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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Another Reason for Concealed Carry on Campus

The Richmond Times Dispatch (RTD) reported today that a group of 15 "young men" commited a violent assault and robbery on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) early this morning.   It should be noted that VCU doesn't really have a traditional campus as it is an urban university with it's buildings on city streets.
VCU and Richmond police described the assailants as a group of 15 black males between the ages of 17 and 22.

The first victim, who is not a VCU student, reported being punched without provocation by a member of the group while getting out of a vehicle at Shafer and West Grace streets.

Moments later, the group encountered the second victim, a VCU student, at Shafer and West Franklin streets. The student told police one member of the group made a comment about his boots before the victim was punched in the back of the head and knocked to the ground.
Students just returned to campus over the weekend for the start of the fall semester.  VCU Police Chief John Venuti told the RTD that the VCU Police will be doing several things to increase security, including hiring additional officers as well as a private security firm, and upgrading the video surveillance capabilities on the campus. But, students will still be easy targets as VCU sprawls through downtown Richmond and 92 people, the increased size of the police department, cannot possibly be expected to protect the over 18,000 students who attend classes.

Virginia's public colleges and universities ban students from carrying firearms on campus.

Fast and Furious IG Report Delivered to DOJ

Townhall's Katie Pavlich reported about 30 minutes ago that the Department of Justice Inspector General has delivered the long awaited report on the Fast and Furious debacle to the Department.  According to Palich it will be reviewed by the "shot callers" then released to the public.

Friday, August 17, 2012

When Tweeting Runs Afoul of Rules Governing Individuals or Organizations

Roll Call has this article today about how a number of Representatives tweeted, then later deleted those posts, about presumptive Republican Nominee Mitt Romney's pick of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate.
When news broke that Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) had been tapped as presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney's running mate, many of his colleagues on Capitol Hill turned to Twitter to share their reactions. In the process, they may have unwittingly violated House and Senate rules that prohibit Members from "campaigning" via tweets.
It wasn't just GOP members that tweeted, then deleted.  Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), ranking member on the Budget Committee to Ryan's chairman also tweeted about the pick then later deleted his thoughts.

The same rules could apply to orgainizations that are tax exempt and who also use Twitter or Facebook.  For instance, VSSA is very careful when sharing information via social media, not to include our Crush'n Clays accounts (currrently VSSA only uses Facebook for it's 501 (c)3 charity event) to not share politically related items.

Roll Call notes that the House Franking Commission is expected to roll out a new franking manual later this year that could clarify proper Twitter usage.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Friends of NRA - Thomas Jefferson Institute Turkey Shoot and Family Festival

“SAVE THE DATE”  for Saturday October 20th, 2012.   The Virginia Friends of NRA is partnering with the Thomas Jefferson Institute and the Fredericksburg Rod & Gun Club to host a Fall Festival & Turkey Shoot.  The Friends of NRA will be hosting a special event during the day, with raffles, games and possibly a few silent auction items. 

This special fall event will include a turkey shoot with 22’s and 20 gauge shotguns (ammo provided); food; raffles; children’s activities; and more!  Keep watching here to learn more as this special statewide event develops!

Monday, August 13, 2012

House Sues Holder

The Washington Times reports that the House leadership is going to court to get Holder and the Obama Administration to comply with a subpoena for documents related to the debacle known as Fast and Furious.
House Speaker John A. Boehner said President Obama and his team were ignoring a congressional subpoena — something the courts have long recognized as valid — and said lawmakers were left with no choice but to ask the third branch to referee.

“By stonewalling Congress and ignoring a contempt order, the Justice Department has left the House no choice but to take legal action so we can get to the bottom of the Fast and Furious operation that cost border agent Brian Terry his life,” Mr. Boehner said.
It was always a big question as to whether Boehner had the stones to carry this through in an election year.  Apparently, he does.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Romney Picks Gun Owner, Hunter, Paul Ryan as VP

Mitt Romney has chosen Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate. Ryan brings a strong budgetary background to the ticket but also brings a strong record of support for the Second Amendment. Sportsmen and hunters will also relate to Ryan's love of hunting and fishing, something that is very popular in his native Wisconsin. Ryan regularly posts photos from his hunting trips on his Facebook page. Now is the time to go "All In" and work hard to Defend Freedom and Defeat Obama.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Greater Richmond FNRA Banquet

There is a good crowd at the Richmond International Raceway for tonight's Friends of NRA (FNRA) Banquet. This is the first FNRA banquet in Richmondin over five years. The committee partnered with the Virginia Outdoor Sportsmen Show to hold the banquet on the eve of the show. This annual sportsmen show draws over 17,000 attendees every year.


