Buy at Cabela's - Support VSSA

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

The 2010 Campaign Has Begun

It appears that Speaker Nancy Pelosi has officially kicked off the 2010 campaign season.

Pelosi Will Not Push Controversial Votes In 2010 Unless Senate Acts First

The Hill Newspaper is reporting this morning that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has told her freshmen Democratic members that she will not be forcing them to "walk the plank" on controversial issues in an election year unless the Senate has already acted on an issue first.

“The Speaker has told members in meetings that we’ve done our jobs,” a Democratic leadership aide said. “And that next year the Senate’s going to have to prove what it can accomplish before we go sticking our necks out any further.”
Pelosi’s promise will likely throw more cold water on the anti-rights crowd as they have recently renewed their push for "No Fly No Buy" legislation to prohibit Americans whose name has ended up on what is known as the "Terrorist Watchlist" from being able to purchase firearms.

Betting that Americans will be swayed by the word "terrorist" antis like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Senator Frank Lautenberg want to take away the due process and Second Amendment rights of over a million Americans simply because their name, or a similar name, ended up on the FBI's "terrorist watchlist." The problem is one can’t find out if their name or a name similar to that of someone on the FBI’s “terrorist watchlist", is indeed on the list, because the FBI won’t say exactly why people get watchlisted, won’t say who has been watchlisted, and therefore doesn’t offer watchlisted people the chance to clear their names immediately.

People from small children, federal air marshals, military personnel who have fought terrorists overseas, the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, members of Congress, and many other Americans have even been stopped from boarding commercial aircraft for this reason. The government has reported that there were 700,000 names in the watchlist as of April 2007, and the NRA has said the ACLU estimates that the number has since risen to 1.3 million.

It goes without say that these people are not all terrorists. However, the anti-rights crowd knows that some of the honest law-abiding Americans who are erroneously on the list, or who get incorrectly flagged by the list, are gun owners. And, because the FBI won’t reveal its watchlist criteria, the anti-gun activists and politicians think that more gun owners can be placed on the list over time, by like-minded bureaucrats making arbitrary determinations about who ought to have guns.

But Pelosi apparently seems to be more concerned with keeping her majority in congress so unless the Senate takes up Lautenberg's version of the bill first, don't look for Pelosi to let it surface in the House.

That won't stop Bloomberg and his minions in Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG). As Sebastian has written over on Snowflakes in Hell, Bloomberg, or at least the people working for him, have figured out what the other anti-rights groups have not to this point:

By reframing the current gun control agenda into a righteous struggle to battle illegal guns, Bloomberg can steal more legitimacy, and get people to listen, who might not otherwise care about “gun control” and its closely related and equally discredited cousin “gun safety.”
Bloomberg will continue to try and score media points in the coming months. He will likely be financially supporting efforts to close the non existant "gun show loophole" during the next session of the General Assembly as he did last year through ads targeting Bob McDonnell. VSSA will continue to fight these efforts as we have successfully during the last several years.

Monday, December 14, 2009

State Firearms Association Amicus Brief in McDonald v Chicago

Late last month the amicus brief that VSSA joined in support of McDonald in the Chicago gun ban case was filed. You can read the brief here. You can see all of the briefs filed in support of McDonald by clicking here.

Other briefs of note include the Members of Congress brief, which was signed by both Sens. Warner and Webb, and all of Virginia's Representatives except Bobby Scott (D-VA3) and Gerald "Gerry" Connolly (D-VA11), the State Legislators brief, signed on to by the following Virginia Delegates and State Senators:
Bill Carrico, State Delegate
Mark Cole, State Delegate
Morgan Griffith, State Delegate
Emmett Hanger, Jr., State Senate
Edd Houck, State Senate
Bill Howell, State Delegate
Robert Hurt, State Senate
Bill Janis, State Delegate
Johnny Joannou, State Delegate
Bob Marshall, State Delegate
Steve Martin, State Senate
Stephen Newman, State Senate
Dave Nutter, State Delegate
Chap Petersen, State Senate
Phillip Preston Prickett, State Senate
Preston Puckett, State Senate
Edward Scott, State Delegate
Beverly Sherwood, State Delegate
Ralph Smith, State Senate
Frank Wagner, State Senate

and Academics for the Second Amendment brief. Also check out the brief filed by Dave Kopel on behalf of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers, and the NRA brief filed by VSSA's own Stephen Halbrook.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Handgun Owners Win Right to Pack in Luggage on Amtrak

