01/28/11 - VCDL Update 1/28/11

[allingeneral]

VCDL Update 1/28/11

1. Sussex considering range regulations
2. Governor ending ban on guns in state parks
3. Suffolk shooting not necessarily OK under Va. law
4. Glock and load
5. Robbery in Va. gun-free zone
6. Residents line up to conceal a weapon in Augusta County, Va.
7. RT on hunting on Sundays
8. Ham, mustard, chips, AR-15
9. U.S. Reps Moran and Connolly sign on to new hi-capacity mag ban bill (H.R. 308)
10. Kaine throws support behind gun control measure as White House remains silent
11. Hidden life of guns: more slanted reporting from the Washington Post
12. After Giffords shooting, no slowdown for gun rights
13. After Tucson: Stricter gun laws aren't the answer
14. Face the facts: Gun control laws don't save lives
15. How the numbers shifted against gun control
16. The Arizona shootings, gun violence research and the facts vs. the New York Times
17. VIDEO: Lawrence O'Donnell gets in angry debate with GOP over gun control
18. 'Project Gunwalker' sources talking to Senate staff
19. Martin Luther King and his guns
20. Man in Arlington, Mass. loses guns and CHP over thought crime
21. N. Las Vegas robbery victim fires gun at suspect
22. Omaha school shooting
23. NRA / CRPAF lawsuit invalidates ammunition restriction
24. Safe in a police station?

**************************************************
1. Sussex considering range regulations
**************************************************

From the Wakefield Airfield Shooting Club:

--

Sussex Considering Range Regulations

Sussex County Planning Commission to Consider Gun Range Regulations!

ATTENTION ASC Members: Hearing on February 7, 2011 at 6:00 PM

The Sussex County Planning Commission plans to have a hearing at its meeting in February to discuss regulations of gun ranges in Sussex County, for which they may be proposing zoning regulations and/or conditional use permits. I believe it is crucial that we attend and voice our concerns. If the Planning Commission votes to create new gun range regulations, then their recommendations will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors. It would be best to stop new regulations from ever making it to the Board of Supervisors. Please make arrangements to attend the meeting whether you live in Sussex or not. New gun regulations, no matter where they occur, set a precedence for us all. This directly affects all members of the Airfield Shooting Club (ASC) and the Airfield 4-H Conference Center whose range is in Sussex County.

PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

What: Planning Commission Public Hearing on 1) Shooting Ranges, generally, and 2) Pistol & Shotgun Ranges in Sussex County, Virginia.

Where: Sussex County General District Courtroom, 15098 Courthouse Road, Sussex, VA 23884.

When: February 7, 2011 at 6:00 PM.

Thank you for your help in defending our 2nd Amendment rights!

--Tim Drewry, President of the Airfield Shooting Club

**************************************************
2. Governor ending ban on guns in state parks
**************************************************

Bill Hine emailed me this:

--

From NBC 12 TV: http://tinyurl.com/4hyow6s


Governor ending ban on guns in state parks
Posted: Jan 19, 2011 8:03 PM
Updated: Jan 20, 2011 6:19 AM

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - You can take your gun into state parks again. Governor McDonnell is ending a longstanding ban on firearms carried openly in Virginia state parks.

He says the Conservation and Recreation Department which was enforcing the ban, didn't have the authority to do so. Concealed weapon permit holders were already free to carry firearms.

Since we first told you about the gun ban change last night at 11, it has created a lot of buzz on our NBC12 Facebook page. There were more than 65 comments overnight.

Here's what some of you thought about the change:

Mike Kelly: "Guns are allowed in Virginia State Parks for hunting. What's the big deal? If someone is going to commit a crime, whether its in a park or parking lot, they are going to do it"

Jamaal Mayes: "There are bigger things to worry about in Virginia then 70 mph speed limits, rest stops and guns in bars and parks. Focus on the bigger problems and stop covering up it up with these entertainment laws."

We thank you for sharing your thoughts!


**************************************************
3. Suffolk shooting not necessarily OK under Va. law
**************************************************

A VA-ALERT reader emailed me this:

--

From hamptonroads.com:
http://tinyurl.com/48ad823


Suffolk shooting not necessarily OK under Va. law

By Veronica Gonzalez
The Virginian-Pilot
(c) January 20, 2011
SUFFOLK

Charles Duck opened the door of his White Marsh Road home on Wednesday, supporting himself with crutches.

A week ago today, he'd just come home from the hospital. Shortly before 3 a.m., police said, Duck saw a man trying to load a dog box from Duck's lawn into a pickup.

Duck got his gun, went to the window, and yelled at the man to move to the front of his vehicle. Instead, he jumped into the passenger side of his pickup, and Duck, a retired Suffolk police officer, started shooting, police said.