Team VSSA Camp Perry Update

VSSA Highpower Rifle Committee Chairman Mike Jamison called earlier today to pass on the following information from Camp Perry, OH.

In the NRA 4 person Team Matches, also know as the Rumbold Matches, VSSA placed 4th Civilian Team out of 47 teams and ranked as 2nd State Association only being out scored by the Illinois State Association.

Juniors are doing well and info and pics will follow soon.

Stay tuned for more updates, including photos.

University of Maryland Official Bemoans Campuses Held to Higher Standard than Gun Ranges

Yesterday, NPR ran a story  that discussed what schools can do to try and prevent shooting incidents like the Aurora theater shooting. Because the shooter was a student at the University of Colorado, some have discussed whether the university should have reported any unusual behavior to law enforcement that could have prevented the shooting.
NPR and other news organizations want access to case files, including a notebook that Holmes reportedly sent to a university psychiatrist before withdrawing from the school that may have described an attack.

The University of Colorado is now reviewing whether there was more they could have done to prevent the shooting. Officials are not commenting on reports that concerns about the suspect were brought to the university's threat assessment team.
Near the end of the report, John Zacker, head of the University of Maryland's Behavior Evaluation and Threat Assessment team made this comment when noting  Holmes was apparently denied entry to a shooting range after the owner was "alarmed by his behavior":
"Geez, shouldn't you report that?" he asks. "Why should we place greater scrutiny on the college campus administrators than we do for this shooting range, who observed bizarre behavior?
None of the reports this writer saw says anything about the range observing anything, just a strange or weird message on the shooter's voice mail. This report from the Denver News states:

It wasn't Holmes' club application that raised a red flag for Lead Valley Range owner Glenn Rotkovich, but rather the outgoing message on his answering machine.

"It was this deep, guttural voice, rambling something incoherent," Rotkovich said. "I thought, 'What is this idiot trying to be?'"

 And this report from Politico also mentions the voice mail but nothing that was observed:
But when Rotkovich called to invite him to a mandatory orientation the following week, he said he heard Holmes’ voice mail greeting that was “bizarre - guttural, freakish at best.”

It identified the number as belonging to “James,” so Rotkovich said he left a message.

He left two other messages but eventually told his staff to watch out for Holmes at the July 1 orientation and not to accept him into the club, Rotkovich said. His comments were first reported by Fox News.

“There’s something weird here,” Rotkovich said he concluded.
So, if the reports are correct that the gun range based their decision on the "weird" voice mail greeting, is this really enough to make a report to law enforcement?  And as Dr. Gary Margolis of Margolis Healy and Associates, a campus safety consulting firm told NPR in reference to whether colleges reporting strange behavior to law enforcement would lead to action in every case:
"I could easily see local law enforcement saying, 'We appreciate the information — we'll add it to the list of the other 3,000 people that are acting strangely today in our city or town. You know, if something happens we'll deal with it.' "
The same could be said if the range owner had made a report of the "weird" voice mail message. Sure, it was enough for him to question whether he wanted the individual at the range, but it's not like he would be the first person to have a less than normal voice mail greeting.  Is it something that the average law enforcement agency would have put at the top of their list to check out?

In Virginia Senate Race, Allen, Kaine Seek Ticket Splitting Voters

Today's Washington Post has this story about how both Republican George Allen and Democrat Tim Kaine are looking for voters who my vote for the presidential candate of their opponent's party.
When Mitt Romney and George Allen campaign together this Saturday, it will be the first time the Republicans have managed to do so in Virginia this year. Timothy M. Kaine says his support for Barack Obama is unwavering, but the former governor is careful to point out differences he’s had with the president, whether on taxes, Libya or offshore drilling.

Virginia’s U.S. Senate contenders aren’t exactly running away from their parties’ presidential candidates, but they are leaving enough wiggle room to appeal to two slim but vitally important slices of the electorate: Romney-Kaine and Obama-Allen voters.
Now, I can imagine a Romeny-Kaine voter because Kaine is trying to sell himself as the fiscal conservative in the race but an Obama-Allen voter?  Allen is vocal that he is against Obamacare, against raising taxes, and regularly states that Obama has spent way too much.  Allen explains it this way:
“People for whatever reason do like President Obama, and they do think things need to be changed,” Allen said as he campaigned at a rodeo show at the Loudoun County Fair. He cited support for veterans and funding for higher education as areas where his appeal and Obama’s overlap.
So, the way to changes things is to either elect Romney while at the same time elect Kaine, who would tow the party line as soon as he gets to the Capitol just as Mark Warner has done since arriving on the Hill?  Or they want to change things by keeping the current occupant of the White House while sending a Senator Allen who would most assuredly oppose Obama initiatives or face the certain rage of the most vocal Tea Party voters who opposed his nomination in the first place?

