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Monday, September 30, 2013

Jefferson Ruritans Sponsor 27th Annual Turkey Shoots

The Jefferson Ruritan Club in Culpeper, Virginia, is sponsoring their 27th Annual Turkey Shoot every Friday night from October 4-December 20.  Come out and have fun on a Friday night and win a prize or two for the freezer! Enjoy the concessions for some good food. Big mystery raffle to be revealed the first shoot! The first round starts at 7:00 PM every Friday.  There will be food prizes, 60/40 money rounds, and door Prizes. The shoots will be held at:

Jeffersonton Community Center
5073 Jeffersonton Rd, Jeffersonton VA., 22724

Gun requirements:
All guns will be checked for a modified or larger choke.  All guns without a choke must be 0.69 or larger. No barrels over 36 inches.

For more information contact Marcy Bade or find Jefferson Ruritan on Facebook, or on their website.

CMP to Open New Custom Shop for USGI Firearms in Anniston

Over the years, many Civilian Marksmanship Program firearms purchasers have asked if the CMP would consider offering reliable, reasonably-priced and prompt maintenance, repair and upgrade of USGI-issue rifles. The CMP has responded and the answer is "YES" we will.

Effective October 1, 2013, the CMP Custom Shop will open for business, providing a wide variety of repair, upgrade and custom services for a wide range of U.S. Military rifles, specifically those issued in early eras.

The CMP Custom Shop will be able to perform virtually any normal upgrading, accurizing, customizing and refinishing (not to mention regular repairs and troubleshooting) to the types of rifles that we are currently selling or have sold in the recent past.

CMP will specialize in working on the M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, 1903 and 1903A3 Springfield, the 1917 Enfield and the Krag. Other rifles like the Remington 40X, Mossberg 44 and H&R Model 12 can also be serviced if needed. CMP will NOT be working on shotguns, pistols, revolvers, M14/M1A, AR15 style rifles or other commercially-produced modern rifles.  You can find more information here.

2013 VSSA Annual Meeting Wrap-up

The 2013 Annual Meeting held at the NRAHQ this past Saturday was a big success.  The staff at NRAHQ were great hosts and the meal prepared by the NRA Chef and staff was great too.  The private tour of the NRA National Firearms Museum was very well received by all who participated.   Bill Poole, NRA Training Director, provided us with insightful information as to the direction NRA is heading with regard to assisting our youth to  become thoughtful and beneficial members of the firearms community.  Keynote speaker, Jim Land, NRA Secretary, provided  inspiration as to how we can become better NRA members by continuing to act as the adults in the room in all aspects of our communication with both the general public, and the political opponents.

VSSA had two raffle drawings at the meeting - the Chuck Marshall Memorial Raffle, and our Annual Meeting Raffle.  The winners were:
  • Dan M. of Lorton, VA,  won the Socom 16 donated by Chuck Marshall's estate benefiting the VSSA War Chest legislative fund
  •  Gregory E. of Gainesville, VA,  won the S&W .40 M&P Shield First Prize in the Annual Meeting Raffle 
  • Wilfred W. of Stafford, won the Special Edition Henry Golden Boy 2nd Prize
  • Thomas C. of Blacksburg,  won the $100 gift Bass Pro Shops Gift Card 3rd Prize
Congratulations to all of our winners and thanks to all who participated in the raffles.  This year's Annual Meeting raffle was one of our most successful in recent memory.

Friday, September 27, 2013

This is Becoming All Too Common

The Washington Examiner has this story about another credit card company severing its relationship with a firearms retailer:
Hyatt Gun Shop of Charlotte, N.C., told Secrets that the subsidiary, Authorize.net/CyberSource, simply sent an email to owner Larry Hyatt to announce that it was suddenly breaking off the business relationship. The reason: “The sale of firearms or any similar product.”
The company email said that gun sales violated a section of the service agreement the two signed over four years ago and after Hyatt went into detail about its sales and products -- and name.
"We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Justin Anderson, Hyatt’s marketing director. He said it took a week and thousands of dollars to line up a “gun friendly” credit card processor for online sales.
It's getting to the point where the firearms industry will have to open up its own banking services.

Hat tip to The Gun Wire.