"I just got out of surgery the day before this happened," Duck said Wednesday, adding that he suffers from poor blood circulation. He pointed to a scar that runs the length of the inside of his left arm.

The man, whom police identified as 20-year-old Quamaine L. Lassiter, showed up at Sentara Obici Hospital at 3 a.m. saying he had been shot by someone in a passing vehicle as he was walking on Lake Kennedy Drive. Police later found the pickup on Oak Street.

Lassiter had a minor bullet wound in the head, and he was later taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and was released.

Duck had been a city cop for 20 years when he retired in 2005, and the former police chief described him as someone with a gift for sizing up criminal activity. Now, his former colleagues are investigating him. No charges have been filed against Duck or Lassiter.

Several law professors contacted this week say the law could allow for Duck to be prosecuted. "In Virginia, you do not have the right to use deadly force to merely protect property or to evict that trespasser," said Darryl Brown, a professor at the University of Virginia Law School.

Duck declined to talk about what happened.

"My house, my property," he said.

The brick home sits on an unfenced yard with an open field on one side and a home on the other.

William Freeman, Suffolk's former police chief who retired in 2008, said Duck was a good officer who had worked in patrol and in the special investigations unit. Freeman worked with Duck in the unit, doing drug investigations and anything uniform patrol didn't have time to do. That was in the 1990s.

"Duck had an uncanny ability to be able to evaluate what he saw and make a decision as to whether it was involving some kind of criminal activity," Freeman said.

Freeman said he couldn't pass judgment on what happened the night Duck faced the intruder on his property.

"I'm not privy to all of the information," he said. "That's why we have to rely on those institutions that are there to evaluate all of the factual information."

Suffolk's spokeswoman did not comment further about the investigation Wednesday.

This case is similar to one from 2009, when a store owner shot and killed a burglar who had broken into his store, J&L Food Mart in Whaleyville.

Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Ferguson declined to prosecute the store's owner, James H. Durden Jr., saying the store owner believed his life was in danger.

Associate Professor David Velloney, who teaches at Regent University Law School in Virginia Beach, said a person may protect property through other means that aren't life-threatening.

"If someone is stealing my prized lawn mower or stealing something off of my property, I can run out there and pull them back and push them down," he said. "I can't exercise my right to kill someone just because they're taking my things," Velloney said.

**************************************************
4. Glock and load
**************************************************

Leonard Akers emailed me this:

--

The article and comments are interesting Phil. Floyd county is very rural and lies south of Christiansburg and Blacksburg toward the NC line. There's a lot of Interstate movement there and many illegal immigrants and transients.


From blueridgemuse.com:
http://tinyurl.com/5un2f5w


Glock and load
Monday, January 17th, 2011 | Posted by Doug Thompson

I own and carry a Glock 17 semi-automatic 9 mm pistol and big brother of the Glock 19 that Jared Loughner is accused of using to kill six six people -- including a nine-year-old girl and an Arizona Federal Judge -- and seriously wound Congressman Gabrielle Giffords in a shooting rampage at a Safeway Supermarket last weekend.

Some friends tell me I shouldn't carry the Glock because it represents a weapon used in a mass murder. Others question my decision to carry it at all,which I do legally with a concealed carry permit issued by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

"What have you got to worry about?" they ask. "You live in Floyd County."

Yeah, I live in Floyd County where armed men from North Carolina held up a Willis convenience store one night. I live in Floyd County, where Sheriff Shannon Zeman says we have an average of one home or business break-in a night to feed the county's growing crystal methamphetamine problem. I live in Floyd County where The Roanoke Times let the world know last week that we don't even have a State Trooper on duty after midnight.

Three people died in murders recently in Floyd County -- one died at the hand of the county official who used to teach the firearms safety course for the area.

Yeah, I carry a Glock 17 on my hip. Several government agencies spent a few of your taxpayer dollars teaching me how to use it. Their training must have worked. . At my last gun range reclassification, I shot 100 percent on the FBI target - a pretty good indicator that I can and will hit what I shoot at.

With luck, I will never have to pull the Glock from its holster except to put it away for the night. With luck, I will never even have to put my hand on the weapon to let some know that I'm armed and will use the gun if necesessary.

Unfortunately, in the past and in another ife, I have not always been so luckly, I've had to pull a weapon on human beings several times in my life: all but once in service to my country and just that once to convince a young man in Northern Virginia that trying to rob me at an automated teller machine was a bad idea. The young man at the ATM saw the error of his ways and ran. Too many others weren't so lucky.

Forget what television and the movies tell you: Taking a human life is never easy, glamorous or heroic. It is an invitation to months -- sometimes years -- of nightmares and lost sleep. The look in someone's eyes as they draw their last breath is something you never forget.

