Senate Judiciary Delays Consideration of Gun Control Bills

The Washington Post reports that the Senate Judiciary Committee has delayed consideration of gun control legislation for one week to give them an opportunity to hear from more witnesses. From the Post:

"In light of the delay, Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said the panel would reconvene March 7 to begin considering the four bills, a process that will go “as late as necessary.” He said he hopes the full Senate can begin debating whichever bills are approved by the committee before the end of March."

Press a No-show At NAGR Press Conference

An organization calling itself the National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) held what was supposed to be a press conference this morning but the press was a no-show.  There were four people plus six NAGR staff in attendance.  They introduced an ad targeting House Majority Leader and Richmond area Congressman Eric Cantor. The group said they spent approximately $26,000 to air the ad on the four local Richmond TV stations.

All of the news stories cited in the ad are stories where Cantor has said we should enhance the information in current databases and uses Virginia as a model for such enhancements.  The head of the organization said if we create a new database (he did not mention that Cantor has only said he supports enhancing the existing database) then vets with PTSD would be prevented from ever owning firearms, and that NRA supports these efforts.  He also sited some study that said at some point in time 46% of Americans would seek mental health services and that would prevent them from every owning a firearm under the proposal that Cantor supports. The ad says Cantor supports "Key Parts of Obama Gun Control."  That simply is not true.

The NRA was on the front lines protecting the rights of veterans in 2007 when Congress passed the NICS Improvement Act (President Bush signed it into law in 2008).  One of the protections in that act was a provision that, according to NRA-ILA:

• Prevents use of federal “adjudications” that consist only of medical diagnoses without findings that the people involved are dangerous or mentally incompetent. This would ensure that purely medical records are never used in NICS. Gun ownership rights would only be lost as a result of a finding that the person is a danger to themselves or others, or lacks the capacity to manage his own affairs.

The NICS Improvement Act provides other protections as well.  Cantor has not proposed removing any of these protections, only ensuring that states are reporting the information that was intended in the NICS Improvement Act. So it would appear that NAGR is fishing for red herring.

NAGR is also planning a lit drop in Richmond on Saturday targeting Cantor.

NAGR claims to have 84,000 members in Virginia and says it has "2.5 million members and supporters" (emphasis added) nationally.

You can see the misleading ad below.  You can see Cantor's long record of supporting the rights of gun owners here.

Will Bloomberg Use Virginia As Next Test of His Strategy?

Bloomberg was taking a victory lap yesterday after his annointed candidate won the Democratic Primary to replace disgraced Chicago Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.  As the NRA told The Hill, Chicago's 2nd District was never a pro-gun district even though one of the candidates running had an "A" rating from the NRA.  Bloomberg spent heavily in the district, the NRA spent nothing.

“We fully expect Mayor Bloomberg to try to spend a considerable amount of his fortune in the upcoming months, as he has already in the past few weeks. But the simple fact remains: Illinois-2 was never a pro-gun district, so to try and suggest this is a major victory of any kind is disingenuous,” said NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam.

Bloomberg and his gun control minions are channelling Vice President Joe Biden, saying public sentiment has changed and Tuesday's results prove it.  But while Bloomberg has deep pockets, it is unlikely he is going to put his money where there is no path to victory and a large number of the U.S. Congressional districts are gerrymandered so much from one side to the other that it leaves him very few districts with which to work.

Which brings us to this year's Virginia's Governor's race.  Virginia is referred to as "purple" as it has gone for Obama in the last two presidential elections and Democrats have won the last two U.S. Senate elections, yet has 8 of its 11 congressional seats in Republican hands and currently has a Republican Governor.  It is one of two states with statewide elections this year and the GOP candidate, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, is strongly pro-rights while the Democratic candidate, Terry McAuliffe, is trying to play what the anti-rights crowd consider the middle ground.   McAuliffe made a point of purchasing a very expensive shotgun at Gander Mountain recently while calling for reinstatement of handgun rationing and banning so-called "assault weapons."  It looks like Virginia will be the only one of the two states that will be competitive this year.  This mixture is tailor made for Bloomberg's strategy.

Bloomberg's anti-rights efforts are more of a threat than the Brady Campaign et al have ever been.  First, he has money, lots of it, and he is not adverse to spending it.  But there is something else that makes him a threat to our rights.  He has figured out how to wrap a radical message in a package that seems non-controversial to the average person.  Most people believe criminals should not have firearms.  Those of us who dig deeper know that he doesn't really like firearms and thinks only the police should have them.

