/8/2011 VA-ALERT "VA AG: No obligation to protect college students".
--
Phillip -
I haven't told you this before, but I lived in and was a member of the community when the massacre at Columbine High School happened, I got to see first hand the effects on the people, family and the community when a massacre like that happens and it's something that I hope I never have to endure ever, ever again.
My sole purpose in why I carry a weapon is because I don't want to be a "helpless sheep" when evil like that strikes, I want to be able to defend myself. Just imagine what those kids were thinking when Harris and Klebold started to shoot up Columbine High School. At a community get together just after the shootings, a teacher told us that she somehow got her entire body into a kitchen cabinet and was able to grab a napkin and write a note to her kids and husband and say goodbye on that napkins because she thought she was going to die that day.......
Now we have these folks saying that we don't have an obligation to protect you? Well as a result of the massacre in Colorado, they revisited the right to carry in colleges and universities..... it takes the killing of 12 students and 1 teacher at Columbine to think about it? I don't usually go off like this, but this one really hit a nerve.... only because of what I had to experience at Columbine and all the after effects of a massacre like that.
Sincerely,
Dave Lashman
**************************************************6. Customer critically wounded during Henrico bank robbery**************************************************
How one would handle a hold up at a bank or anywhere else is situational. If the bank is being robbed, I wouldn't recommend getting into a verbal fight with the criminal or following him out the door as he leaves - especially if you are unarmed. Best to be compliant and blend in with the crowd, unless it looks like the robbers are about to begin murdering people. For me personally, the balloon would go up if they try to make me lay down on the ground, go into the vault, or if they start searching everyone.
=46rom the Richmond Times-Dispatch: http://tinyurl.com/6czqfbk
By Frank GreenMarch 11, 2011
Two people were taken into custody after a bank robbery in Henrico County's Sandston area Thursday morning. Authorities said shots were fired in the bank's parking lot and that a bank customer was critically wounded.
Henrico police Lt. Eric D. Owens said that at approximately 10 a.m., an armed man entered the C&F Bank branch in the 100 block of East Williamsburg Road, got in the teller line and announced there was a robbery.
A bank customer standing in the next line tried to talk him out of the robbery, Owens said.
"Heated words were exchanged between the witness and the suspect," Owens said. "The suspect continued through with his robbery and fled the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash."
The witness followed the man and was in the vestibule of the bank when the gunman, who was outside the bank, turned and fired at least two shots, wounding the witness, Owens said.
The man got into a vehicle and fled. Owens said a police officer who happened to be patrolling the area noticed the vehicle driving suspiciously and followed it.
The police officer then heard the broadcast of the robbery report and stopped the vehicle near Honeysuckle and Shawn courts, off East Nine Mile Road. The passenger ran, Owens said, and the driver was taken into custody. The man who ran was caught a few blocks away, police said.
Facing multiple charges are Christopher J. Turner, 46, and Khaleel H. Hamlin, 48. Their addresses were unavailable last night.
A good Samaritan driving past the bank saw the wounded victim and drove him to Fire Station 3, on East Nine Mile Road. Owens said the witness was taken to VCU Medical Center, where he was in critical condition Thursday
**************************************************7. Should bans against carrying concealed weapons be lifted on college campuses?**************************************************
A VCDL member emailed me this:
--
=46rom FoxNews.com: http://tinyurl.com/5sbwjyc
By John LottMarch 9, 2011
Should permitted faculty and students have the right to carry a concealed handgun on college campuses? Right now once someone qualifies for a permit they can carry a concealed handgun with them virtually anywhere in a state except for a few designated gun-free zones. Prominent among those "protected" areas are universities and schools. Yet, twelve states, including two large ones, Texas and Florida, are currentlly engaged in the debate over whether to end these bans.
Florida and Idaho have legislative hearings scheduled for Wednesday. The Idaho House should be voting on the bill by the end of the week. Legislative committees in Arizona and Oklahoma have already passed bills. Texas is planning votes during the week of March 21st.
But are these changes dangerous? Would faculty and students pose a danger to others? Wouldn't police accidentally shoot permit holders who are trying to stop an attacker?