More on McAuliffe and Gun Control

VSSA's conversation with Cam Edwards on NRANews Cam and Company on the Sportsman Channel yesterday.


Gun Owners Need to Act Now to Defeat Terry McAuliffe

In the last week, Democrat candidate for Governor, Terry McAuliffe, has declared war on law abiding gun owners.  On Monday, he added a section on his campaign web site on the gun control steps he would support:
Support common sense gun control measures
As Governor, Terry will support mainstream and majority supported gun control measures like universal background checks, limiting the size of magazines, and a return to the 1-gun-per-month rule. These measures respect Virginians’ right to bear arms while reducing gun violence.
Then at the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce debate, McAuliffe went further:
Did you hear that? McAuliffe thinks "mail order" purchases are a problem that needs to be addressed and the only way to do that is with so-called "universal" background checks.  Once again, he reads off of the talking points of Mike Bloomberg and the gun ban lobby.  As AWR Hawkins noted yesterday, "mail order" purchases is a myth perpetuated by the gun ban lobby.  Firearms sold over the Internet through sites like Auction Arms or Gallery of Guns.com have to be completed through an FFL just like when you go to a local firearms retailer.

But if gun owners don't act now, we will be hearing blather like this for the next four years in Virginia.  You can help now by contacting the NRA-ILA Field Rep nearest you and volunteer to help with phone banks right in the comfort of your own home.  The list of Field Reps is below:

Pittsylvania
James Lee
434-993-8672
JamesLeeNRA@gmail.com

Chesterfield, Powhatan
James Morton
512-659-5213
JCMorton.NRA@gmail.com

Newport News
Trey Ramsey
717-448-3426
tramseyNRA@gmail.com

Augusta, Rockingham
Terry Durkin
434-989-5089
tdurkinnra@gmail.com

Buchanan, Wise
Lexy Rusnak
540-315-4823
lexynra@gmail.com

Northern Virginia
Jacob Champion
703-672-0251
jchampionNRA@gmail.com

Bedford, Amherst
Raney Quirk
540-406-2342
rquirknra@gmail.com

Please contact the rep nearest you today and they will let you know how you can help.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

This Should Concern All Gun Owners

Pundits are predicting that the Democrats are in good shape to pick up the first two races on this year's statewide ballot, leaving the third - the Attorney General's race, as the final piece. The Richmond Times Dispatch's political commentator Jeff Schapiro asks the question, if voters pull the lever for the first two candidates for the Democrats, what's to stop them from doing it for the third.
It's not like it hasn't happened before. We only have to go back twelve years to 2001 when Virginians voted for Democrats Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, but also elected Republican Jerry Kilgore Attorney General. That year, gun owners ended up with two of the three candidates elected (Warner and Kilgore) being pro-gun (Warner went on to sign numerous pro-gun bills, and never vetoing a good gun bill). This year, all three Democrats vocally favor new gun control laws and McAuliffe is so confident of victory that he is opening touting gun control on his web site and in last night's debate.

McAuliffe's Big Debate Gaffe

You won't read this in the mainstream media reports this morning but McAuliffe made a major gaffe in last night's Gubernatorial Debate hosted by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce.  Former Delegate Chris Saxman has the story over on Bearing Drift:
When asked what Virginia should do in the wake of the horrific shooting at the Navy Yard, Terry McAuliffe went all in on gun control advocating for an assault weapons ban, magazine limitation, one handgun a month restriction, and universal background checks. Six weeks away from the election in which the best turnout estimates are 40%, McAuliffe gave Cuccinelli an Alabama offensive line blocking hole on the only hot button issue that blows up the polling crosstabs – guns.
Yes, he won forever the admiration of Piers Morgan, but he very well could have lost the election.
Saxman used to represent part of the rural Shenandoah Valley.  He knows just how important gun owners are and how much they value their rights.  Saxman also knows that these gun owners are not the stereotypical old white male and are more and more, women, who own firearms for self-defense:
While the narrative laid out by the media is that all NRA, gun rights activists are mouth breathing, tobacco chewing rednecks, the reality in the political world is that many women in this Commonwealth rely on guns for self-defense.
The most ardent gun rights people in my Shenandoah Valley House of Delegates district were women. They would grab my arm during parades looking right at the back of my retina and say with grinding teeth “Don’t take my gun.”
All of the polls so a significant gender gap between the two candidates.  Will McAuliffe's comments related to gun control push some of those women who might have been leaning toward him over to Cuccinelli?  We'll have to wait and see.  But what McAuliffe did do was give enthusiasm to a block of Cuccinelli voters.  Enthusiasm could also lead to more donations for Cuccinelli.  The two can add up to a potent final round for the Attorney General.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

