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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Morgan Griffith Featured in The Hill

Today's The Hill newspaper ran an article that featured several newly elected members of congress, including the 9th District's Morgan Griffith.  The theme of the story is the new class is going to feel the pressure of the voters, especially folks who identify with the Tea Party.  Griffith is a worker and he is going to make an excellent addition to Virginia's delegation. 

Friday, November 12, 2010

Three Firearms Bills Prefiled at General Assembly

Legislation for the coming session of the General Assembly has begun to surface.  There are currently three bills filed that have an impact on gun owners and sportsmen. They are:

HB 995 Firearms; purchaser may present military identification card or concealed handgun permit.

HB 1411 Reckless handling of firearms; revocation of hunting license.

HB 1422 Homestead exemptions; adds one family firearm, not to exceed $3,000 value, to list of exemptions.

HB 995 and HB 1422 are clearly pro-rights.  More information is needed regarded HB 1411 to determine why Delegate Tony Wilt feels this is needed. Currently, a first offense results in a revocation for a period of one year to life and a second offense results in a revocation for an additional period not to exceed five years.  Delegate Wilt's bill would make the minimum penalty for a first offense 5 years.  On it's face, it is hard to argue that someone who is convicted of recklessly handling a firearm should be punished but with most things legislative, this bill has the potential to have unintended consequences.  Stay tuned as VSSA learns more about this bill and for more bills to be prefiled.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

ODU Students Push for Right to Self Defense

Concerns about crime continue to cause students at Old Dominion University to push for the right to defend themselves.  ODU is one of several "urban" campuses in the Commonwealth where academic buildings and dorms spill out into surrounding neigborhoods.  Students have started an online petition on Facebook and around the student body to try to garner support. The College Republicans are working to raise awareness.  WAVY TV talked to students about the effort.


The ODU Board of Visitors, the institution's governing board, has the authority to change the current ban on concealed carry on campus. Virginia is one of 23 states that allow universities to set the policy related to firearms on campus.  Students and employees are forbidden from carrying on campus but according to an Attorney General's Opinion, members of the pubic who are not employees or students may carry on campus.

Hat tip to VA-Alert.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Bloomberg Claims Victory in Election

Last week I posted that the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) claimed that Keith Fimian's support for gun rights was his undoing in the race against 11th District extremely anti-rights Congressman Gerry Connolly.  The Hill reported that Connolly has been declared the winner and that Fimian is expected to concede today.

Today CSGV is claiming victory for gun control because of the results in the 11th District, following Bloomberg's lead from a story in the Huffington Post yesterday.  The HuffPo story claims that Bloomberg took on the NRA and Bloomberg won.  A little reality check is in order.

In the closing weeks of the campaign, Bloomberg funded a gun control front group called "Americans United for Safe Streets" (AUSS) with ads about the so-called "gun show loophole."  In addition to Fimian, AUSS targeted Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray (D), Michigan congressional candidate Rocky Raczkowski (R) and Ohio congressional candidate Tom Ganley (R), all of whom lost. Pennsylvania Republican congressional candidate Pat Meehan won over AUSS supported Democrat Bryan Lentz.  So AUSS is claiming it defeated the NRA based on winning four out of five carefully chosen races in which it got involved.  When you look a little deeper, you see a different picture than what is being spun by CSGV and Bloomberg. 

The election was brutal to Democrats in Ohio so Cordray's loss is more attributable to the fact that he was running against a wave than the fact he supported the rights of law abiding gun owners.  In the Michigan race, you only have to look at this from Roll Call's Race Rating to see why Bloomberg chose Michigan's 9th District as one of his races:

This fall he (Peter's) is favored over former state Rep. Andrew “Rocky” Raczkowski, who is hardly the strongest challenger Republicans could have found.
While many believe that Fimian was surging at the end of the campaign, the fact is Virginia's 11th District has trended Blue over the years and the only reason it stayed in the GOP for as long as it did was due to the fact that former Representative Tom Davis was further to the left than the GOP Congressional Leadership.  Roll Call had this to say about the 11th in it's rating's race:

Connolly was presumed to be relatively safe after winning this Democratic-trending suburban Northern Virginia district in 2008.  He faces a rematch from last cycle with businessman Keith Fimian, who lost by 12 points that year.  Taxes and spending are big issues in this fiscally conservative district that is one of the nation’s wealthiest. That’s why Connolly has spoken against the president’s proposal to let Bush-era tax cuts expire for those in the highest income brackets. It’s hard for Fimian to run on the same anti-Washington message many Republicans are championing, seeing as a quarter of 11th district voters work for the federal government.
The Brady Campaign's Paul Helmke uses Bloomberg's bluster to spin the same tired tripe that has failed to gain traction to date: that gun control can be a winner for Democrats if they would only run on the issue.

