Buy at Cabela's - Support VSSA

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

McDonnell Amendments Approved

Governor McDonnell's amendments to HB885 and HB1217 were approved by the General Assembly tonight. After five hours of debating budget amendments, The House began to focus on other legislation. The outcome was never in doubt in the House but the Senate was going to be the real test, especially with Lt. Governor Bill Bolling stranded in Italy where he had been on an economic develement trip.

HB885 is Delegate Clay Athey's bill that would allow individuals that do not possess a concealed carry permit to store their loaded firearm in a locked container in a vehicle or boat. Governor McDonnell amended to bill, removing the locked container requirement to simply be a "secured" container. The Amendment was overwhelmingly approved in the House and squeaked by in the Senate 20-19. The following senators supported gun owners:

Blevins, Deeds, Edwards, Hanger, Houck, Hurt, Martin, McDougle, McWaters, Norment, Obenshain, Puckett, Reynolds, Ruff, Smith, Stosch, Stuart, Vogel, Wagner, Wampler

These senators voted against gun owners:

Barker, Colgan, Herring, Howell, Locke, Lucas, Marsden, Marsh, McEachin, Miller, J.C., Miller, Y.B., Northam, Petersen, Puller, Quayle, Saslaw, Ticer, Watkins, Whipple

HB1217 is the bill sponsored by Delegate Lynwood Lewis (D-100), that would allow local school boards to offer firearm safety education programs in the elementary grades. To assist local school boards opting to provide such instruction, the Board of Education must establish a standardized program of firearm safety education for students in the elementary school grades to promote the protection and safety of children. The bill requires that the program objectives incorporate, among other principles of firearm safety, accident prevention and the rules of the NRA’s Eddie Eagle GunSafe® program. Local school boards offering the program must comply with Board curriculum guidelines and integrate the instruction in appropriate subject areas, if feasible, to ensure that every elementary school student receives instruction in firearm safety education.

The Senate Education and Health Committee added an amendment that would permit school boards to also use principles provided by the National Crime Prevention Center.

Governor McDonnell has recommended that the bill be amended back to it's original form.

That amendment was adopted overwhelmingly in both houses.

Both bills become law on July 1.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Warner and Webb Targeted by Anti-gun Crowd

Families of the Virginia Tech shooing victims are targeting U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb to sign on to closing the non-existent "Gun Show Loophole" and they are getting a boost from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG). If Bloomberg were honest, he would call his group what it is - Mayors Against Guns. Bloomberg is running this ad to try and gin up support on Capitol Hill for his pet project.



Honesty is not Bloomberg's strong suit as we all know. He even uses a clip from a 2000 ad Senator John McCain made supporting Colorado's initiative attacking gun shows to infer that McCain supports MAIG's efforts. The ad also claims that McCain supported shutting down gun shows in 2008 when he ran for President and sights a speech made in Louisville, KY on May 16, 2008. That just happens to be when the NRA was holding it's Annual Meeting in that city. John McCain spoke as part of the Celebration of American Values Forum. Now, I had my three year-old with me during that speech but I don't recall him saying during that speech that he would sign the gun show bill if he were elected President.

The fact is though we all know there is no loophole. Bloomberg and his band of followers are desperate. They can't believe that President Obama has made no moves to uses the huge majorities he has in both houses of Congress to pass gun control.

While it it true Obama has sizable Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, he does not have anti-rights majorities. But we should not take anything for granted. Call and write Senators Warner and Webb and politely urge them to stand firm and oppose Bloomberg's attacks on gun shows.

General Assembly Reconvenes Wednesday to Consider Amendments

On April 13, Governor Bob McDonnell (R) added favorable amendments to two VSSA-supported bills, HB1217 and HB885.

HB1217 and HB885 will be taken up by the Virginia General Assembly during the reconvened session, which starts tomorrow, Wednesday April 21. The Governor's amendments can be agreed to or rejected. If the amendments are agreed to by both houses, the amended bill is reenrolled and becomes law. If the Governor's amendments are rejected, the original bill is sent back to the Governor where it may be signed as originally presented or vetoed.