Fortunately, we don't need to speculate about what might happen. We actually already have a lot of evidence and experience from numerous campuses.
Seventy-one college campuses allow students with permits to carry concealed handguns, and many more let faculty carry, some for over a decade. But none -- absolutely none -- of these schools have experienced the type of harm predicted by opponents. Not a single permit holder on these campuses has been involved in a firearm accident or crime.
We also have extensive experience with permitted concealed handguns on campuses prior to the push for gun-free zones during the early 1990s. Back then, in the states that allowed concealed permitted handguns, students and professors frequently carried handguns, and there simply weren't any problems then either.
But we have even more evidence than that. Permit holders, not just on campuses, are exceedingly law-abiding. Consider the two states at the front of the current debate, Florida and Texas: Both states provide detailed records on the behavior of permit holders on easily accessible websites. During over two decades, from October 1, 1987 to February 28, 2011, Florida has issued permits to over 1.96 million people, with the average person having a permit for more than a decade. Few -- 168 (about 0.01%) -- have had their permits revoked for any type of firearms related violation, the most common was accidentally carrying a concealed handgun into a gun-free zone such as a school or an airport, not threats or acts of violence.
Over the last 38 months, only four permit holders have had their permit revoked for a firearms related violation -- an annual revocation rate of 0.0003%. The numbers are similarly small in Texas. In 2009, there were 402,914 active license holders. 101 were convicted of either a misdemeanor or a felony, a rate of 0.025 percent, with only few of these crimes involving a gun.
Permit holders have succeeded in stopping a wide range of multiple victim public shootings, at schools and elsewhere. Yet, so far there has not been a single incident where a permit holder has accidentally shot a bystander.
Likewise, the police have managed to get to these attacks without shooting any permit holders. Gun-free zones don't deter criminals, just the law-abiding. -- A faculty member with a concealed handgun permit who breaks the campus ban would be fired and find it impossible to get hired at another university.
A student with a permit faces expulsion and won't get admitted to another school. For law-abiding individuals, violating the ban dramatically impacts their lives. Yet, for someone like the Virginia Tech killer the threat of expulsion from having a gun on campus means essentially nothing, even if he had lived, given he would already face 32 death penalties or 32 life sentences.
Not only does the overwhelming research on right-to-carry laws show that letting citizens defend themselves reduce violent crime, but schools that have allowed permitted concealed handguns have seen drops in crime there also.
Americans have experienced over and over again what a failure gun-free zones have been. Chicago's and DC's murder and violent crime rates soared after their handgun bans were imposed and fallen after their bans ended.
No gun ban around the world that has produced a drop in murder rates. Gun-free zones are a magnet for crime of all kinds. In addition, even the strictest gun regulations or bans haven't stopped multiple victim public shootings from occurring.
In Europe, these attacks are quite common. Last year in England, despite it very strict gun laws, 12 people were killed and another 11 wounded in one attack. The two worst K-12 public school shootings have occurred in Germany, and both of those attacks have taken place in the last decade.
The fears over concealed carry on college campuses are the same as the earlier debates in the 40 states that now have right-to-carry laws. But despite predictions about innocent blood being shed, no right-to-carry state has even held legislative hearings about rescinding the law. Just as with these other places, the debate over letting permitted concealed handguns on college campuses will quickly be forgotten.
**************************************************8. Intruder, Oregon homeowner call police on each other**************************************************
Philip:
I think the VCDL membership would enjoy this article. The intruder called the police because he feared the homeowner had a gun.
Jay Minsky
=46rom WTOP-FM: http://tinyurl.com/49prhl5
By Associated PressMarch 8, 2011
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Oregon police say both an intruder and a Portland homeowner phoned 911 to report the same thing: a strange man in a home.
Lt. Kelli Sheffer says the intruder told police he had just broken into a home Monday evening when the owner arrived _ and the caller was worried the homeowner might have a gun.
Accompanied by his two German Shepherds, the homeowner found the intruder and asked what he was doing in the house. That's when the stranger locked himself in a bathroom and phoned police.
The homeowner called police with his account.