As Expected, Administration Signs UN Arms Treaty

As Bitter said elections have consequences. Now we have to make sure the Senate never ratifies it. We know where Tim Kaine stands on this based on his vote earlier this year on the Inhofe amendment to the budget. Mark Warner voted against the amendment too and he is up for re-election next year. Will gun owners hold him accountable for his vote? Will Warner try and have it both ways and vote against ratification if Harry Reid brings it up for a vote?

Governor McDonnell Stands with Freedom When Questioned on Navy Yard Shooting

Governor McDonnell has been a true friend to supporters of the Second Amendment during his time as Governor and in the aftermath of the Navy Yard murders, he continues to stand firm. This from the Tampa Tribune:
"I've yet to see any conclusive data that suggests that a waiting period would work. We have an instant background check in Virginia. We are one of the first states to have that some 20 years or so ago," the pro-gun Republican governor said on Tuesday morning's program.
The Tribune article noted that even though the Navy Yard killer had numerous mental health issues, he passed a background check. What the Tribune did not mention was he had never been adjudicated as mentally disturbed.

Thanks Governor McDonnell for standing with law abiding gun owners.

McAuliffe and Gun Control

NRO's Charles Cooke is spot on:
Apparently deterred neither by the recent and successful liberalization of state gun laws in Virginia nor by the clear message that Colorado voters sent to lawmakers earlier in the month, Virginian gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe has added a gun-control plank to his campaign website.
You see, as this site shared yesterday, Terry McAuliffe has decided to come out of the shadows and post on his web site the kind of gun control he supports. As Cooke notes:
With the exception of the one-gun-per-month rule, a 1993 measure that was repealed last year, McAuliffe is effectively suggesting that the state of Virginia pass exactly the same package that led to two state senators in Colorado being recalled: the extention of background checks to private sales and limits on the size of magazines. If McAuliffe is elected, it will be interesting to see how successful he will be in convincing skittish state legislators to put their careers on the line for such a fringe issue. My suspicion is not very.
Cooke also makes a good point that McAuliffe should tell us if he supports the 1993 version of handgun rationing, or the law as it stood in 2012 when it was repealed. By 2012, most people had already been exempted from the law including ncluding anyone with a concealed-handgun permit, all law enforcement, all private security companies, and anybody who “lost” a firearm within 30 days and needed to replace it. As Cooke concludes:
To go back to the latter would simply be silly; to go back to the former, on the other hand, would be radical.

Doctors Address Mental Health and Violence

Voice of America has the story.

Senator Harry Reid had been holding mental health reform hostage to passing new gun control laws.

Hat tip to The Gun Wire.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Terry McAuliffe Wants Colorado Style Gun Control

Brietbart has the story here

McAuliffe's website was updated yesterday to mention gun control for the first time.  McAuliffe has come out for so-called "universal" background checks, limiting the size of magazines, and a return to handgun rationing.

The so-called "universal" background checks and limits on the size of ammunition magazines were passed in Colorado earlier this year.

McAuliffe must be feeling confident going into the final month of the campaign to now overtly mention gun control, even though recent polls show him with a lead either within or just outside the margin of error. With tonight's Fairfax Chamber of Commerce debate, one stumble could give additional momentum to Ken Cuccinelli who has gained in the recent polls.