House Bill 1217, sponsored by Delegate Lynwood Lewis (D-100), would allow local school boards to offer firearm safety education programs in the elementary grades. To assist local school boards opting to provide such instruction, the Board of Education must establish a standardized program of firearm safety education for students in the elementary school grades to promote the protection and safety of children. The bill requires that the program objectives incorporate, among other principles of firearm safety, accident prevention and the rules of the NRA's Eddie Eagle GunSafe® program. Local school boards offering the program must comply with Board curriculum guidelines and integrate the instruction in appropriate subject areas, if feasible, to ensure that every elementary school student receives instruction in firearm safety education. The Senate Education Committee added an amendment that would permit school boards to also use principles provided by the National Crime Prevention Center. Governor McDonnell amended the bill to the form in which it passed the House and deleting the reference to the National Crime Prevention Center.

The anti-rights Virginia Center for Public Safety sent out a desperate email last night accusing the Governor of mandating "NRA education for all children." We need gun owners to act now to make sure this outlandish charge does not defeat the amendment.

House Bill 885, sponsored by Delegate Clay Athey (R-18), would allow any person who may lawfully possess a firearm and is carrying a handgun while in a personal, private vehicle or vessel to keep the firearm locked in a container or compartment in the vehicle or vessel. Senate Bill 408 was not signed into law as the Governor seeks to amend it's companion bill, HB885. Governor McDonnell has recommended that the General Assembly strike the word "locked" and replace it with the word "secured".

Please contact both your Delegate and Senator and respectfully urge them to approve the Governor's amendments to HB1217 and HB885/SB408.

You can find your legislator's contact information here.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Carolyn McCarthy Slams Virginia Gun Laws

It's not bad enough that congress critters spout off about most anything whether they know what they are talking about or not. They are given free print space on national news web sites to share their opinions with the world. Today, U.S. News posted an OP/Ed on their web site from New York Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, one of the most anti-rights members of the U.S. House where she states that "Open Carry Gun Laws Turn the Country Back into the Wild West."
There are only three states, Florida, Texas, and Illinois, and the District of Columbia that outright prohibit the open carrying of handguns. Only three!

Then in the next stroke of her pen, she tells us she is not against people owning guns, then uses the worn out cliche that we have fallen back to the Wild West.

Now, contrary to public perception, I have never been against people owning guns for protection, hunting, or sport. But there are days when I read the newspaper or am watching the news and it seems as if our country is back in the Wild West.

She doesn't waste much time mischaracterizing the just signed repeal of the restaurant ban either while at the same time using some little known college poll to back up her claim that the public is against self-defense in restaurants.

For example, Virginia recently passed a bill that will allow people to carry concealed guns in bars and restaurants as long as they do not consume any alcohol. According to a October 2009 Christopher Newport University poll, 68 percent of likely voters in Virginia answered "no" when asked if they thought people with concealed weapons permits should be allowed to bring their guns into restaurants that sell alcohol— 68 percent! What happened to listening to what the voters want? I further agree with the State Association of Chiefs of Police, who sent a letter to Gov. Bob McDonnell asking that he veto the law because the combination of firearms and alcohol is similar to drinking while driving. Shouldn't we at least listen to those whose job it is to keep us safe: our law enforcement officials?
Never mind the fact that before Virginia passed its law allowing concealed carry in restaurants like Applebees and Olive Garden, there had been no carnage in the other 41 states that already allow people to be prepared to defend their families should it become necessary. And, I would like to know if those chiefs of police who oppose you and me carrying in restaurants oppose retired law enforcement from carrying, or Commonwealth's Attorneys? These are two classes of citizens that already had the right, and they are allowed to consume alcohol while carrying. The bill signed by Governor McDonnell expressly forbids consumption.

As for open carry, Starbucks and a number of firearm friendly businesses in Virginia that regularly welcome gun owners that openly carry can attest that those choosing to exercise the right are law abiding and simply want to patron their businesses. In this economy, I would think that a business would welcome a buck where ever they can get it. I can think of no better patron than a gun owner.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Virginia Loses True Champion of the Second Amendment

It is with great sadness that I pass along the news that long time VSSA and past NRA Board Member Raymond Cahen passed away last night. Ray has been battling health issues that were the result of an injury he received several years ago. For the last five or six years he had good days and bad days but did not let that get in the way of his commitment to the rights of Virginia's gun owners, remaining as a member of the VSSA Board until his last term expired last December.