Sheffer says 24-year-old Timothy James Chapek, of Portland, was booked into jail for investigation of first-degree criminal trespass.
**************************************************9. Pew Research poll shows less support for gun control**************************************************
Tom Pike emailed me this:
--
WTOP broadcast report on changing American views including fading support for gun control.
=46rom WTOP-FM: http://tinyurl.com/6j6wbyy
By Carroll DohertyMarch 8, 2011
A new Pew Research Poll released last week shows growing support for legal abortion, gay marriage and marijuana legalization, while showing fading support for gun control.
Audio: http://tinyurl.com/5swyu84
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10. Brady Campaign intentionally misleading on Facebook**************************************************
What - the Brady Campaign lying? Naaaaaaw, never happen!
Of course they don't even know the difference between a "clip" and a "magazine" - pretty sad. I'm surprised they just don't refer to them as gun "thing-a-ma-jiggies"
Shannon Honaker emailed me this:
--
Hello!
I was looking at the Brady Campaign's facebook page today, and while they are usually not exactly accurate or factual, this latest post seemed particularly misleading... so blatantly misleading that there is little doubt that it is intentional.
The latest post is advocating for people to email their representatives to support H.R. 308. The post is very misleading about the purpose of the bill. It leads people to believe that the bill is only addressing magazines that hold 30+ rounds and are "military-grade" whatever that means. It does not reveal that the bill would actually affect standard magazines for many handguns, such as my husband's Ruger P95 which holds 15 rounds. I'd hardly think of his gun as an "assault" weapon.
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via Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun ViolenceTake Action to Ban Assault Clips=46rom Facebook: http://on.fb.me/eCpZnz
These military-grade gun magazines allow people to fire 30, 50, or 100 round magazines in our communities which leads to senseless slaughter like at Tucson and Virginia Tech. Tell your Congressional Rep that you don't believe these assault clips should be so easily available.
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It really bothers me that they are using intentionally misleading information to sell people on this bill. [PVC: Unfortunately, it's nothing new for the anti-gunners to use misinformation and outright lies in an attempt to advance their anti-freedom agenda.]
Shannon Honaker
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11. LTE: Self-defense said a God-given right**************************************************
Bill Heipp emailed me this (Bill carpooled with me from Midlothian to support VCDL's efforts to stop the Sussex range ordinance on Thursday):
--
=46rom The Catholic Virginian: http://tinyurl.com/6cnmo3z
March 7, 2011
Scriptures tell us Jesus met with tax collectors and sinners. Scriptures also tell us Jesus maintained a presence with apostles who were armed (Lk 22:35-38), and who were willing and able to use those weapons.
Those armed followers were there in the Garden of Gethsemane when His time for glorification had come. Jesus chose not to depend on those arms at that particular time (Lk 22:49-53, Mt 26:51-56, Jn 18:10-11). The option was there but not used.
The right of self-defense is God given, not a government gratuity.
On a personal basis I can choose to defend myself or opt out and suffer the consequences. Were I to choose to carry the means for personal self-defense on my person, that is an extension of my God given right to self-defense.
Should another person decide to assault me, he has made a choice; now I have a decision to make. If there is an opportunity to run, I will.
But what if there is no opportunity for escape? What should I do?
What if my wife or child is threatened? Should I be an obedient victim?
What if the instinct for self-preservation is too strong? What should I do?
What choices are open to me? Should someone, other than me, make those decisions for me?
Is it just for another to interfere with my God given rights?
Bill HeippMidlothian
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12. Close the car show loophole!**************************************************
Roger Gossett emailed me this:
--
=46rom Pro-Gun New Hampshire: http://tinyurl.com/4rajwy7
By Evan F. Nappen, Esq.February 14, 2011
At car shows and swaps throughout the United States, cars are sold in private sales with no dealer being involved. Car shows at which cars are exhibited or offered for sale or exchange provide a convenient and centralized commercial location where criminals and other wrongdoers obtain cars without credit background checks and without records that enable car tracing.
We all know that cars kill and that they are one of the biggest killers in the US. Cars cause accidents and facilitate crimes. Cars even cause mass murder and mayhem (like intentionally driving into a crowd). Cars are a menace that must be tightly controlled.