There has been a reawakinging of the grassroots.  The question is, will it last long enough to put Bloomberg in his place.  Virginia in 2013 could be the first test.

Cantor and Background Checks

Earlier today, a group billing itself as a "National" gun rights organization put out an email that said they were "exposing" Eric Cantor working with Representative Carolyn McCarthy to criminalize private sales and "strip law-abiding people of the their gun rights FOR LIFE."  The email also mentioned Rep. Scott Rigell.  While it is true that Rigell has co-sponsored legislation with Carolyn McCarthy, Cantor has not. 

This is what Cantor told CNN on February 5th:

"I think that we can take a lot of lessons from what Virginia did and put it in place at the federal level, because there are a lot of states that aren't doing what Virginia is doing to try and beef up the database for the background checks to make sure that we actually can do something that does have a chance at reducing the likelihood and hopefully eliminating it from happening again," Cantor said.

Cantor was talking about improving the mental health information that is reported into the NICS, information that Virginia currently leads the nation in reporting.
No where has Cantor said that he supports criminalizing private sales by supporting so-called "universal" background checks.

This is just one more in a long line of misstatements by this group to draw attention to itself.  Cantor is solid on this issue.  VSSA's sources on The Hill tell us that Cantor and Representative Bob Goodlatte, who today said he does not support "universal" background checks, are on the same page.

Goodlatte Squashes Talk of "Universal Background Checks"

From today's Roll Call Daily Briefing:

CHECKING THE CHECKS: House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte made clear today that he opposes universal background checks before firearms sales, and he said it was very unlikely such a proposal would be put to a vote when the entire House considers a package of proposals for reducing gun violence. “It’s not a very practical thing to do and you’ll have a lot of inconvenience to law-abiding citizens at the same time you’re not going to keep many weapons out of the hands of people who are misusing them,” he said.

His statements, at a breakfast for reporters, will raise significant new obstacles to the piece of Obama’s gun control agenda that looked to have the best chance of enactment this year — especially because a bipartisan consensus in favor of background checks has looked to be gelling in the Senate in recent days. Goodlatte also threw cold water on the notion that there should be a vote on reviving the ban on some kinds of military-style rifles — even though it’s already clear the NRA has more than enough votes to defeat that proposal. (Obama and some gun rights groups have each called for such a vote, if only to put lawmakers on record on the issue.) Instead, Goodlatte said he supports language bolstering the existing federal background check system and cracking down on gun trafficking by “straw man” purchasers.

In related news, Senator Chuck Grassley said at a hearing this morning that he viewed a ban on so-called "assault weapons" as unconstitutional.  Grassley also said  the legislative focus should be confined to boosting penalties for illegal firearms trafficking and doing more to keep guns from the mentally ill — including requiring states to make their mental health records part of the system that conducts federal background checks.

Business Week Says NRA Obtaining DOJ Gun Control Memo Shows Why They Win

A Business Week article about the NRA obtaining a DOJ memo that details how Obama's gun control proposals would be ineffective comes to a pretty accurate conclusion:

The Newtown (Conn.) elementary school massacre reignited the gun-control issue. Whether it will result in any meaningful changes will depend in large part on whether President Obama can convince fellow Democrats facing tough reelection campaigns why it’s worth taking politically costly steps that his own experts concede won’t accomplish much.

Prosecutions for Lying on Federal 4473 Form Drop Under Obama

Prosecutions of criminals who attempt to buy a firearm by lying on the Federal 4473 Form have dropped 14% under Obama.  William La Jeunesse of Fox News predicts that Universal Background Checks (criminalizing private sales) is "likely to pass on Captitol Hill"

Not if gun owners have any say about that.

Loudoun May Consider Shooting Restrictions in the Future

It was supposed to be a public hearing on allowing the shooting of clay targets in the eastern part of Loudoun County where hunting is currently banned, but it quickly turned into a gripe session from people residing in the western portion of the county where residents not only can hunt, but can also shoot on their private property if they are not within 100 yards of an occupied building, within 50 yards of a highway and 100 yards of a park or school.  Leesburg Today reports:

“I would like less shooting in Loudoun County not more,” Purcellville area resident Kathleen O’Neill said, adding that she and her neighbors hear shooting seven days a week. “We residents of western Loudoun routinely listen to the discharging of firearms on Sunday. It’s morning, noon and night. It is time we change our laws to limit discharge of firearms in Loudoun.”