The job of campaigns it to reach out to every voter you can to get that 50% plus 1 to win.  But after reading comments from people interviewed for the article, I can only conclude the country is in the mess it is in because of people like this.  One of the Romeny-Kaine voters interviewed think's both are "straight shooters."  Kaine can speak out of both sides of his mouth with the best of them.  And one of the Obama-Allen voter thinks the country was so far in a rut when Obama took over that he should not be penalized for the shape the economy is in.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

NCPA: Banning Traditional Ammunition Harms Wildlife

new report from the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) states that the use of lead ammunition poses a minimal risk to wildlife, while a lead ammunition ban would positively harm wildlife.
"The EPA is not allowed by congress to regulate or ban lead ammunition," said NCPA Senior Fellow Sterling Burnett. "However, even if it were, there is little evidence supporting the claim that lead ammunition poses a significant harm to animals and humans."
NCPA also notes that banning lead ammunition would raise the cost of hunting.
Ninety-five percent of ammunition made in the United States contains lead, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry’s leading trade association. Ammunition made with nonlead materials, such as copper, is often twice as expensive as lead ammunition. If the use of lead bullets or shot were banned or limited, hunters would face significantly increased costs. Rising costs are a significant factor in the decline of hunting over the past 20 years, and higher priced ammunition could exacerbate that decline. This would result in a decrease in revenue for state and federal wildlife agencies that depend upon excise taxes on ammunition and the sale of licenses for funding and wildlife conservation. For instance, hunting and sporting excise taxes cover about three-fourths of the cost of wildlife and fish restoration projectsnotes that lead ammunition sales also fund wildlife conservation. Lead ammunition is much less expense than other forms of ammo and banning.
As with most schemes by the antis, banning traditional ammunition is more about reducing the number of hunters and gun owners than protecting wildlife.  By raising the costs to engage in the shooting sports or own firearms, fewer people can afford to purchase both.  With anti-rights legislators using the latest mass shooting as a means to push limiting ammo sales, gun owners need to remain vigilant and be active in this very important campaign season to ensure candidates who support our rights are elected.

Virginia Hunter Education Association Hunter Skills Weekend

The Virginia Hunter Education Association, in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF), will sponsor the Hunter Skills Weekend at the Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center near Appomattox, August 24-26, 2012.   This clinic is designed to help the beginning hunter develop skills beyond the basic Hunter Education course, as well as teach experienced hunters who may be interested in a new hunting discipline (archery, muzzleloader, etc.).  The program offers instruction in shooting, woodsmanship, and hunting techniques for a variety of species.

For more information, visit the 4-H Center website.

Biden Coming to Southwest Virginia

The Roanoke Times' Blue Ridge Caucus blog reports that Vice President Biden will be campaigning in Southwest Virginia on Tuesday, August 14 and Wednesday the August 15.  The Obama campaign is putting a lot of effort into Virginia in the hopes of keeping it in his column in November.  McCain won the region handily in 2008.  Biden's visit comes on the heels of a visit to Norfolk, Ashland, and Manassas by Romney this weekend. 

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

CQ Roll Call Daily Briefing Gets it Wrong on HR822

Today's CQ Roll Call Daily Briefing gets it wrong when discussing the Tucson shooter who was in court today.  Writing about his date to convince a judge that he is now sane and can plead guilty to the shooting of Gabby Giffords, her House successor Ron Barber and 17 others, including a federal judge, Roll Call decided to do more than just discuss the proceedings and delve into how the shooter could have carried his firearms concealed into any state under HR 822, The National Right to Carry Reciprocity Bill.  In doing so, they got it wrong:
Loughner had purchased the Glock 19 semiautomatic handgun he used two months before the shooting at a Tucson weapons store, passing the instant background check required by federal law. Under Arizona’s especially lenient gun control laws, he was allowed to conceal and carry the pistol without a permit; under legislation passed by the House and being pushed by the NRA in the Senate, he could have cited that state law as permission for him to hide the piece anywhere in the country.
Note CQ Roll Call takes a shot at Arizona's gun laws by editorializing that they are "especially lenient."  They also repeat one of the myths about HR 822 - that if passed, the bill would override a state's laws related to concealed carry.  Here are the facts related to HR 822 and how it would affect citizens from states that allow carrying without a permit to carry in permit states (emphasis added):
Amends the federal criminal code to authorize a person who is carrying a valid, government-issued identification document containing that person's photograph and a valid permit to carry a concealed firearm in one state, and who is not prohibited from possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm under federal law, to possess or carry a concealed handgun (other than a machine gun or destructive device) in another state in accordance with the restrictions of that state.
In other words, in order for a Vermont resident, or resident from any state (i.e. Arizona, Alaska, Wyoming) that does not require a permit, to carry in Virginia or any other state that requires a permit to carry concealed, they would either need to get a Virginia out of state permit or any other state that issues a permit to out of state residents.  The Tucson shooter could not have carried in any other state that requires a permit under H.R. 822 if he did not have a permit.