"On the gun violence issue, the Democratic leadership has too often been paralyzed by the perceived need to protect the NRA stalwarts in their caucus," he said. "Now we see that appeasing the gun lobby did Congressional Democrats little good, while Democratic candidates supporting common-sense gun restrictions won overwhelmingly. This attempt to placate the NRA meant that we just lost another two years in dealing with the plague of gun violence that takes too many innocent lives."
Helmke uses a line from an October Roanoke College Poll to support his assertion that the NRA is not as powerful as congress thinks.  That poll of the 5th Congressional District race between Democrat incumbent Tom Perriello and State Senator Robert Hurt found that 80% of respondents said it made no difference to them that the NRA had endorsed Perriello when deciding for whom to vote.  What Helmke did not say was a)Perriello's opponent was also an "A" rated candidate with a great 2nd Amendment voting record in the General Assembly and b) the 5th District is a conservative rural district that was very unhappy that Perriello voted for Obamacare.  The fact that 80% of respondents to the poll said they did not care that the NRA did not endorse Perriello was likely due to the fact the gun issue was a wash between the candidates so voters could focus on the economy and other issues.

With this little reality check in mind, it seems quite a stretch for Helmke to claim that because four candidates won that were chosen by Bloomberg to make gun control an issue is proof that gun control candidates won overwhelmingly.  But, facts have never mattered to the gun ban crowd.  With them, spin is what wins the day.

Hat tip to Cam Edwards and The NRA News Daily.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Fun on the Range with VSSA and Roanoke Rifle and Revolver Club

Roanoke Rifle & Revolver Club (RRRC) and VSSA conducted a two day match and clinic November 6-7 on their 500 yard range in Hardy, VA.  Michael Torre, RRRC High Power Chairman, ran the range and called the line.  VSSA members Bill McKaig, Phil Lowry, and Mike Jamison assisted with safety and instruction on the line.

The weather was cold, but sunny and 30 shooters at various stages of development enjoyed a team match on Saturday and an individual match on Sunday.  The smallbore rifle team from VMI composed about half of the attendees, with the USMC detachment from Roanoke and a few civilians rounding out the range.

VSSA heavy hitters Doug Morrison and Steve Huff ran away with the team match, but second place was closely contested with the team of LT Woods (USMC) and VMI Keydet Klein pulling away in the last stage of firing.

The individual match on Sunday was even closer.  LT Woods took first again, but VMI Keydet Mallet, in her first exposure to High Power Rifle, took second!

This was fun, educational and well received.  As a result, we are going to do it again next spring.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Gun Control Groups Claim Credit for Fimian Defeat

The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence says that 11th District Republican Keith Fimian's support for the rights of law abiding gun owners is what defeated him on Tuesday.

Gun violence prevention advocates and Virginia Tech survivors applaud voters in Virginia’s 11th congressional district for handing a stinging loss to Republican candidate Keith Fimian. While a wave election was sweeping the country and the rest of the Commonwealth, Fimian finds himself 820 votes behind Democratic incumbent Rep. Gerry Connolly pending a possible recount.
Connolly currently holds a margin of between 800-900 votes over Fimian.  While it is true Fimian had the endorsement of the NRA-PVF and that a Bloomberg front group began running ads against Fimian for his pro-rights stand in the final week of the campaign, to say that his support for the rights of law abiding gun owners is what cost him the election may be a stretch.  The district supported Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling, and Ken Cuccinelli in 2009 as all three won statewide office.  All three of these candidates were at least as pro-rights (and in Cuccinelli's case probably more) as Fimian and none of them supports the position of CSGV, Omar Samaha, or the Brady Campaign, on the so-called "gun show loophole." 

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Rigell Wins in 2nd District

Scott Rigell has been called the winner in the 2nd District. That leaves the 11th and the last check showed Fimian with a 300 vote lead. That race is going to go down to the wire.

NBC News Calls the House for GOP

Cam Edwards just reported on NRANews.com that NBC News is projecting that the GOP will take win the House Majority by a "wide margin."  Chris Cox is on the show now and said this is going to be a great night for the 2nd Amendment.  It appears that even if Harry Reid loses and Chucky Schumer or Dick Durbin becomes Senate Majority Leader, we may have the 60 votes to get votes on pro-gun legislation.

Update:  Almost all of the networks are calling the House for the GOP and it is not even 9:30 PM.

Hurt Wins in 5th

State Senator Robert Hurt has defeated incumbent Congressman Tom Perriello.  Perriello is the second endangered incumbent to go down to defeat in Virginia.  This is another wash regarding how it affects the 2nd Amendment.

In the 2nd, Glenn Nye, the third endangered incumbent is still trailing Scott Rigell.  The fourth endangered incumbent, Gerry Connolly in the 11th, has a slight lead in that race.