Some of these cars end up in criminal hands as get-away cars or are used by murderers, drug dealers or gang-bangers. Some cars are smuggled into Mexico and used by drug lords there. Convicted felons, mentally deranged persons, domestic abusers, and aliens unlawfully in the US can all buy a car at a show. Even those on the terrorist watch list can go to a car show and buy a car.
Many of these cars have transmissions which are automatic and/or semi-automatic. At these car shows various accessories are freely bought and sold, like extended gas tanks, folding seats and even mufflers. One can also buy "a shoulder thing that goes up," also known as a safety belt.
Some cars are converted and many are customized. Why would anyone need such a car? The police are "out-carred" on a daily basis. Many departments say they need more horsepower, but can't afford it. How many must die before we close the car show loophole?
Fortunately, Representative McCarthyism and Senator Lousenburp have filed bills to require all car transfers at car shows and swaps to go through a dealer. They have the full support of Mayor Bloomingidiot and C.M.A.Y.R. (Corrupt Mayors Against Your Rights) Some of the important features of the bill are as follows:
1)It will insure that a credit background check is run, a record is made and all paperwork will be done. Dealers can only sell to customers who have proper identification so a computer check can be done.
2)"Car event operators" must submit names of all "vendors" to the FBI, both before and after the show. It does not matter whether any vendors sold a car. A private citizen going to a car show hoping to sell or trade a car, but who does not find a buyer and leaves with his own car, would remain in a "vendor" file with the FBI forever.
3)It would require registration of car shows. This would allow the authorities to make sure event organizers have no paperwork violations. It would also allow government agents to question car owners who gather for purposes other than selling cars.
4)It allows inspection, at a car show, of a show promoter's or dealer's entire business records-including records of transactions that occurred at other shows or at a dealer's licensed place of business.
5)It turns casual conversations into "car show sales." A person could still agree to sell a car to a friend in a conversation at the local gas station; but if the same conversation took place at a car show, the credit check requirement would forever apply to that car. It even applies to a car that a seller and buyer talk about at a car show, but don't have with them.
This should fix the car show loophole. Next to be fixed are the wedding show loophole, home improvement show loophole, sports memorabilia show loophole, coin show loophole, flower show loophole, model train show loophole, doll show loophole, boat show loophole, motorcycle show loophole, comic book show loophole, horse show loophole, golf show loophole, and of course the gun show loophole. If it saves just one life it's worth it. We have to do it, for the children.
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13. Holy cow, what a novel idea!**************************************************
Eric Korn emailed me this:
--
Phillip,
I found this while cruising the web this morning. Also heard about it on NPR of all places...
APPARENTLY, giving the rights to carry concealed to law abiding citizens is a good idea, even in the People's Republic of California. This type of news is encouraging as it isn't often that we hear about cracks forming in the otherwise solid iron curtain of California Politics.
Eric KornPresident and CEOAmerican Firearms Training Corporation
=46rom BeeInTurlock.com: http://tinyurl.com/4b9ghd6
By Garth StapleyApril 13, 2010
Stanislaus County sheriff signs pledge to make gun permits easier
People with a clean record who want to carry a gun will have a much better chance at snagging a concealed weapon permit, Sheriff Adam Christianson said Monday, drawing thunderous applause from firearms advocates.
The stunning change in policy comes as Christianson prepares to lay off dozens of deputies because of budget cuts. He has released 300 inmates to comply with new state rules.
The sheriff, who is running for re-election on the June 8 ballot, stood grim-faced during a 12-minute introduction at Monday's public meeting of the Madison Society, whose leaders have criticized Christianson for being stingy with gun permits. He had told them -- and The Bee as recently as two weeks ago -- that he would not sign a pledge accepting self-protection as "good cause" for licensing.
Given the stage Monday, Christianson shocked a standing-room-only audience of more than 100 by immediately signing the pledge with a flourish.
"I'm not going to infringe upon your right to protect yourselves," the sheriff said. "You are more likely to get a gun permit when you apply for one."
