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Monday, December 12, 2011

American Rifleman: Top Shot Season 1 Winner Becomes U.S. Citizen

Great story.  It's at the American Rifleman Blog.

Blue Ridge Community College Forced to Ban Firearms on Campus

The Staunton News Leader reported Friday that thanks to action taken by the state governing board of Virginia's community college system, Blue Ridge Community College (BRCC) will no longer be able to allow students with concealed handgun permits (CHPs) to carry on campus.  BRCC is the only public college or university that allowed it's students to carry while on campus.
The move comes after the state board for the community college system approved a statewide guideline recommending a ban in September, college spokeswoman Bridget Baylor said Friday.
The board took action after Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli wrote in a July legal advisory opinion that university policies couldn’t apply to people with CHPs because they did not have the force of law.  He did however write that a regulation is enforceable because it undergoes a more formal process and must be approved by a university’s governing body through the Virginia Register Act.  All of the state's public colleges and universitities have set about replacing their policies with regulations.

Interestingly enough, the community college spokesman said this:
Baylor said the college has not had any problems with students or staff discharging guns or threatening people with weapons. Advocates for allowing students and teachers to carry weapons into school often cite Blue Ridge as an example to follow.
Maybe that was the real problem; there was a perfect example in Virginia of how permit holders are no threat to faculty and students.

Firearm Bills Pre-filed for 2012 General Assembly Session

Four bills have been pre-filed for the 2012 Session of the General Assembly.

HB 20 Emergency Services & Disaster Law; shall not be interpreted to prohibit carrying, etc., of firearms-Provides that nothing in the Emergency Services and Disaster Law shall be interpreted to limit or prohibit the possession, carrying, transportation, sale, or transfer of firearms.

HB 22 Firearms; disposition thereof acquired by localities - Provides that no locality may participate in any program in which individuals are given a thing of value in exchange for surrendering a firearm to the locality (compensated gun confiscation) unless the governing body of the locality has enacted an ordinance authorizing the participation of the locality. The ordinance shall require that such firearms shall be offered for sale by public auction or sealed bids to a person licensed as a dealer.

HB 25 Concealed handgun permits; confidentiality of permittee information - Prohibits the clerk of the court from disclosing information contained on a concealed handgun permit application or on an order issuing a concealed handgun permit.

HB 26 Concealed handgun permit; failure to produce upon demand of a law-enforcement officer, penalty - Provides that failure to produce, upon demand of a law-enforcement officer, a concealed handgun permit and a government-issued photo identification while carrying a concealed handgun is punishable by a $25 civil penalty. A court may waive this penalty if the person presents a valid concealed handgun permit and government-issued photo identification to the court. The bill also introduces an affirmative defense of having a valid concealed handgun permit to a charge of violating the concealed weapons statute.

HB 22 and HB 25 have surfaced before.  A bill similar to HB 22 was vetoed by Tim Kaine when he was governor.  HB 25 address the issue of newspapers like the Fredericksburg Free Lance Star publishing the names of people issue concealed handgun permits.  Prior biills introduced to address this issue have not passed but with the change in the make-up of the state senate, there is hope this may be the year for this legislation.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Can the Fast and Furious News Get Worse?

From today's Morning Jolt from NRO's Jim Geraghty:

The really short update on the Fast and Furious scandal: Yesterday, it sounded bad; today, it sounds worse. CBS: 
Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation "Fast and Furious" to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales.

ATF officials didn't intend to publicly disclose their own role in letting Mexican cartels obtain the weapons, but emails show they discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called "Demand Letter 3". That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or "long guns." Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information.

On July 14, 2010 after ATF headquarters in Washington D.C. received an update on Fast and Furious, ATF Field Ops Assistant Director Mark Chait emailed Bill Newell, ATF's Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of Fast and Furious:

"Bill -- can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks."
Geraghty is not the only one writing about Fast and Furious this morning.  Ben Howe at Red State:
Now call me crazy, but if you're trying to get a law passed that prevents the sale of multiple weapons to a single customer but you have to force dealers to do this, doesn't that indicate that it might not be happening? Forcing people to do something against their better judgment so you can make the case that that very thing must be stopped is the kind of circular logic that only a radicalized Alinskyite could get behind.
Today's House Judiciary Oversight Hearing on DOJ is not going to be fun for Eric Holder. Watch it live here.