Ray has a long resume with the shooting sports but just to highlight some:

  • Member VSSA Board of Directors
  • Muti-term member of the NRA Board of Directors
  • Pistol shooter
  • Past Chairman of the NRA Elections, Protest and Pistol Committees.
  • A Director of the Virginia Wildlife Federation
  • Multi-term VSSA Legislative Vice President,
  • Life Member of the Virginia Shooting Sports Association (February 1985).
  • Founder of the Virginia Outdoor Sports Information Network,
  • Instrumental in the foundation of the Virginia Firearms Dealers Association.
  • Certified instructor for rifle, pistol and shotgun as well as working with youth shooters.
  • Governors appointee to the Virginia Board of conservation and Recreation.
  • Life Member Cavalier Rifle and Pistol Club.
  • Played a key role in Sportsmen for George Allen coalition of the Allen for Governor Campaign

Ray was instrumental in getting me involved with VSSA and his counsel will be greatly missed.

Governor McDonnell Signs Repeal of Restaurant Ban

Governor Bob McDonnell has signed into law VSSA-backed legislation allowing Concealed Handgun Permit (CHP) holders to carry a concealed firearm for self-defense in restaurants like Applebees and Olive Garden that serve alcohol as well as food, providing they do not consume alcohol. State Senator Emmett Hanger (R-24) and Delegate Todd Gilbert (R-15) were the patrons of Senate Bill 334 and House Bill 505 respectively.

This commonsense measure passed the State Senate in February by a bi-partisan vote of 22-18 and passed the House of Delegates in early March with a bipartisan vote of 72-27. This makes Virginia the 42nd state to extend self-defense rights to permit holders in restaurants.

There was absolutely no reason to prohibit CHP holders from carrying their self-defense firearm into a restaurant that serves alcohol. CHP holders are some of the most law abiding members of society. This is a 14 year battle that has finally been won with the hard work of Virginia's law-abiding gun owners.

VSSA would like to thank Governor Bob McDonnell and the lead bill sponsors, Senator Emmett Hanger and Delegate Todd Gilbert, as well as all the other legislators who supported this common-sense measure. The law will become effective on July 1, 2010.

Virginian gun owners can thank Governor Bob McDonnell for his Second Amendment support at (804) 786-2211 or click here to thank him via email.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Richmond's Second Amendment March

The Virginia Second Amendment March was held at the Bell Tower inside Capitol Square at noon today. The media is reporting that about 150 people turned out to hear several speakers, including Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, but we all know how reliable media counts are for such events. Today's rally, and other state rally's around the nation are prelude's to the national March next Monday in Washington.

Today's rally was held at noon so it allowed people in the downtown area to attend during the lunch hour but it likely also contributed to a smaller crowd that would be expected to turn out on a weekend.

Next weeks national rally will be held on April 19 at the Washington Monument.

NRA-ILA Needs Volunteers for This Weekend's Nation's Gun Show

NRA-ILA is looking for some volunteers to help man their legislative table at the Nation's Gun Show on Saturday April 24th. If any of you are able to help out, please let contact the NRA-ILA Grassroots division at 1-800-392-8683. You will receive free admission to the Gun Show and NRA is looking for volunteers to help from 9AM-1pm and from 1pm-5pm.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Coyotes Spotted in Chesterfield County

What was once a species confined to the western part of the nation has now been spotted in Chesterfield County. The Chesterfield Observer published this story earlier this week that states coyotes are now in every county of the Commonwealth.


According to Mike Fies, wildlife research biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF), people reported sightings of coyotes in Virginia as early as the 1950s. Those initial sightings were probably animals that were transported into the state as pets.

It wasn’t until the 1970s that the population of coyotes expanded northward from the southeastern states and became established in Southwest Virginia. Then in the early 1980s, a population from the northern tier states and Canada ventured southward and arrived in Northern Virginia.

“They are found in every county in the state,” says Fies.

A friend in rural Amelia County told me a couple of years ago that coyotes had moved into the area and it was thought that the reduced fawn sitings that year were directly attributed to the presence of coyotes.

Predators that have no natural enemies (other than man) in the area can wreak havoc on wildlife populations like whitetail deer.

An absence of large predators was like a welcome mat for coyotes.