The pledge reads, in part: "As sheriff, self-protection shall always constitute good cause for the issuance of a permit to carry a concealed wea-pon as that term is defined in (the) California Penal Code."
During a question-answer session, many audience members said Christianson had denied their applications. But they seemed reluctant to grill a sheriff who had just signed the pledge.
Christianson encouraged many to reapply, providing his personal phone number to several former rejects.
They included Ollie Usher, who said he had a permit for five years before being turned down, and Mark Wallace, who was among several Turlock residents who said they were angry about their police chief's conservative approach to gun permits. Of seven issued by that department, two are held by city councilmen.
People in the audience began snickering when it became apparent that many asking questions Monday were from Turlock. Christianson asked those from that city to raise their hands, and he laughed with the audience when a few dozen shot up.
The sheriff continued playing to the crowd, telling stories about assault rifles on open display in Montana stores, where he grew up and took his family on vacation last year.
A farmer said he often irrigates fields in the early morning. The sheriff brought down the house when he responded, "Straight up; I give all ag (people) a gun permit because I know you guys are carrying a gun anyway."
He added, "I'm laying off deputies, and we've got more bad guys; you won't have a problem."
The sheriff said 582 people throughout Stanislaus County hold two-year permits. He personally approved all after background checks by staff members.
When Wayne Elam of Hickman asked about rising application fees, the sheriff pointed to a public hearing scheduled for April 27. Christianson will ask county supervisors to increase the charge from $13 to $115, which is about half the cost to process applications, he said.
Christianson must reduce his department's yearly budget of about $80 million by 10 percent, or about $8 million. He is expected to reveal layoff intentions along with the county's 26 other departments, also on April 27.
Christianson's challenger, Turlock police Capt. Rob Jackson, declined to sign the Madison Society's pledge when he addressed the group last month.
The Madison Society, a Modesto-based group known nationally for pushing pro-gun litigation, was instrumental in a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court ruling reversing a gun ban in Washington, D.C.
For an April 4 Bee story, Christianson had said the ruling "has nothing to do with California," where loaded firearms are legal in homes and businesses. Carrying concealed weapons in public is a different matter, the sheriff said at the time, and should remain up to the local law enforcement executive charged with judging good cause and good moral character.
Christianson on Monday warned people to come clean on applications, noting it's a felony to submit false or fraudulent information.
After the meeting, many people in the audience said they were thrilled with the news.
"He's right -- there are not enough deputies out there," said Bob Winston, a Modesto attorney. "What does law enforcement do? They come after the fact and try to clean up the mess, which doesn't help the poor victim lying in a pool of blood. You're on your own."
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14. ATF, DOJ launch damage control effort over growing Project Gunrunner scandal**************************************************
Edward N. Martin, Jr emailed me this:
Continued ...Edward N. Martin, Jr emailed me this:
--
=46rom FoxNews.com: http://tinyurl.com/4okaoh9
By William LajeunesseMarch 9, 2011
A major scandal is developing around a signature U.S. effort to track and stop the flow of illicit weapons to Mexico, as officials at the Department of Justice close ranks, hoping to cover up an investigation critics say is responsible for an untold number of dead.
The investigation was known as Project Gunrunner -- a joint task force headed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Department of Justice -- that took place in 2010.
It was conceived after the bureau was criticized for not conducting more complex investigations on straw buyers -- people who were allowed to purchase guns legally in the U.S.-- who illegally transport guns into Mexico and sell them to cartels.
So rather than just take down low-level straw buyers here and there, the agency hoped by 'letting the guns walk' the sales would lead investigators to cartel members higher up in the organization.
However, whistle-blowers say that never happened.
Already we know the weapons used to kill Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry were being tracked by Gunrunner, but new documents reveal a much bigger problem.
The questions this morning in Washington are how high does this go and will Congress call for a formal investigation of its own.
"I'm still asking questions and we're getting the runaround from the Justice Department," Sen. Charles Grassley told Fox News.
"They're stonewalling. And the longer the wait, the more they fight, the more egg that they're going to have on their face."
Grassley and others say Gunrunner was a dismal and deadly failure, with ATF intentionally allowing thousands of weapons to be illegally trafficked to Mexico.
