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Friday, September 30, 2011

3rd Youth Deer Hunting Day a Record Success

The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) reports that a total of 1,195 deer were checked electronically on Saturday September 24th during the 3rd Youth Deer Hunting Day.  Matt Knox, VDGIF Deer Project Coordinator said this is up 82% from the 657 check electronically last year. Knox noted, "that after two consecutive years of terrible deer hunting weather on the annual youth deer hunting day, we finally got a break. Saturday was not perfect, but it was much better than the rain of 2009 and the heat of 2010."

DGIF states that last year the final youth day total, including those deer checked at check stations, ended up being 1,124 and if this pattern holds, it is safe to assume that 2,000 or more deer were taken by youth deer hunters this past Saturday. DGIF credits the success of this special hunting day to the adult mentors who took time off from other routine fall Saturday activities to give these youngsters a memorable day afield and create a new tradition. VSSA agrees with DGIF that if you took a young hunter afield last Saturday, you created a unique memory and hopefully started a "new tradition" for the last Saturday in September to coincide with National Hunting & Fishing Day.

Hat tip the DGIF Outdoor Report.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

James City County Approves Gun Ordinance Changes

The James City County supervisors voted 3-2 to approve changes to the county’s firearm ordinance. According to the Williamsburg Yorktown Daily, the changes clarify the definition of a subdivision.
It specifies property that is divided into two or more lots after August 31, 1964; that has a recorded plat; and that has lots created for residential or commercial purposes. The changes also add an option that make getting an exception from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries easier than it is currently and update a part of the ordinance on pneumatic guns to bring it into line with state code. The board approved the changes, with supervisors Jim Kennedy and Bruce Goodson dissenting.
Goodson said he believed the proposal was a solution looking for a problem instead of a real problem that needs to be addressed and that was why he could not support it.

County staff explained that residents can currently discharge weapons anywhere in the county to protect property or life, or to shoot dangerous animals such as coyotes.  In addition, the county pointed out that citizens can currently get an exception to hunt from DGIF through a permit.  The hange will allow citizens to apply for a DGIF wildlife management plan, which is a somewhat simpler process.  The DGIF change would allow more people to hunt on their land with smaller acreage, compared to offering a large-acre exception, according to staff.  Additionally, wildlife plans would have to be approved by the Chief of Police, who can control variables such as what types of guns are used to execute the plan, or when the plan can occur. The Chief can also choose to deny a plan, but a police spokesman on hand could not recall a time when a plan had been rejected.

More Guns, Less Crime

Despite increases in gun sales, gun crimes continued to decrease in the United States for the fourth straight year in 2010, according to the FBI.   The Daily Caller had story yesterday detailing how at the same time that firearms murders were dropping, gun sales were surging. In 2009, FBI background checks for guns increased by 30 percent over the previous year, while firearms sales in large retail outlets increased by almost 40 percent. The number of applications for concealed carry permits jumped across the country as well.
The FBI recently released its Crime in The United States statistics for 2010. Overall, murders in the U.S. have decreased steadily since 2006, dropping from 15,087 to 12,996. Firearms murders — which made up 67 percent of all murders in the U.S. in 2010 — have followed this trend, decreasing by 14 percent.
Good news from the public and for gun owners.  Bad news for the gun ban lobby.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Wayne LaPierre's Speech to CPAC Florida

Wayne LaPierre laid out what he expect's President Obama's game plan for the 2012 election as it relates to the Second Amendment.

College of William and Mary Joins Growing List Introducing Campus Gun Bans

The Virginia Gazette reported yesterday that the College of William and Mary is seeking to close what it believes is a "glaring hole in weapons regulations" on its campus. 
A weapons policy for the college had been cobbled together from the Code of Virginia and college handbooks, but amazingly no cohesive regulation existed.  A proposed rule went before the Board of Visitors this week.
William and Mary's proposed rule would prohit firearms in buildings or at campus events but does not expressly prohibit then on the grounds.  Everyone would be covered, including visitors.  It mirrors the regulation in place at George Mason University, which was recently upheld by the Virginia Supreme Court as not violating the Second Amendment.

The proposal will be published in the Virginia Register and returned to the Board of Visitors for a final vote in December.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Finnigan the Fox Says See A Gun? Leave it Alone, Leave the Area, Let an Adult Know

Thats what the Board of Education has come up with, complete with a mascot, Finnigan the Fox for their Gun Safety Curriculum.