“A niche was left for them. The wolf was extirpated and the same for the mountain lion,” says Fies. “There’s no top predator, and the habitat here in Virginia is good for them. There’s plenty of food, and they are extremely adaptable animals that can tolerate humans well, and there’s nothing really to stop them.”
There is a continuous open season on coyotes on private land. Coyote hunting in National Forest Lands and Game Department Lands is permitted from September 1-March 10 and during the spring turkey season and spring squirrel season on certain areas (see area listings for spring squirrel season). Counties have the option of establishing their own coyote bounty system but Coyote bounties are not administered by DGIF. For more information, hunters and trappers should contact their County Administrator or County Board of Supervisors.

Campus Safety Magazine Podcast Discusses Open Carry

On Wednesday, Campus Safety Magazine posted a podcast on it's web site where several community college officials discussed a growing enrollment, and there was a brief discussion of open carry on college campuses. Sgt. Dunnell Chaney of Mott Community College's Department of Public Safety in Flint, Michigan discussed what Campus Safety Magazine characterized as:

...challenges with Michigan gun laws that allow open carry on campus.

The Open Carry discussion started at the 595 mark of the podcast (there is a counter that rolls as the audio plays). The Moderator asked for the "top concerns" on the campuses as they started to close out the podcast and she started with Sgt. Chaney. He stated that the top concern in Michigan (note he did not just say his campus) was open carry.

It is such a concern that we brought the prosecutor in within the last couple of weeks for a Q & A session on it. It's a concern because we have nothing in place in Michigan to prevent an individual from walking across our campus with a weapon. So, we're trying to get some type of answer on that or maybe something in place to address that in the near future.

I would note that even if there was something in place, it would not deter a criminal from coming on campus with a firearm if he was intent on harming one or more individuals.

The moderator chimed in and said the magazine did a survey of Campus Safety readers last summer and asked who was for and against students carrying concealed on college campuses. Surprise, surprise, the overwhelming majority of "college respondents" opposed it.

Now, a reasonable person would ask "Have there been any incidents of law abiding gun owners causing mayhem when carrying on a Michigan campuses?" But reason goes out the door in these discussion and all you get are the platitudes from college presidents and some law enforcement officials that "college campuses should be a place where you don't need a gun."

Thursday, April 8, 2010

JMU Students Participate in "Empty Holster" Week

The James Madison University (JMU) student newspaper blog posted a story today about students who are participating in this week's "Empty Holster" protest. For the second year in a row, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is sponsoring the protest as part of their effort to raise awareness and change the rules prohibiting legal concealed carry on college and university campuses.

Like most institutions of higher learning, JMU prohibits firearms on campus. While visitors to the campus cannot be prohibited from carrying their legally permitted concealed handgun according to a 2006 Attorney General's Opinion, Virginia's colleges and universities can ban students and employees from carrying.

JMU has a very active chapter of SCCC and members are working to change university policy.

“It’s clearly been shown that a college is not secure,” said junior Kory Verdonck, SCCC’s service coordinator. “Courthouses, airports [where weapons are prohibited] have very heavy security, and campus security has holes.”

Not surprising, JMU takes a different view:

University spokesman Don Egle disagreed with SCCC’s opinion that JMU was not a secure campus.

“The university is responsible for ensuring a safe environment for students and staff,” Egle said. “We have a great law enforcement division and a responsible faculty and staff. Individuals carrying concealed weapons does not make campus safer.”

Maybe Mr. Egle should sign up for a Google News Alert with the key words "Crime on College Campuses" and he would get the same list of articles that this writer receives everyday. Like any police department, college police cannot protect every individual. They react to incidents, usually after they have happened. All the JMU students, and the other students who support SCCC's position, want is the ability to protect themselves should the need arise.

The JMU chapter will also be holding an open forum-style debate on the issue on the Campus tonight at 6 p.m. for any students who are interested.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Growing Terrorist Watch List Ensnares More People in Error

In today's New York Times, this article detailed how more people are being stopped from flying because their name ended up on the "Terrorist Watch List." And, according to the Times, the number of people that end up on the list and are stopped even though they have no connection to terror or terrorist are likely to rise as the Obama administration recalibrates the standards for identifying potential terrorists, in response to intelligence failures that let the "underwear bomber" fly to Detroit from Amsterdam last Christmas.