Here is how sources say it worked: Arizona gun stores sold weapons to suspected straw buyers -- in some cases - 10 - 20 - 30 - AK-47s to the same person over just a few months.
ATF could have said no, or later seized the guns in an arrest. Instead, owners were urged to sell, even though agents often knew the buyer was a straw for the Mexican cartels.
Records show Gunrunner was aware of more than 1,000 weapons sold from 10 Arizona gun stores to roughly 50 straw buyers. More than two-thirds of those guns have already been recovered at crime scenes in the U.S. and Mexico.
"What people don't understand is how long we will be dealing with this," ATF agent and whistle-blower John Dodson said Tuesday.
"Those guns are gone -- gone. You can't just give the order and get them back. There is no telling how many previous crimes will be committed before we get to them."
Privately, ATF agents say Gunrunner was out of control and deserved to be shut down. But the mistakes made were not intentional and they say there are no limits to the number of long guns (as opposed to pistols or revolvers) a person is allowed to buy.
Therefore, while gun stores had the freedom to sell as many guns as they wanted to any single buyer, at no time did agents tell owners to 'break the law.'
Already sources say those guns can be traced to hundreds of robberies, rapes and murders. Critics say ATF knowingly allowed those sales to take place and failed to make arrests of known smugglers, thereby intercepting the guns before they crossed the border.
"They would tell us -- we would say -- 'do you want us to stop selling? is there something we should do here? and they would say "No, no, no -- continue selling -- just tell us after the fact," said Brad Desaye, owner of J & G Gun Sales in Prescott, Ariz.
J&G sold 60 guns to alleged straw buyers. ATF agents told him on the phone and in person to let the sales happen.
Dodson, one of seven agents on the Gunrunner task force, confirms that ATF knowingly allowed the sales and did not actively track the weapons, as in a traditional investigation. Instead, it allowed the guns to go south, where they were used in crimes or seized by Mexican police during raids.
Until now, administration officials blamed Mexico's drug violence on Arizona and border state gun shops, repeatedly making the false claim that 90% of the guns recovered in Mexico were sold in the U.S.
Now Desaye, paraphrasing Second Amendment activist Jeff Knox, says, "the truth is coming out. It's becoming obvious the largest supplier to Mexican gun violence is ATF, not the dealers. And they are using us as scapegoats."
Carolyn Terry, the stepmother of murdered Border Agent Brian Terry also blames the ATF.
"I think they put those guns out there and they lost them and now one of our own has got killed with one and they have made a big mistake and the government hates to make mistakes," says Terry. "You would think such a murder and killing would make an impact and that they would revise their policy or at least review their policy and we have no indication that is the situation."
Sen. Grassley says ATF isn't the only guilty agency. He says Department of Justice lawyers and agents from Homeland Security also watched this debacle unfold, often hand in hand with ATF.
Grassley has lengthy correspondence and numerous documents he wants to post on the Senate Judiciary website, but sources on the Hill say Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy won't allow it, refusing to call for an independent congressional investigation.
"The only reason this is going to be fair, the only way the Terry family is going to get the explanation that is owed to them is if there are independent hearings," says Dodson.
"I'm not satisfied with the inspector general there doing the investigation; to me it looks like a fox guarding the hen house," echoes Grassley.
As the scandal began to draw more media attention, the chief of Public Affairs at the ATF in Washington issued this memo February 28 to media relations staff throughout the agency. Critics say it's evidence the agency is trying to hide, or at least distract the media, from reporting on Project Gunrunner.
"ATF needs to proactively push positive stories this week in an effort to preempt some negative reporting, or at a minimum lessen the coverage of (Project Gunrunner) in the news cycle by replacing them with good stories about the ATF."
On Wednesday, the National Rifle Association also called for expedited congressional hearings on firearms trafficking enforcement tactics used by the ATF. In a letter to Grassley and Sen. Patrick Leahy it stressed the need for investigation into the responses by the ATF and DOJ about the Gunrunner program.
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15. US border town officials face gun-running charges**************************************************
While the antis want to make gun stores in and around the Mexican border report multiple sales of semi-automatic rifles to the BATFE, we now know that the BATFE was "walking" those guns into Mexico, actually encouraging dealers to make sales to gun runners.