For those in the pro-rights community who may read this and support a different version of the reciprocity bill because it does not require an individual from a Arizona, Alaska, Wyoming, and Vermont, to get a permit to carry out of state; the point of this post was not to debate the differing versions of the reciprocity bills, but to point out that Roll Call got it wrong related to the NRA backed bill.

First Ad From Challenger in 2nd District Now Running.

Roll Call At the Races Blog reports this morning that Paul Hirschbiel, the Democrat challenging 2nd District first term Republican Scott Rigell, has launched his first television ad.  The ad is positive in tone and intended to introduce Hirschbiel to voters in the District. Hirschbiel is running for office for the first time, to the district.

The 2nd Congressional District is the most competitive of Virginia's 11 districts and NRA-ILA has opened a field office to help enlist gun owners to get involved in the campaign.  Rigell has been a solid supporter of the Second Amendment in his first two years in office.  While voting against the criminal contempt charge against Eric Holder in the Fast and Furious debacle, he voted in favor of the civil contempt charge.

If you live in the 2nd District, you can get involved to help elect pro-rights candidates in this election year by contacting Robert Melvin, NRA-ILA's Campaign Field Representative in Virginia Beach, at (703) 622-4455 or rbmelvin.nra@gmail.com.  The Campaign Field Office is located at 4966 Euclid Road, Suite 200, in Virginia Beach.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Support for Olympian and Hunter Corey Cogdell

USA Shooting Olympic Trap Shooter Corey Cogdell has been the subject of anti-hunting attacks, including threats, during this first week of the Olympics over images from an African hunt that she posted to a social media account.  I first learned of this while browsing the VSSA Twitter account on my commute home on Wednesday, with various groups or individuals that VSSA follows on the social media site voicing support for Miss Cogdell.  On Tuesday, Bitter at the blog Shall Not Be Questioned, shared one report that noted the threats have gotten so bad that Cogdell had to take down her Facebook fan page.  The attacks have been particularly vicious on Twitter.

It is nothing new that the anti-hunting, anti-rights, crowd target their subjects with personal attacks.  Attacking someone who has spent a good portion of her life training to represent her country on the world stage makes their attacks even worse.  The shooting sports community is rallying around Corey.  The latest to come to her defense is the President of Safari Club International:
"As President of Safari Club International (SCI) I would like to express SCI's support for Olympic Trap Shooter and SCI Member, Corey Cogdell, who will represent the U.S. Shooting team tomorrow in London. While the anti-hunting community has recently scrutinized, and even threatened, Ms. Cogdell over images from an African hunt that she posted to a social media account, the images are a true depiction of how she continues to represent hunters across the globe, promoting species conservation in local communities, such as Africa. Ms. Cogdell is a positive role model for all American hunters and, again, SCI wishes her all the best in bringing home an Olympic medal."

VSSA shares SCI's opinion of Corey Cogdell and we wish her the best of luck as she competes along with Kim Rhode tomorrow in the Women's Trap Competition.  You will be able to watch the Trap Finals live at 9:55 AM EDT on the Internet. We hope to see both Kim Rhode and Corey Cogdell make the Finals.

Hat tip to the Shooting Wire.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Laporte Archery Skeet Machine Demo at Rivanna Rifle and Pistol Club

At the next regular meeting of the Rivanna Rifle and Pistol Club on Thursday, August 9, Laporte Archery will be putting on a demo for their archery skeet machine. You'll have a chance to try and shoot a 12 inch disc out of the air with a bow and arrow. The event will be starting around 5:30pm at the upper range. It'll be a blast.

Hat tip to RRPC.


LA Times Writes NRA's Real Power Not Money, But Its Members

While this may be news to those in the media, it's something the pro-rights community has long known.
Much of the group's influence stems from a relentless lobbying effort, in Washington and throughout the country, driven by a staff of 80, and a huge and well-organized grass-roots base. In 2010, it spent nearly $81 million on member communication and mailings. This year, it is running a voter registration drive called Trigger the Vote.
The article noted that the NRA handed out only $1.28 million to candidates in 2010.  Candidates need money to run a race, but they need votes to get elected, and delivering votes from gun owners is something the NRA does very well.