Hopefully this strategy change by McAuliffe will energize gun owners for Cuccinelli.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

The Perils of Focusing on Mental Health and Firearms

HotAir.com has an article this morning titled Aaron Alexis and the Gun Control Mental Health Dodge.  He points to the peril in the mental health argument and how the gun ban lobby may have found an end run around simple gun control.
Better and more accessible care for the truly mentally ill is a worthwhile goal, and one which should be pursued. (And Kelly Ayotte already has a plan to do so without infringing anyone’s Second Amendment rights.) But we need to stand firm against any proposed federal legislation which purports to make everyone safer by keeping guns out of the hands of (or confiscating them from!!!) the mentally ill. That last sentence is sure to set the hair of many liberals afire, but there’s a reason for this sense of caution. You see, we already know where that path leads because we’ve seen the terminus of it in the state of New York, and it’s a nightmare.
Shaw is referring to what happened after the "NY Safe Act" became law when a man was confronted by police at the front door of his home and having his guns confiscated under threat of arrest.
The reason for the showdown was that authorities had mistaken him for somebody else who had committed the sin of seeking medical help and receiving medication for depression at one point in the past.
Shaw concludes that the nation already has a system in place for defining those who are too "deranged" to own firearms, that involves having people adjudicated as such in a court of law with the opportunity to defend themselves and challenge the finding if they wish.  We need to gaurd against any law that purports to protect all of us by further expanding who is mentally ill.  If the gun ban lobby had their way, they would classify anyone who wants to own a firearm as "mentally ill."

Hat tip to VSSA's Executive Director who forwarded the Hotair.com article.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

York County Board of Supervisors Approves Lafayette Gun Club Request

At it's regular meeting of the county board of supervisors Tuesday night, the application for changes to the Lafayette Gun Club was overwhelmingly approved. This from the Daily Press:
While around 13 people spoke against plans to expand facilities at the Lafayette Gun Club at a York County Planning Commission meeting in July, support for the club during a Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday was overwhelming.  
The supervisors unanimously voted to approve the club's plans to build a new 6,000-square-foot club house, 3,800-square-foot picnic pavilion and expand a gravel driveway around one of the outdoor ranges at its 26-acre campus on Dare Road. There are no plans to expand any of the club's firing ranges.
Congratulations to the Lafayette.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Completely Agree With Sebastian on This

Yes, it is just Sebastian's initial thoughts on the Starbucks announcement with a promised lengthier post later but his second point that this was self inficted came to my mind as well when I first heard the news. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy.

Durbin Says Manchin/Schumer/Toomey Might Have Stopped Navy Yard Shooter From Getting Firearm

Based on what we know, (and admittedly the media has done a terrible job of getting the facts straight), the Navy Yard shooter legally purchased his shotgun after undergoing a background check at the firearm retailer.  So, this comment by Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin's reported in The Hill make's absolutely no sense:

Durbin, who is Reid’s top deputy, suggested on Tuesday morning that a measure to expand background checks — which the Senate defeated in April — might have prevented the shooting.
From my recollection, Manchin/Schumer/Toomey was to make sure all (or almost all) firearm transfer's went through a background check.  The Navy Yard shooter did submit to a background check and passed.  So, how exactly might Manchin/Toomey/Schumer prevented him from getting his firearm?

The shooter had several run-ins with the police in the last 10 years, none of which were prosecuted, or at least charged at a level that would make him a prohibited buyer.  Given these facts, even if Manchin/Toomey/Schumer had passed, it would have had no impact on the shooter's ability to purchase his firearm.  Second, it appears that the shooter had mental health issues - again, to my recollection, something not addressed by Manchin/Toomey/Schumer.  Charles Krauthammer discussed the mental health issue last night on Fox News.

For some reason, Congress does not want to address the mental health issue although that was supposed to have been one of the issues addressed after Newtown.  The administration and their allies in the Senate decided to focus only on gun control and when they lost that battle in April, moved on to other unrelated issues.