Monday, December 5, 2011

VA Senate Democrats Sue to Block GOP Majority

The Richmond Times Dispatch reports that Democrats in the State Senate, led by anti-rights Henrico State Senator Don McEachin, filed suit to block Lt. Governor Bill Bolling from voting to organize the state senate with a Republican majority.  The Lt. Governor can vote to break ties in the upper chamber.  November's election results evenly split the chamber with 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans.
"The voters elected 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans to the Senate. Yet, in spite of that, the Republicans choose to ignore these results and, instead, claim absolute power and authority," said Sen. A. Donald McEachin , D-Henrico.
According to a press release by the Virginia Senate Democratic caucus, the  lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment backing up their claim that a lieutenant governor does not have the constitutional right to cast a vote breaking the expected tie about how the Senate organizes.

The outcome has major implications for gun owners as power sharing arrangement may spell doom for the number one priority of pro-rights supporters - repeal of handgun rationing.

Norfolk TSA: Purse with Gun Design a "Federal Offense"

If this is truly a federal offense, it just shows how out of touch our airport security screening really is.
As she was flying home after the recent holiday weekend, Virginia Gibbs' gun-themed purse was flagged as a security risk by Transportation Security Administration officials at the Norfolk, Virginia, airport.

Firearms Big Seller on Black Friday

This story on ABC News' web site called them "Best Sellers."
Numbers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation show an all-time one-day high for background check requests from gun buyers last Friday. There were 129,166 requests to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)–a third more than the previous record of 97,848 on Black Friday 2008, FBI spokesman Stephen Fischer said. On Black Friday last year, there were 87,061 requests.
Caroline Brewer of the Brady Campaign tried to spin it as no big deal.
“The trend that has been observed for decades now is that fewer and fewer Americans own guns, but those who do own continue to add to their stock,” Brewer said.
I don't know what world these Brady folks live in, but the people attending Women on Target or NRA Sportsfest clinics are new shooters and the clinics run at many Virginia clubs have capacity crowds.  Does Brady honestly believe that all of these people are attending shooting clinics and then not purchasing firearms at some point?  They site a study from University of Chicago’s General Social Survey that claims gun ownership in the nation hit its peak in the late 70's.  There are a lot of people who don't tell people on the phone that they do not know whether or not they own firearms.  A survey's conclusions are only as good as the data it collects.

Hat tip to NRANews.

Holiday Sale on All VSSA Shirts and Mugs - Today Only

Yes, it's a shameless plug for the VSSA Store but what better Christmas gift for your favorite shooter than a shirt or mug featuring the logo of Virginia's oldest gun rights organization.  Today only, shoppers get $5 off all shirts and mugs.  Additionally, if you order $50 or more, you qualify for free shipping. All you have to do to receive the shirt and mug discount is enter the code DECDELIGHTS1 at checkout.  So, merry shopping and thanks for supporting VSSA.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

ATF Retaliates Against Whistleblowers

There are supposed to be laws that protect "Whistleblowers" but that does not seem to bother ATF or Eric Holder and his cronies at the U.S. Department of Justice. While protecting those who knew of and likely approved of the fatal scheme known as Fast and Furious, the individuals who put it all on the line to bring the story to public light after the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, are being subjugated to meaningless jobs, and in one case, fired.

Case in point, he said, is field agent John Dodson. Dodson uprooted his family from Virginia in 2010 to join a new elite anti-gun trafficking group in Phoenix, known as Group 7. Dodson quickly witnessed what was wrong and loudly voiced his objections to Voth and Newell.

Management reassigned Dodson to weekend duty and the wire room, a relatively boring job monitoring telephone traffic and subordinate to junior agents. Soon thereafter, Dodson was temporarily assigned to another group for an additional menial assignment, until ultimately sent to an FBI Task Force, completely away from the ATF, even turning off his ATF building access pass.
Not only that, Holder scolds a Daily Caller coorespondant for daring to ask a question about calls for his resignation after a press event at the White House on Tuesday where the Administration was touting Department efforts to stop Intellectual Property crimes, for reporting calls for his resignation.


Holder apparently is not having a lot of fun these days.