Comments like these are what we have been hearing in more rural counties as former urban and surburban residents move to the country to either retire or to get away from the noise and traffic the city.  It's almost as if these people had no idea that people in rural areas like to shoot on their private property.

If you live in western Loudoun you need to let your supervisors know you do not want additional restrictions on your right to target shoot on your private property. You should also contact them and let them know you support allowing clay target shooting in eastern Loudoun.  The Board is scheduled take action on the skeet shooting change for the east March 6.

You can find the contact information for the Board of Supervisors here.

Thanks to VSSA member Dave S. for passing this story along.

Legislators, Law Enforcement Say "Straw Man" Laws "Message" Bills

This story in the Virginian Pilot quotes Virginia state and federal legislators admitting that "Straw Man" legislation aimed at preventing prohibited individuals from getting firearms are more symbolism than substance. The laws are intended to send a message rather than expected to be effective. For instance:

" A recent study for Virginia lawmakers estimated that the proposed state bill would result in one or two additional convictions annually in the state. And an analysis by The Virginian-Pilot of state Supreme Court records shows that local prosecutors seldom enforce straw purchase charges even though the practice is illegal."

We Should Be Working Just As Hard

From today's CQ Roll Call Daily Briefing:

THE PRESIDENT: Obama is working to buck up a part of his base for the legislative battles ahead. He’s sitting down in the Oval now to unspool his talking points on gun control, immigration and how to avoid the sequester in separate interviews with three hosts of radio talk shows targeted to African-Americans: Al Sharpton, Joe Madison and Yolanda Adams. (He’s spending the rest of the day in West Wing meetings out of public view.)

Obama is working his base, we should be working our representatives.  If you have already contacted them, thanks.  Now do it again.  We should be making contact at least once a week until we have defeated all of his proposals.

Opponents Narrative Runs Up Against Buzz Saw of Virginia Public Opinion on Photo ID for Voting

Opponents of Photo ID for voting in Virginia have run up against pubic opinion as the measure now heads to Governor McDonnell for his signature. Nationally, opponents, including U.S. Attorney Eric Holder have compared recent Photo ID laws to "poll taxes" passed after the end of slavery in the south.  Democrats in the State Senate used some of the same arguments.  Apparently, Virginians, including Blacks, don't see it that way.  The Richmond Times Dispatch reports a poll this morning showing that a large majority of Virginians favor requiring a Photo ID when you show up at the polls.

The survey of voters found support for the idea high among Republicans, 95–4 percent, while Democrats backed it 57–41 percent and independents 78–20 percent.

A gender gap was around the poll’s margin of error, while white voters supported the idea 79–19 percent and black voters 66–34 percent.

You read that right - 66% of Blacks support Photo ID for voting.  Maybe that's because the populations that are sighted a being the most impacted by such laws, elderly and low income minorities already have to have a photo ID to conduct other business in the Commonwealth, and the nation.  For instance, elderly citizens have to have their Social Security checks automatically deposited into their checking or savings account and to open such an account, banks require a Photo ID.  To fly, and even low income people have to fly from time to time, you have to show a Photo ID.  To pick up your child from school early, many require the individual picking up the child to show a Photo ID when they go to the school office.

And finally, to exercise your Constitutional right to keep and bear arms, you have to show a Photo ID to purchase a firearm.  As National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea has pointed out, the Justice Department's stance against Photo ID laws is "glaringly inconsistent."  While Justice opposes Photo ID for voting, they apparently have no problem with disenfranchising minorities from their 2nd Amendment rights.

Will Bolling Help Put McAuliffe in the Governor's Office?

A new poll shows the race for Virginia Governor between Terry McAuliffe and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli currently tied.  When Lt. Governor Bill Bolling's name is added as an independent candidate, Bolling garners 13% support, tipping the scales in McAuliffe's favor. Bolling has said he will announce on March 14th whether he intends to run as an independent.  NRO's Jim Geraghty has a good take on the poll. Asking rather 13% is really the theshold of a credible independent candidate, Geraghty ends with:

But this may come down to what Bolling really wants to see: his own victory… or Ken Cuccinelli’s defeat.