Jim Geraghty this morning pretty much summed-up why the renewed talk of gun control after Monday's murders rings particularly hollow:
I begin rather skeptical of most gun-control proposals. The ones that are pitched in the aftermath of mass shootings are particularly cynical, as they often attempt to regulate circumstances unrelated to the shooting.
And that is exactly the problem with all of this talk of background checks.  The shooter went through a background check and passed.  Nothing in the proposal from this past spring would have changed that.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

National Journal Writer Says Navy Yard Shooting Proves Fallacy of NRA's "More Guns" Solution

National Journal's Mathew Cooper has this story that is just flat out wrong.  He either is uninformed on the law related to military facilities and firearms or he simply does not care about the facts:
The Navy Yard shooting exposes a fallacy in that argument. A military facility, the Navy Yard had plenty of good guys with weapons who were nonetheless were unable to stop Aaron Alexis, the alleged shooter, from killing a dozen innocent persons. In the coming weeks, we'll learn more about Navy Yard security and how Alexis was able to thwart it. (We'll also learn more about how he obtained his arms, but let's leave that aside for now.)
A little education Mr. Cooper; Military installations are technically “gun free” zones meaning that military and civilian personnel are prohibited from possessing weapons without special authorization. This policy includes those living on military bases who are not allowed to keep personal weapons in their domiciles. Regulation 90-114 regulates firearms on military bases and was implemented by President Clinton in 1993.

Cooper then tries to qualify his totally incorrect statement:
True, the Navy Yard is not a heavily armed facility. It's not like, say, walking into a military base in the U.S. let alone onto a war zone. But neither was it the kind of gun-free school zone that the NRA has described as an inviting target for crazed shooters. It was at least as heavily armed as we can expect any elementary school could ever be under the National School Shield program. And yet, carnage.
Which is the point we have been making about why teachers and administrators should have the right to be armed.  If the security guard at the school, or in the case of the Navy Yard, facility is taken down, you need additional people to be armed as back-up.  Speaking to the issue of military installations, we trust enlisted personnel to be armed on the battlefield, but not on base?  We saw at Fort Hood just how prohibiting military personnel from being armed worked out.  The bad guy (the Fort Hood shooter) disobeyed the regulation and went on a shooting rampage while his victims abided by the restriction and paid the price. Gun Free Zones (which the Navy Yard was in essence) only prevent law abiding people from carrying firearms.

Again, Gun Ban Advocates Use Mass Murder to Push Gun Control

Christina Bellantoni and Katelyn Polantz have this story on PBS.org on how talk has turned to gun control after the mass murders in DC at the Navy Yard yesterday.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., an advocate for gun control since the assassinations of San Francisco's mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978, went there.

"Congress must stop shirking its responsibility and resume a thoughtful debate on gun violence in this country. We must do more to stop this endless loss of life," she said Monday.
Reports are that the shooter entered the Navy Yard with a shotgun purchased in Lorton, VA, and later took an AR-15 and handgun from one or more of his victims.  It has also been reported that he was a federal contractor, and that he had previous run-ins with the police. 

So, if he was a federal contractor, apparently he was not prosecuted on the previous charges, or at least not with a charge that barred him from legally purchasing a firearm or holding a federal job because contractors go through the same background checks that federal workers are required to undergo.  It would appear, based on what we know at this time, this is not an issue of gun laws being to lenient, but of a criminal justice system that once again let someone slip through the cracks that should have been stopped long ago (as far back as 2004), whether for violations of the law, or for other issues that have come to light after the shooting.

Hat tip to From the Barrel of a Gun.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Even Gun Control Advocate Recognizes Bloomberg Money is Not the Answer

The New York Times had this story yesterday on where efforts for gun control stand after the defeat of two Colorado state legislators who supported gun control. I found the last line of the article interesting. Tom Diaz, formerly senior policy analyst at the Violence Policy Center told the Times he thought it would be a long time but that more regulation would come. Then he added this:
“I think that in the long term, the nation is going to reject this unbridled kind of gun culture,” Mr. Diaz said. “But I think it’s going to take a long time. Colorado is a true test for those actually in the trenches, but it might also be a wake-up call — nothing is easy, and pouring money in from Bloomberg is not a magic solution.”