On top of that it looks like the local government is getting into the act, with a town mayor and other officials trying to sell guns to the Mexican drug cartels.
I refuse to pay a price for the government at any level acting badly!
Bill Hine emailed me this:
--
=46rom BBC News: http://tinyurl.com/4teoupe
March 10, 2011
The police chief, the mayor and a local politician of a small town on the American side of the US-Mexico border have been charged with gun running.
Prosecutors say the officials from Columbus, New Mexico, bought some 200 guns which they allegedly planned to sell to drug cartels in Mexico.
The officials were arrested along with seven other locals on Thursday morning.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon has urged the US to do more to stem the flow of illegal weapons to his country.
Prosecutors said Columbus Mayor Eddie Espinoza, police chief Angelo Vega and Columbus trustee Blas Gutierrez "increased the risk of harm that the people of Columbus face every day by allegedly using their official positions to facilitate and safeguard the operations of a smuggling ring... exporting firearms to Mexico".
The arrests were made at eight separate locations, including Columbus's police station.
The defendants are accused of falsely claiming they were buying weapons for themselves, when they intended them for sale to others.
Prosecutors said the suspects had bought arms favoured by members of Mexican drug cartels, including AK-47-type weapons and American Tactical 9mm caliber pistols.
They are due to appear in federal court in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on Friday.
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16. Is Washington Post helping ATF circle wagons on 'Gunrunner' scandal?**************************************************
=46rom examiner.com: http://tinyurl.com/4b4ryvu
By Dave WorkmanMarch 9, 2011
[SNIP]
Is the Washington Post providing cover to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the probe of an unfolding controversy regarding "Project Gunrunner" and an off-shoot of that operation in Arizona dubbed "Fast and Furious?"
Today's Washington Post coverage of the scandal - which has brought forth whistle-blowers, gotten extensive coverage from CBS News and is now drawing attention from other news agencies over allegations that the ATF allowed thousands of firearms to be illegally taken to Mexico as part of a sting operation - quickly portrays "Fast and Furious" as "an aggressive law enforcement strategy to stop firearms trafficking" in its lead paragraph. Blogger Mike Vanderboegh, to whom the article alludes anonymously, thinks the newspaper is running interference for the agency.
Four paragraphs later, the newspaper says that the Gunrunner controversy "highlights the difficulty ATF agents face" because of "weak gun laws and investigative limitations imposed at the urging of the gun lobby."...
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17. Jeff Knox has a suggestion on voting in the NRA elections**************************************************
If you are a voting member of the NRA, read on:
Jeff Knox, with the Firearms Coalition, has suggestions each year on who to vote for in the NRA elections. This year he is suggesting to vote only for one candidate to greatly magnify her chances of getting onto the NRA's Board: Linda Walker.
Jeff keeps up on NRA internal happenings and watches the elections and the candidates carefully, so I personally tend to trust his judgment on these matters.
More information can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/4mvxu2j
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18. Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli will talk at VCDL meeting in October**************************************************
Between Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's schedule and VCDL's meeting schedule, the earliest date we could agree on for the Attorney General to speak at a VCDL meeting is on October 20th in Annandale.
Attorney General Cuccinelli told VCDL that he would explain his position on supporting the George Mason University gun ban once the case had been heard in the Supreme Court. As you might recall, *candidate* Cuccinelli told VCDL members that he felt that GMU did not have the constitutional authority to ban guns. Once elected, he successfully defended the GMU gun ban saying that it was constitutional. Many gun owners felt betrayed.
The Supreme Court answered this question: was the ban constitutional? Yes, they said, within certain limits (guns cannot be banned outside of buildings, etc.). What has NOT been decided is if GMU had the authority under state law to implement that ban in the first place - a very different question.
Mark your calendars!
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19. A new range in Woodbridge in the works?**************************************************
You may recall a few years ago someone was going to build a new range in Woodbridge, but it didn't happen because of the principal's untimely death.
Looks like there may be another attempt to open a range there:
http://www.theshootersrange.com/
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