The summary of the curriculum states:

The Elementary School Gun Safety Guidelines and Curriculum provide background information on gun use and consequences from the misuse of guns. Each lesson is complete with background information, lesson guidelines and plans, suggested scripts for teachers, and student materials. Lessons are aligned with specific Virginia Standards of Learning for each grade. School divisions are guided to develop procedures for instructors to assist students who may disclose sensitive information during a lesson.
That mascot and tag line is awfully close to the Eddie Eagle message but that is what HB1217 recommended last year.

The angle from the local news (at least WTVR TV6 and WRIC TV8) seems to be "is elementary school too early to teach children about guns)? The Brady Bunch should be going nuts about now too.

State Board of Education Approves Gun Safety Curriculum

WRIC 8 News tweeted earlier today that the State Board of Education approved at its meeting today a Gun Safety Curriculum that can be offered by local school divisions.  Last night, WTVR 6 News ran this story on the pending vote.

 

House Bill 1217 passed the General Assembly in 2010.  The bill allowed local school boards to offer firearm safety education programs in the elementary grades and instricted the State Board of Education to 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 requireed 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.

Monday, September 19, 2011

JMU Students on Gun Control and Campus Carry

The James Madison University (JMU) newspaper recently ran an article on campus carry and the AG's opinion on the ability of state colleges and universities to ban firearms on campus.  They also talked to students about gun control and campus carry.

The students in the video have a more favorable view of carrying firearms and campus carry than do the individuals quoted in the print version of the story.

ODU Takes Steps to Tighten Firearms Ban on Campus

The Virginian Pilot reports today that Old Dominion University (ODU) administrators have drafted a regulation for consideration by the university’s Board of Visitors (BOV) that will be considered at its December meeting to explicitly ban all firearms, except those carried by police officers, from campus buildings and sports events.  The BOV is the governing body of the state institution.
In a July opinion requested by a state lawmaker, Cuccinelli said a University of Virginia policy banning guns from campus does not apply to holders of concealed-weapon permits.

ODU has a similar policy, as do most Virginia state colleges and universities.
The AG's Opinion said that "university policies" cannot ban concealed firearms on campus but left open the avenue for "regulations" to ban carrying at state colleges and universities because the AG said regulations carry the force of laws.

Currently, Utah is the only state that has a policy allowing permit holders to carry guns on campuses of its nine public universities.  There are individual instutions, such as Colorado State University, which is prohibited by the state constitution from banning concealed carry on campus, and Blue Ridge Community College in Virginia, that allows concealed carry on its campuses.

A bill to prohibit state colleges and universities from passing such regulations was introduced in during the 2011 General Assembly but died in a Senate committee.

To date, there have been no issues in Utah, or on the campuses of CSU and Blue Ridge Community College with concealed firearm permit holders causing problems.  But, that is usually the case with permit holders - they obey the law.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Sebastian on National Reciprocity

Over on Snowflakes in Hell, Sebastian debunks the argument being used by the antis that National Reciprocity violates states rights.

Onslaught Against National Reciprocity

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Obama's AttackWatch.com Distorts Obama's Gun Control Record

In an effort to arm the president's supporters with what it calls the "facts to fight the smears," the Obama Campaign has launched www.attackwatch.com.  On this sight you will find rebuttals to Texas Governor Rick Perry's job creation claims, as well as a rebuttal to claims that Obama plans to use the U.N. Small Arms Treaty now under consideration to restrict the rights of law abiding American gun owners.  In their defense of the President Obama, they don't exactly tell the whole truth.
President Obama has signed legislation to protect gun owners’ rights. In December 2009, nonpartisan website Factcheck.org published an article explaining that “the President signed credit card legislation that included a provision allowing loaded and concealed weapons in national parks. That hasn’t stopped gun rights advocates from believing that Obama is going to implement sweeping anti-firearms policies.”
While it is true he signed the legislation including the park carry provision, it's not like he pushed for inclusion of the provision.  The real fact is the NRA was successful in adding the provision to "must have" legislation.  The President wanted the bill and was not going to veto it simply because it included the carry provision.  He signed it in spite of the provision.  Then they end their defense by linking to an NRA-ILA release debunking an Internet rumor that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had signed the U.N. small arms treaty.