Killing is exactly that -- the taking of human life. The reasons may or may not be justified but the reality stays the same.

The other night, a group of young men in a car with out-of-state plates, circled my wife's strore at closing time. She thought they looked supicious enough for to me to drive over for a look-see. They sat with their lights off as I drove up. I got out and walked to the driver's side with my coat open so they could see my weapon.

"We're waiting for a friend to get off work," the driver said.

I asked for the friend's name. The name he gave did not match anyone who worked the stores. When I told him this, he started the car up, rolled up the window, and left.

The incident marked the fifth time in eight weeks that I have encountered a suspicious-looking car at a Floyd business at closing time. In a county where state troopers get off at midnight and the sheriff's deparment, while extremely capable, is short-handed, it pays for all citizens to be vigilant.

I did not pull my weapon or brandish it in any way. Doing so is illegal. I simply let him know I was armed. Had he pulled a gun or threatened me with another weapon, I would have responded.

Right how, because of the incident in Tuscon, the anti-gun forces are calling for weapon bans and other restrictions. This happens every time we have a high-profile case involving a firearm. But knee-jerk legislative band-aids make the situation worse, not better.

The answer lies not in banning guns that citizens can use to prevent protect themselves or prevent crimes.
It lies, instead, in enforcing the laws we have now to harshly punish criminals who illegally use guns to to break the laws and take lives.

**************************************************
5. Robbery in Va. gun-free zone
**************************************************

Kay Stoen emailed me this:

--

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
http://tinyurl.com/6xw9eh2


Henrico County jewelry store robbed
By TIMES DISPATCH STAFF
Published: January 18, 2011

Henrico County police say two people forced their way into a Fink's Jewelers store at Short Pump Town Center on Tuesday night, taking an undisclosed amount of jewelry and fleeing.

The incident occurred shortly after 8 p.m. at the store in the 11800 block of West Broad Street, said police spokesman Lt. Eric Owens.

Anyone with information should contact Henrico County Police Communications at (804) 501-5000 or Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000.


**************************************************
6. Residents line up to conceal a weapon in Augusta County, Va.
**************************************************

Dale Hawley emailed me this:

--

A nice neutral (if not supportive) article in one of the local newspapers . . .


From whsv.com: http://tinyurl.com/4hepfe7


Updated: 2:29 PM Jan 21, 2011
Residents Line Up to Conceal a Weapon

Augusta County Sheriff Randy Fisher says they usually process about 600 applications in one year.
Posted: 6:39 PM Jan 20, 2011
Reporter: Amanda Crawford

In the Valley, applications for a "Conceal and Carry" permit in Augusta County are rolling in.

Sheriff Randy Fisher says they usually process about 600 applications in one year. January isn't even over yet, and they're already busy with first-time applicants.

"Well, you never know when you need a firearm," says Mike Wagner, a first-time applicant. "I've been in places where neighborhoods weren't nice. It just makes you feel more comfortable."

The permit costs $50. Wagner says he's not sure he'd ever fire the gun, but it's still worth having.

"I couldn't imagine myself using indiscriminately," says Wagner. "But if I really felt threatened or my family felt threatened, yes I believe I could use it."

He's not alone. Fisher says they've been busy with at least 50 applications already this year.

"These are people that have been toying with the idea. Something triggers them. Something like, 'OK, I'm going to go ahead and get my concealed weapon.'"

For Wagner, it was Tuscon, Arizona that made him think twice.

He says, "It crosses my mind that somebody there didn't have a weapon with them. Same thing with the Virginia Tech shooting. If somebody there had had a weapon, maybe it would've stopped earlier or they could've done something."

Wagner says he thinks carrying a gun is a safety tool, not a threat to society.

"The gun isn't doing it. It's the person behind the gun doing it," comments Wagner. "The gun didn't shoot anybody in Arizona. The gun didn't shoot anybody at Virginia Tech. It was the person with the gun."

Applicants for conceal and carry permits have to go through background checks and submit finger prints. Those finger prints are sent to the state and to the FBI.

The permit is only issued if all that comes back clear.


**************************************************
7. RT on hunting on Sundays
**************************************************

EM Dave Hicks emailed me this:

--

From The Roanoke Times: http://tinyurl.com/4gmzcbt


Sunday, January 23, 2011
Hunting on Sundays proposed once more
Two bills from Democrats could legalize Sunday hunting in Virginia. But the practice has been banned since 1903.
By Joanne Kimberlin
The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot
RICHMOND -- Enjoying a quiet Sunday?

For more than a century, so have Virginia's wild animals.

That tradition could end if legislation making the rounds in Richmond survives. Two bills, both submitted by Democratic lawmakers from Fairfax, aim to legalize hunting on Sundays.