On a related note, according to Dave Kopel, gun owners are up five in the U.S. Senate compared to the current congress. 

Fox News Call the 9th for Griffith

Morgan Griffith has defeated long time incumbent Rick Boucher.  With 75% of the vote in Griffith is leading 52%-45%.  This is certainly one of the big wins for the GOP tonight as Boucher had a huge war chest and until recently was trailing Boucher in the polls.  Congratulations to Morgan as he has been a true friend of gun owners in the General Assembly.  Boucher had also been a good friend to gun owners so this is a wash as the 2nd Amendment goes.

Hurt, Griffith, Maintain Healthy Lead

In the 5th District, with 69% of the vote in, State Senator Robert Hurt holds over a 10 point advantage over Congressman Tom Perriello.  In the 9th, with 68% of the vote in, Morgan Griffith holds a little less than a 9 point lead.  There are still a lot of votes to count.

In the 2nd District, is up by 8 points over incumbent Glenn Nye with about 33% of the vote in.

Very Early Vote Returns

In very early vote returns, Scott Rigell (VA02), Robert Hurt (VA05) and Morgan Griffith (VA09) have taken early leads.  In the 3rd District, Chuck Smith has a surprising 44% of the vote but trails Bobby Scott.

Virginia Bellwether for Nation

For most of this election season, this blog has talked about two races - VA05 and VA09.  Those two featured the highest profile races where State Senator Robert Hurt won a bruising primary for the chance to take on endangered one term incumbent Tom Perriello.  The other race featured House of Delegates Majority Leader Morgan Griffith taking on 28 year incumbent Rick Boucher.  Just days before Griffith jumped in the race, the NRA made an unprecedented February endorsement for Boucher.  It is generally understood that Boucher sought the early endorsement because he knew that Griffith would be a tough challenger - one who has an excellent pro-rights record in the General Assembly.

But there was always the race in VA02 that was also going to be an opportunity for the Republicans to pick up a seat they had held since the late Owen Pickett retired in 2000.  That race features incumbent Glenn Nye and businessman Scott Rigell.  Rigell also won a spirited primary in June. 

Conventional wisdom held that Rigell and Hurt had a good shot to take back two long time GOP held seats because the districts are conservative (though VA02 barely went for Obama in 2008).   The 9th went big for McCain in 2008 but Boucher won with no opposition.  When he has been opposed in presidential years, Boucher would win while the district went Republican.  He even survived the last GOP wave of 1994.  But this year, he would have to defend his vote for Cap and Trade which most believe would further destroy his coal field district.

The final race that has gained notoriety is the rematch in VA11 between challenger Keith Fimian and Congressman Gerald "Gerry" Connolly.  The first indication that Connolly was in trouble was when he bucked his party and voted for congress to stay in session and deal with the expiration of the "Bush Tax Cuts."  NRA also has a field representative  working in the district to oversee activities for gun owner volunteers.  NRA has endorsed Fimian.

So, for those who are wonder just how big a night the GOP will have, here is my prediction based on Virginia races.  If Rigell (VA02) and Hurt (VA05) win, it is a good night for the GOP as they start to take back some of the seats lost over the last four years in conservative leaning districts.  As the night goes on, should Fimian (VA11) be added to the list of wins the wave has hit the shore and the predictions of 55 GOP pick-ups made by the well known prognosticators are well within reach.  Finally, if Boucher loses to Griffith (VA09), the hurricane has come ashore.

For some perspective, political analyst Charlie Cook has both the 2nd and 5th districts leaning GOP as both challengers have small leads of about 5 points.  Cook has the 11th a tossup with Connolly leading by 2 points and the 9th a tossup with Griffith up by 11 (though I don't know if the Cook's numbers are correct in the 9th as most polls have shown the numbers flipped).  Real Clear Politics lists the four the same as Cook.  The latest Survey USA poll has Griffith up by 1 point on Boucher.  Jim Geraghty has the 2nd, 5th and 11th going to the challengers and Boucher hanging on in the 9th.

The Polls Are Open

Virginia's polls are now open and will remain open until 7:00 PM tonight.  It is the responsibility of every citizen to get out and vote.  If you don't like the direction our leaders are taking the country, this is your chance to do something about it.

Monday, November 1, 2010

VSSA E-Bullet Election Edition

The Election Edition of the VSSA E-Bullet is now available. This issue includes an election guide for gun owners.

Jim Geraghty's Election Predictions

National Review's Jim Geraghty has posted his election predictions.  In the four closely watched Virginia races, Jim is picking three challengers to pick off the incumbents. The three challengers are Scott Rigell (VA02), Robert Hurt (VA05) and Keith Fimian (VA11).  That last on may be the biggest shocker should the prediction be correct given the demographics of the 11th District.  Geraghty is picking Boucher to hold on to his 9th District seat.  We should know by 9:00 PM if the predictions come true.