Here are the real facts that the Obama Campaign do not want you to know about his gun control record, much of it based on his legislative record as a State Senator but also based on the few opportunities he had to vote on the issue as a U.S. Senator:

  • Opposed bill okaying illegal gun use in home invasions;
  • Ok for states & cities to determine local gun laws;
  • Endorsed Illinois handgun ban;
  • Cosponsored bill to limit purchases to 1 gun per month;
  • Keep guns out of inner cities;
  • Ban the sale or transfer of all forms of semi-automatic weapons;
  • Increase state restrictions on the purchase and possession of firearms; and,
  • Voted NO on prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers;
 And let's not forget that Attorney General Eric Holder has expressed on more than one occasion the administration's desire to reinstate the so-called "assault" weapons ban that expired in 2004, and the administration has sent signals that it plans to address the issue of gun control in the future.

So, remember, when Team Obama says it wants facts to fight the smears, remember who is doing the talking and take it with a grain of salt.

McDonnell Praises Perry, Stops Short of Endorsing

The Republican Party of Virginia held a fundraising luncheon today in Richmond featuring Texas Governor and Presidential Candidate Rick Perry.  The Richmond Times Dispatch covered the event.
In introducing Perry, McDonnell praised the Texan's record but stopped short of an endorsement. McDonnell reiterated his desire to see a governor in the White House. He has said he would not endorse a presidential candidate until November if at all.
Perry told the crowd that the GOP did not need a nominee who could bridge divides between Republicans and Democrats:
“We need a nominee who draws a clear and distinct contrast,” he said, adding that the difference between himself and Obama couldn’t be more clear.
Perry leads former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney for the GOP Presidential Nomination in recent polls with all of the remaining candidates in single digits.

Big Sis Denies Knowledge of Fast and Furious

The Hill reports that in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee yesterday, Janet Napolitano told Senator John McCain that the first she heard of the ATF scheme was after U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in the line of duty in Arizona last December.
“Let me be very clear for the record: You were unfamiliar with Operation Fast and Furious while the operation was under way?” asked Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

“That is accurate,” Napolitano replied.
Napolitano told the committee that she did meet with the FBI agent-in-charge in Arizona at the time. She said she was told that DOJ was referring the entire matter to the inspector general, and therefore has reserved judgment until the final report is released.

Napolitano is as inept as Attorney General Eric Holder so don't look for her to buck the party line which is hoping that the story goes away.  So far the only reporting going on in the mainstream media has been CBS News' Sharyl Attkisson, and the LA Times' Richard A. Serrano.  Most of the heavy lifting has been done by the new media's David Codrea, Mike Vanderboegh, and NRANews.com.

Arrest Made in Friday's Henry County Gun Shop Robbery

WFMY reports that two adults and one minor have been arrested in the September 9th robbery of a Henry County gun shop.
Rashawn Bernard Valentine, 20, and a 15-year-old male are charged with one felony count of burglary and eleven counts of larceny of a firearm.

20-year-old Jawayne Maurice Gravely is charged with one felony count of conspiracy to commit burglary and 11 felony counts of conspiracy to commit larceny of a firearm.
On September 9, deputies responded to an alarm at Southern Gun on Virginia Avenue in Bassett. The store had been broken into and several semi-automatic pistols had been stolen.

Unfortunately for the perps, surveillance cameras caught images of two of the suspects during the theft. A Crimestoppers tip also helped lead to the arrests.  According to WMFY, two handguns were recovered, including one from the gun store. 

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

VSSA High Power Team at the Camp Perry National Matches

VSSA has a very active high power team and they once again competed in the National Matches at Camp Perry.  High Power Committee Chairman Mike Jamison works to get young shooters involved in high power rifle shooting and his out reach has paid off with 14 year-old Jonathan Howell taking the High Sub-Junior award for a match rifle at the 2011 National Championships.

Jonathan Howell (14) won the High Sub-Junior award for a match rifle at the 2011 National Championships, held at Camp Perry, Ohio.

Jonathan with his award

Jeff Hague - Another excellent shooter (and VSSA Member) who shoots with the team whenever possible.

Jon Howell and his son, Jonathan Howell at Camp Perry.  Team members call Jonathan “Little Howell”, but not for much longer!

Brad Sutherland – good shooter who shoots with VSSA when we have room on a team.
Thanks to VSSA High Power Chairman Mike Jamison for providing the photos.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Document Confirms Administration Has No Way of Knowing Number of U.S. Guns in Mexico

Via Mike Vanderboegh and David Codrea, there are documented proof that the administration knew it's claims that 90% of guns found to be in Mexico illegally came from U.S. was a lie.  It is nice to have something in writing to back-up what we on this side of the issue have known was the truth all along.