Biden Uses Straw Man Again to Justify Obama Gun Ban Proposals

Yesterday during a Facebook "Fireside Chat" with Joe Biden, the Vice President used the administration's typical tactic of throwing up the "straw man" argument that if government cannot ban certain types of weapons, then individuals would be able to go out and buy flame throwers.

It has been made abundantly clear by constitutional scholars such as David Kopel that because "flame throwers" are not in common use, they don't meet the "Common Use" argument specified in Heller v. DC.

Biden has taken great pleasure of late in constantly pointing out that he owns shotguns.  But he continues to demonstrate he knows nothing about firearms or the Constitution.

Discounts for Gun Owners at VA Beach Pizza Shop

It is more common for "Mom and Pop" pizza shops to be firearm friendly than the big chains.  Here is a story about a Virginia Beach pizza shop offering discounts to gun owners.

Chicago Police Superintendent: Lawful Exercise of Second Amendment Threat to Public Safety

It's no secret that police chiefs in large urban areas are usually anti-rights.  But to say those of us who lawfully exercise our rights to keep and bear arms are a threat to public safety goes to the extreme.  Dana Loesch writes over on Red State, that is what the police superintendent in Chicago said.  She credited the Illinois State Rifle Association for the report:

Chicago’s embattled police superintendent dug himself deeper into a pit of controversy today by claiming that lawful firearm owners are agents of political corruption.  Appearing on a Chicago Sunday morning talk show, superintendent Garry McCarthy expressed his conviction that firearm owners who lobby their elected representatives or who donate money to political campaigns are engaged in corruption that endangers public safety.  McCarthy went on to express his belief that judges and legislators should rely on public opinion polls when interpreting our Constitution.

It's not bad enough that Chicago, with some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation also has one of the highest murder rates in the country.  McCarthy thinks they are not strict enough.

Thankfully a Happy Ending for the Home Owner in This Home Invasion

NBC 12 reports that a Prince Edward County man shot two of three criminals that broke into his home earlier today.  The two died at the scene and the third individual is still at large.  The home owner and is two year-old son were unharmed.

NBC12.com - Richmond, VA News, Weather, Traffic

Less Than 1% of Background Checks Were Prohibited Persons Attempting to Buy Firearms

The Richmond Times Dispatch had this article today that will likely be used by the gun ban lobby in their push to criminalize private firearm sales but when you look at the numbers, the number of prohibited persons who tried to legally purchase a firearm are very close to what the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics found in study released in 2001 - that very few criminals attempt to buy their firearms legally.

In 2012, less than one percent of the background checks run were denied.  A total of  432,387 firearm transactions were conducted in Virginia last year (note that a single background check does not necessarily correlate to individual firearm sales as an individual could be purchasing two shotguns at one time and only one background check would need to be conducted).  In 2011, the total was right at 1%.  And not all of those denials were necessarily convicted felons or other prohibited persons attempting to purchase a firearm.  Some denials were individuals trying to purchase more than one handgun in a 30 day period, which was not legal from 1993 to July of 2012 with limited exceptions.

It should also be noted that of those 3444 denials last year, the Times Dispatch reports only 531 resulted in an arrest.  Which begs the question, were some of those denials false positives as Professor John Lott has indicated?

Shame Obama Doesn't Apply This to His Support of Gun Control

CQ Roll Call Daily Briefing had this today:

QUOTE OF NOTE: “This is not going to be a huge savings for government. But anytime we’re spending more money on something that people don’t actually use, that’s an example of something we should probably change,” Obama said when asked in a Google video town meeting arranged by the White House yesterday whether he would consider abandoning the penny — which costs more to fabricate than its one-cent value. But he also said his administration would not push hard to end production of the copper coin, because: “One of the things that you see chronically in government is it’s very hard to get rid of things that don’t work so that we can then invest in the things that do.”

It's a shame the President does not apply the same logic to his support for gun control.

Vote Tally on CHP Privacy

There were some surprise yes votes on accepting the House Substitute to SB1335 that expanded protecting the privacy of concealed handgun permit (CHP)  holders with active protective orders to all CHP holders.  Please thank those senators voting to protect the personal information of Virginia CHP holders.

You can see the vote tally at the link below.