The proposal comes up every couple of years and always causes a ruckus. Virginians take their hunting seriously -- the state's constitution was amended in 2000 to guarantee "the right of the people to hunt, fish and harvest game."

Roughly 200,000 residents head out with a gun or bow every year to hunt deer, turkey, ducks, geese and the like.

But Sundays have offered sanctuary since at least 1903, declared by state code to be "a rest day for all species."

Except raccoons, which can be pursued in the wee hours, but that's another story.

Biologically, said Bob Duncan, executive director at the state's Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, giving wildlife a once-a-week break doesn't make much difference. The department won't take an official stance on Sunday hunting, but Duncan did say that 40 other states allow it, and their game populations are as strong as Virginia's.

"Wild animals aren't on the same 9-to-5 that we are," Duncan said. "They have to make a living every day. They need a lot of things, like habitat, and protection at certain times of year. But they don't need a day off. And certainly, they don't all need the same day off."

Maybe not, says the opposition, but humans do. Hikers, horseback riders, bird-watchers and others say the ban allows them one day a week during hunting seasons when they can enjoy the woods in peace and safety.

Farmers look forward to Sundays as a time when they're less likely to have hunters trespassing on their land or leaving litter in fields that can damage combines and other equipment.

Besides, said Greg Hicks, of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, "We're a God-fearing group. We don't believe in hunting on Sundays."

Del. Mark Keam, D-Fairfax County, sponsor of the bill in the House, said he's a Christian too, "but to say hunters should be in church instead of hunting ... well, that argument is a little outdated."

Oddly enough, lifting the ban could benefit the very farmers who are against it. Hungry deer do millions of dollars in crop damage every year. An extra day of shooting might help thin whitetail ranks, estimated to be about 1 million animals. Hunters kill about 250,000 annually, but vehicle collisions with deer have been steadily increasing, especially east of Interstate 95.

As for waterfowl and other creatures, bag limits and season lengths could be tailored to suit their more fragile numbers.

Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, patron of the Senate's bill, said convenience for hunters plus the state's constitution inspired his legislation.

"We don't suspend our other constitutional rights one day a week," Petersen said. "Why do we suspend this one?"

Historically, even hunters have been split on the idea. In a 1996 game department survey, roughly half were in favor of Sunday hunting and half were against.

A repeat of the survey in 2006, however, showed the scale tipping, with 62 percent for it.

Those who aren't are worried that Duncan is wrong about the effect on wildlife, or they just don't want to see an old tradition disappear.

There's also the home front to consider.

As Duncan said: "A lot of the wives wouldn't be too happy about it."

**************************************************
8. Ham, mustard, chips, AR-15
**************************************************

Board member Bruce Jackson emailed me this:

--

From the Washington Post: http://tinyurl.com/4upm3ry


Posted at 12:58 PM ET, 01/20/2011
Ham, mustard, chips, AR-15
By Peter Galuszka

The next time you are packing up that picnic lunch for a foray into a Virginia state park, you might want to include an AR-15 assault rifle or a Glock 19 automatic pistol with your mustard and ham sandwiches.

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell says it's okay to openly carry firearms in the state's parks.

His decision, widely hailed by the gun lobby, is particularly striking coming so soon after the Tucson shootings that left six dead and 13 wounded, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. It's also stunning considering that the state is coming up against the fourth anniversary of the mass murders at Virginia Tech by a disturbed gunman who left 33 dead, including himself.
McDonnell made his decision in a Jan. 14 letter to Conservation and Recreation Department Director David A. Johnson.

One wonders in what universe McDonnell and Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli, who originally requested an opinion on carrying guns openly in state parks when he was a state legislator, live.

Increasingly nasty political blogs and advertisements, such as those of Sarah Palin, put cross-hair sights on political figures that various groups want voted out of office.

Now when you try to escape for some quiet time in the state's parks, you may have to pitch a tent next to someone openly packing heat. Let's hope you don't have to ask your neighbors to pipe down at bedtime. And although alcoholic beverages are supposed to be off limits in parks, rangers often look the other way at campsites. Who's going to want to confront someone who is tipsy and has a .45-caliber automatic in his Velcro holster?

McDonnell wants to extend the open-carry guns policy to state forests as well. That makes sense -- during hunting season. Otherwise, a completely insane gun policy is going to make Virginians, once again, look like a bunch of nuts.


**************************************************
9. U.S. Reps Moran and Connolly sign on to new hi-capacity mag ban bill (H.R. 308)
**************************************************

EM Matt Gottshalk emailed me this:

--

From govtrack.us: http://tinyurl.com/4bz6huq


[SNIP]
H.R. 308:
Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act
To prohibit the transfer or possession of large capacity ammunition feeding devices, and for other purposes.