Prospects for Federal Gun Control Grow Even Dimmer

The Boston Globe noted over the weekend that the gun ban lobby was hoping the anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December might provide an opening to revisit Manchin/Schumer/Toomey. But others who voted against the bill in April likely feel the way Arizona Senator Jeff Flake does after last week's vote.
Asked if the Colorado recalls made him less likely to switch, Flake said last week, ‘‘I was not prone to do so. I'm comfortable where I am.’’
Flake has been the target of ads paid for by Mayors Against Illegal Guns. MAIG's efforts did not help in Colorado last week and it is likely those being targeted by the group believe they are on the right side of the issue.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

CNN's Brooke Baldwin Calls Out Colorado Senator Angela Giron on Voter Suppression Charge

So I guess we now see what the Democrat talking points are for the losses suffered by Colorado State Senators John Morse and Angela Giron - voter suppression. We heard it from Debbie Wasserman Shultz yesterday and today, State Senator Angela Giron repeated the charge on CNN's News Room. To anchor Brooke Baldwin's credit, she wasn't buying it, and when Giron returned to the theme after being cut off by Baldwin after raising it the first time, Balwin continued the skepticism. Good for her. Giron said the people that supported her could not get to the polls because 70% of Colorado voters vote by mail. Given the polls were open for more than one day, it's likely anyone who wanted to get to the polls could have done so. No one kept them from voting, they chose not to.

Hat tip to Cam Edwards and NRANews.com

Reports of the Death of CMP Premature

VSSA received this earlier this week from the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP):
Recent news articles and references to the demise of the Civilian Marksmanship Program are erroneous. Business and programs continue as usual.

We appreciate the continued support of all our customers.
We thought our members would like to know.

Petersburg Postpones "Gun Buy-back"

NBC12 reported yesterday that the compensated confiscation scheme ("gun buy-back") planned for this weekend in Petersburg has been postponed.  It appears the gun ban group sponsoring the "buy-back" did not get the required ordinance passed in Petersburg before the event.  The response that NBC12 got from the Petersburg City Attorney was quite amusing:
NBC12 emailed Petersburg Police and the City Attorney to find out if organizers obtained that required ordinance. We received a statement addressed to Petersburg Police Chief John Dixon reading, "We must postpone Mothers Against Violent Crimes' 1st annual gun buyback due to circumstances beyond our control."

NBC12.com - Richmond, VA News

That ordinance is necessary thanks to a state law that VSSA helped pass in 2012.  That law, HB22, states that no locality can participate in any program in which individuals are given a thing of value in exchange for surrendering a firearm to the locality unless the governing body of the locality has enacted an ordinance authorizing the participation of the locality. 

Note that NBC12 said the event has been postponed, which gives the impression this may be brought before the city council.  But given the additional restrictions on the events, specifically that the law requires ordinances include a provision that firearms received through the exchange must be offered for sale by public auction or sealed bids to a person licensed as a dealer before otherwise disposing of the firearm.  That may be more than the city wants to deal with and this may be the end of the "annual" event before it ever got started.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Dem Chairman Says Voter Suppression Reason for Loss

Can you say sour grapes? The Hill newspaper reports that Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Tuesday's historic upsets in the Colorado Recall Election was “voter suppression, pure and simple.”

I can still remember when voting took place on the specified day of the election. But Wasserman Schultz says because people could not vote by mail, that was "voter suppression." You know, if it's important enough to vote, you'll get off your lazy @#*& and get to the polls and vote.

Grassroots Trumps Bloomberg's Money on Colorado

What many expected to be a split decision in the Colorado recall elections turned out to be a clean sweep last night when the final numbers came in, and the race that most thought would be the hardest to win - Senator Angela Giron's district, was the one that lost by the widest margin - 12%.

The big loser - Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who donated $350,000 in this losing effort. NRA donated a little over $361,000 to the recalls. But the real story is that this was not started by NRA, but by what State Senator John Morse derisively referred to as an "unemployed plumber". And Victor Head, a the plumber in Pueblo who borrowed money from his grandmother to start the recall against Senator Giron had a message for Morse: Virginia can take something away from last night's victory in Colorado. The victory in Colorado was started by the grassroots. NRA did not start it and only got involved when it picked up steam. The signatures for the recall petitions were collected by the grassroots, with over a 90% validity rate to boot. They were out spent by those supporting the incumbants, but they won, and won big in a district that Barack Obama carried handily last year.

This year in Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli is being out raised by Terry McAuliffe by a margin of 2-1. But Colorado proved that if you have committed grassroots, they can trump big money. For some reason, Cuccinelli his having problems firing up his base. There is still time to change that. Hat tip to John Lott.