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+vot+SV0527SB1335+SB1335

Romney Pollster: Don't Expect Obama to Let Six Year Itch to Set In

Daniel Newhauser of Roll Call writes in today's "At the Races" column that National Republican Congressional Committee Vice Chairman Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia and top GOP pollster Neil Newhouse told attendees at a recent meeting to be on guard for Obama’s campaign machine:

“His attention has gone from getting himself elected to keeping the majority in the Senate and winning the majority in the House,” Westmoreland said in an interview, paraphrasing his remarks. “They need to be prepared for him being involved, because he made it quite clear at their retreat that he wanted his last two years to be like his first two years and that means, of course, having Pelosi as the speaker.”

Some pundits think that what plagued some other presidents in their sixth year will also befall Obama.  President Reagan had Iran Contra.  President Clinton had Monica.  President Bush had Iraq and lost the Senate and House because of war fatigue.  The economy may yet be Obama's undoing but don't expect it to be due to him sitting back and coasting for four years.

If you think we are in a fight now, just think of where we could be if an anti-rights majority wins the House in two years.

CHP Holder Privacy Protection Not on Senate Calendar Today

It isn't unusal that a bill returning to the house of origin does not end up on the calendar for action the next day.  This gives us more time to contact our state senators and urge them to support SB1335 as passed by the House of Delegates yesterday.  SB1335 will protect the personal information of all concealed handgun permit holders as passed by the House.  This is not an open government issue, it is a privacy issue, and your personal information should not be open to the public or the media just because you have a concealed carry permit.

The vote is going to be close, and may ultimately be decided by the Lt. Governor in a tie-breaking vote.  Please contact your state senator today and urge him or her to vote yes on the House Substitute to SB1335.

NRA Response to SOTU

The President had a shamesless politicization of victims as part of his State of the Union Address last night in his continuing efforts to push citizen disarmament.  The NRA had this response.

Bitter over on Shall Not Be Questioned also had some interesting notes on the Bing audience live ratings that allowed viewers to vote every five seconds during the SOTU.  The largest negative reaction of the speech?  When the President spoke about gun control.

Privacy Protection for CHP Holders Passes House

The House of Delegates passed SB1335 shortly after 1:30 pm today. The bill as passed by the House protects the personal information of Concealed Handgun Permit holders.  Several years ago, the Roanoke Times published on its web site the names and addresses of every CHP holder in Virginia.  The Fredericksburg Free Lance Star publishes the name of every CHP holder in Fredericksburg and Spotyslvania County at the time the permit is issued.

The bill now goes to the Senate to approve or reject the substitute. Please contact your State Senator and urge hum or her to approve the House Substitute.

Yes, NRA Membership is Growing, and Growing Fast

In this article, the Daily Herald in Everett, Washington, questioned rather NRA membership is really 4.5 million and if in the span of a couple months whether the NRA membership could have increased by a half million.  They go through a list of various quotes related to memberships and magazine subscriptions, suggesting the numbers don't add up.

We were also surprised that 15 percent of the NRA members would pass up a chance to get a glossy, free magazine.

Given the current climate, is it really out of the realm of possibility that the NRA's membership has jumped by so many so fast.  By comparison, VSSA, which is much smaller than the NRA, has seen a membership increase of almost 17% in the last two months and it is likely many other state associations have seen similar increases.  So why should it be so unbelievable that NRA membership has increased 12% since the attacks on our rights began?  Must have been a slow news day in Everett.

Wall Street Journal Interview with John Lott

The Wall Street Journal posted this video yesterday where John Lott talks about the President's gun ban proposals.

While Democrats Will Parade Victims at SOTU, Rep. Steve Stockman Will Fact Check Obama

Tonight's State of the Union Address will be an opportunity for anti-rights Democrats and the President to parade family members of victims of various shootings before the public to continue their push for citizizen disarmament.  This from Roll Call:

The Democrats’ coordinated effort is intended “to keep the momentum up on addressing gun laws by sending a powerful message to lawmakers when the nation is focused on the State of the Union address,” said Jonathon Dworkin, a spokesman for Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., who spearheaded the initiative in the House.

But Texas Republican Representitive Steve Stockman plansto  live fact check the President on Twitter, especially on the issue of firearms.  If you have Twitter account, you can follow the congressman at http://twitter.com/SteveStockmanTX.

The Truth About Firearm "Accidents" and Firearms "Accidents" in the Home

From Julie Golab's blog:

Despite what many media outlets and politicians would have you believe, guns are not a leading cause of death in the home. The Consumer Reports article sites a study published by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine that concluded that firearm mishaps accounted for just 1 percent of all accidental deaths in the home. Specifically, for unintentional deaths in the home, guns accounted for 332 of the 30,569 and for “all locations” the study reports 706 deaths out of 65,954.