CQ Politics reported today that Amtrak riders will be able to pack handguns in their checked luggage within a year thanks to a provision included in the final version of the fiscal 2010 omnibus spending bill.

The Senate-passed Transportation-HUD spending bill included language sponsored by Sen. Roger Wicker , R-Miss., that would have required Amtrak to allow passengers to carry handguns in checked bags by March.

The language included in the final version, which was agreed to last night by House-Senate negotiators, retains the directive, but gives Amtrak a year to implement it.

“This is an important victory for sportsmen and gun owners across the country,
and it affirms congressional support of the Second Amendment,” Wicker said in a
statement Wednesday. “Airline passengers in our country are allowed to transport
firearms in secure, checked baggage when declared during the check-in process.
Law-abiding gun owners who choose to travel on America’s taxpayer-subsidized
rail line should be given the same right.”

Thanks to Senator Wicker for standing up for law abiding gun owners.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

2010 Wild Game Dinner

In February the Riverside Community Church's Outdoor Ministry Team will hold their third annual Wild Game Dinner. You are invited to come and enjoy a night of family fellowship with a dinner menu of delicious wild game. There will be door prizes and an outdoors guest speaker.

There will be ONLY 250 tickets available for this event. For menu, tickets, and more information, click here.

What: Riverside Community Church Outdoor Ministry Wild Game Dinner
Where: Fireman's Sports Arena Hwy 628 Farmville , Virginia
When: Saturday, February 27, 2010, 7:00 - 10:00 PM

2010 General Assembly

The first firearms related bill has been dropped in the hopper at the General Assembly. Introduced by Roanoke area State Senator Ralph Smith, SB 3 would allow people to apply for the renewal of their concealed carry permit by mail. This bill should sail through both houses as out of state applicants already apply by mail to the State Police so people who already have a permit applying by mail to their clerk of the circuit court.

More firearms legislation is expected to be dropped during the pre-filing period and VSSA will keep Virginia gun owners informed as the bills become available.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Possible New King William Shooting Ordinance

The King William County Board of Supervisors considered an ordinance at it's November 23rd meeting that would ban discharge of a firearm within 100 yards of homes or businesses. In a rural county like King William, such a change could impact a gun owners's right to defend his property/life, as well as hunting activities. The County Courier reported that the Board agreed that the proposal required more study and will possibly revisit the issue in January of 2010.

Gun owners in King William need to contact their member of the Board of Supervisors and let them know the proposed change is unnecessary and will negatively impact the rights of law abiding gun owners and sportsmen. You can contact the Board members as follows:

First District
C. T. "Tom" Redd III
Phone: (804) 843-4188
Mailing Address:690 River Road
West Point, Virginia 23181
Email:tredd@kingwilliamcounty.us

Second District
Daniel L. Wright
Phone: (804) 769-3838
Mailing Address:P.O. Box 153
King William, VA 23086
Email:dwright@kingwilliamcounty.us


Third District
Cecil L. Schools
Phone: (804) 769-0681
Mailing Address:P.O. Box 79
Aylett, VA 23009
Email:cschools@kingwilliamcounty.us

Fourth District
T. G. "Tom" Smiley
Phone: (804) 769-3480
Mailing Address:P.O. Box 83
Manquin, VA 23106
Email:tsmiley@kingwilliamcounty.us

Fifth District
Otto O. Williams
Phone: (804) 994-2163
Mailing Address:4385 King William Road
Aylett, VA 23009
Email:owilliams@kingwilliamcounty.us