On Friday, the administration altered rules for identifying which passengers flying to the United States should face extra scrutiny at the gate. And it is reviewing ways to make it easier to place suspects on the watch list.

“The entire federal government is leaning very far forward on putting people on lists,” Russell E. Travers, a deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said at a recent Senate hearing. Before the attempted attack on Christmas, Mr. Travers said, “I never had anybody tell me that the list was too small.”
No one knows how they get on the list, and all sorts of people from Gulf War veterans to Congressmen and U.S. Senators end up on the list. And the government will not tell you how to get off of the list.

The watch list is actually a succession of lists, beginning with the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, or TIDE, a centralized database of potential suspects. Mr. Travers said that about 10,000 names come in daily through intelligence reports, but that a large percentage are dismissed because they are based on “some combination of circular reporting, poison pens, mistaken identities, lies and so forth.”

Analysts at the counterterrorism center then work with the Terrorist Screening Center of the F.B.I. to add names to what is called the consolidated watch list, which may have any number of consequences for those on it, like questioning by the police during a traffic stop or additional screening crossing the border. That list, in turn, has various subsets, including the no-fly list and the selectee list, which requires passengers to undergo extra screening.

The consolidated list has the names of more than 400,000 people, about 97 percent of them foreigners, while the no-fly and selectee lists have about 6,000 and 20,000, respectively.
And this is the same list that people like President Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and N.J. U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg want to use to prevent Americans from purchasing a handgun. Cam Edwards did a good job of dissecting this issue last year on NRANews.com



Gun owners should continue to be wary of those who ask us to give up a little freedom for security. Law abiding gun owners have no problem with denying known criminals and terrorists from having access to firearms. What we do have a problem with is keeping U.S. Citizens who have never committed a crime from being able to exercise their constitutionally protected rights.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Background Checks Taking Longer

If you have tried to purchase a firearm in the Commonwealth in the last year, you have likely experienced the trend that today's Richmond Times Dispatch reported - background checks are taking longer. What used to take a matter of minutes in most cases now can take as much as several hours.

The State Police are blaming the delays on reduced staff and buget cuts:

Spokeswoman Corinne Geller said that since May 2009, the agency has lost 11 people from its 28-person staff at the Virginia Firearms Transaction Center, including two federally funded full-time workers who used to attend gun shows and conduct the computerized checks on-site.

Gun owners pay a $2.oo tax that goes to cover the cost of the instant background check. The tax has remained the same price since 1989. VSSA and other Virginia gun groups successfully defeated legislation in 2009 that would have increased the tax by 150%. The bill passed the Senate easily but thanks to our friends in the House of Delegates, the bill died an appropriate death. The patron of that legislation, Senator John Watkins wasn't very happy when the bill went down to defeat:

"...I couldn't even get it out of subcommittee," said Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, who carried the 2009 legislation. "They want to have it both ways."

According to the State Police, an increase in the background check tax would enable them to reduce wait times and process more checks. They give as their reason for the delays the increase in the number of conditions under which someone can be disqualified from owning a firearm. With this, supposedly the checks are now more "labor-intensive", causing the prospective purchaser's information to be run through 13 different databases. The State Police said if one of the databases hits on a name, the application is automatically given what is called a "pending status" for the technician to do further research.

But at the same time, background checks have risen to record numbers, with 287,462 in 2009. When you multiply that by $2.00, that is a lot of money. But the state police say it is not enough.

VSSA continues to oppose a fee increase, as do other Virginia gun rights groups. We want to know why it takes $860,000, as the State Police claim, to run the background checks. If they were running them efficiently up until 2008, and they are collecting more in background check taxes from the increased sales that have occurred since 2008, something is not adding up.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Second Amendment March Approaching Fast

The Second Amendment March is coming on April 12th (the Virginia March) and April 19th (the National March at the Washington Monument). These events are scheduled on a Monday but with there being a local, if you can't make it to Washington on the 19th, you may be able to make the march in Richmond (or your state if you are reading this blog and don't live in Virginia).

According to the March web site:

The mission of the Second Amendment March is to galvanize the courage and resolve of Americans; to petition our elected officials against establishing anti-gun legislation; and to remind America that the Second Amendment is necessary to maintain our right to self defense.
If you can attend your state or the national march, VSSA encourages you to do so and show the political class in this election year that the pro-rights community is united in protected freedom.