Update:

Here is the breakdown of the pro-and anti-recall spending via the Denver Post yesterday by way of Jim Geraghty.

Pro Recall

•NRA: $360,000
(Note: updated total for the NRA $361,703 on the two recalls)

•I Am Created Equal: $56,800

•Colorado Citizens Protecting Our Constitution: $29,800

•Victor Head, Pueblo resident: $5,800

•Dianna Harris, Colorado Springs resident: $4,500

AGAINST RECALL

Total raised: $3 million

Itemized donations in Colorado: $1.5 million

Itemized donations outside of Colorado: $1.5 million

Some top donors

•Taxpayers for Responsible Democracy: $620,000

•Michael Bloomberg: $350,000

•DLCC Unincorporated Individual Acct: $300,000

•Eli Broad: $250,000

•Mainstream Colorado: $211,800

So, if my math is correct, the pro-recall grassroots was out spent 6-1 and still won a decisive victory.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Cuccinelli Picks Up Endorsement of Democrat Strategist

The Roanoke Times via the Richmond Times Dispatch reports this morning that Attorney General and GOP Nominee for Governor Ken Cuccinelli has picked up the endorsement of "smash-mouth Democratic strategist" Dave "Mudcat" Saunders.  Sanders was credited with helping then Democrat candidate for Governor Mark Warner burnish his rural "sportsmen" creds even though he is a Conneticutt yankee, on the way to winning the 2001 election.  Unlike GOP stratigist Boyd Marcus, who has signed on to the McAuliffe campaign for money, Saunders is not taking a paid position with the Cuccinelli campaign.
“I’m not on the payroll,” Saunders said. “No, I’m not Boyd Marcus. I’m a Democrat.”
Saunders does not like McAuliffe's "corporatist" background.
“What these corporatists have done to us in rural America and in urban America," Saunders said in a telephone interview. “I can’t support a corporatist. I just can’t. This guy is not my kind of Democrat.”
It could also be Saunders does not like McAuliffe's stated support for gun control, something that he worked very hard to get Warner to avoid.

Will this get Cuccinelli a lot of votes?  Probably as many as the Marcus endorsement is going to get McAuliffe.  But it does provide them with something to throw back when people start talking about Republicans endorsing McAuliffe.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Bloomberg Outspent NRA and Firearms Industry Combined in 2012

Here's the graphic from the September America's 1st Freedom.























I especially like the fact that NRA broke down the spending for the association and the firearms industry by number of individuals represented (since without those 4 million members NRA would not have had that money to spend).

On a related note, it will be interesting to see what the final total is on the money Bloomberg spends on the Colorado recall vs the NRA and what kind of return Bloomberg gets for his investment.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

More Women Shop for Firearms, Participate in Target Shooting

Confirming what NSSF told us last week, today's Richmond Times Dispatch has this story about the increase in the number of women participating in the shooting sports.
Women have become a mainstay in previously male-dominated classes offered at Colonial Shooting Academy since it opened in March 2012.  
All-women classes — with female instructors — were started at the Henrico County indoor shooting range in response to growing demand that has also been seen nationwide, with more and more women purchasing guns and learning how to use them.
What's great about the RTD article, is the mention of a women who had a fear of firearms after being held up at gun point several year's ago.  Recently,  her new employer took her and three other new employees to Colonial Shooting Academy for a team-building activity.  It was a great experience that helped her to overcome a major fear..  The woman said while she does not currently plan to purchase a firearm or get a concealed handgun permit, she wants her son to learn about firearm safety and learn the difference between video games and the real thing.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Less Than 1% of Gun Show Firearms Transactions Attempted By Prohibited Persons

The Roanoke Times reports what pro-rights activists have been saying all along, few criminals attempt to purchase firearms at gun shows.
The number of people charged this year represents only 0.15 percent of the 24,870 firearms transactions at 36 gun shows through June 30.
The gun ban lobby tried to spin this in their favor.  Andrew Goddard. President of the Virginia Center for Public Safety was quoted in the article:
Goddard said “we can only guess” the number of prohibited gun buyers who are aware of their status and buy from unlicensed sellers at gun shows.
Spin as they might, the fact is, gun shows are not bazaars for criminals, as the gun ban lobby would like us to think.