Thousands Willingly Pay Higher Entry Fee to Nation's Gun Show

The Hill reports that the Nation's Gun Show raised the entry fee for this weekend's gun show in Chantilly so they can use the additional funds to fight the Obama gun grab.

“Admission has gone up because we are using the money to fight so you can keep and bear your guns,” read the sign on the front doors to the gun show.

“We have already spent $25,000 this year to stop impending legislation by hiring lawyers, lobbyists, and writing bills.”

Higher fees did not stop patrons from attending.

Entry lines stretching around the giant exhibition center resulted in waits of up to 30 minutes on opening day Friday afternoon as parked cars spilled over into the neighboring shopping plaza less than 15 miles from the resort where House Democrats at their annual retreat just a day earlier unveiled proposals for an assault weapons ban, a limit on magazine capacity, and universal background checks for gun buyers.

This is just one more example of the firearms community stepping up to the plate to defeat the gun ban schemes flowing out of Washington.  Obama may have awakened a sleeping giant.

Is President's Focus on Gun Control Affecting His Job Approval?

A February 8 Quinnipiac University notes that President Obama's job approval rating has dropped to 46% approving and 45% disapproval of the job he is doing.  With over 20 million Americans out of work, unemployment stuck around 8%, and the economy sputtering for the last four years, has the President's focus on gun control rather than the economy?

A recent Rasmussen poll showed that 86% of respondants ranked job creation as important while only 48% ranked gun control as important.  Further, a January Rasmussen poll showed that 57% of those polled believed enforcing current gun laws was more important than creating new ones.

The President must believe he has started the second term on the wrong note.  Next week's State of the Union Address is said to be focused on job creation.  He'll likely stay focused as long on the topic as he has in the past, the amount of time it takes to deliver the speech.

Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing This Tuesday

At first glance, it appears the panel for this hearing is stacked more in favor of the gun ban lobby.  The only recognizable pro-rights panelist is Suzanna Hupp.

OFFICIAL HEARING NOTICE / WITNESS LIST:

February 8, 2013

NOTICE OF SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING LOCATION CHANGE

The hearing entitled “Proposals to Reduce Gun Violence: Protecting Our Communities While Respecting the Second Amendment” scheduled before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, for Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at 10:00 a.m., in room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building will now take place in room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building.

Chairman Durbin to preside.
By order of the Chairman.

Witness List

Hearing before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights

On
“Proposals to Reduce Gun Violence: Protecting Our Communities While Respecting the Second Amendment”

Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Hart Senate Office Building, Room 216
10:00 a.m.

Panel I

Timothy J. Heaphy
United States Attorney
Western District of Virginia
United States Department of Justice
Washington, DC

Panel II

Laurence H. Tribe
Carl M. Loeb University Professor
Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA

Dr. Daniel Webster
Director and Professor
Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research
Baltimore, MD

Sandra J. Wortham
Chicago, IL

Charles J. Cooper
Partner
Cooper & Kirk, PLLC
Washington, DC

Suzanna Hupp
Lampasas, TX

Cuccinelli Is Not the Only Candidate for Governor Who Has Written A Book

While the media is all a twitter about Attorney Ken Cuccinelli's new book and how Democrats are salivating to use it against him, Virginia's other candidate for Governor also has a book that will open some eyes.  This from National Review's Jim Geraghty:

It’s time for this commonwealth to have a governor who has had a wacky caricature of himself framed upon the wall at The Palm since 1980, marking his influence and stature among the lobbyists and power brokers who meet for steaks and martinis. It’s time for a governor who has spent his adult life rubbing shoulders with the powerful at Pamela Harriman’s house in Georgetown, and who has a regular table at Café Milano. It’s time for a governor who can tell the best stories about Walter Mondale and about the hookers at Walter Shorenstein’s mansion in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

This should be an interesting election year.

American Public's Mixed Message on Gun Control

Buried at the end of this Roll Call article on the tightrope that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is walking on the issue of gun control, is this tidbit from a poll by a Las Vegas CBS affiliate:

A state poll conducted last week for the Las Vegas CBS affiliate found that a majority of respondents favor a prohibition on assault weapons but also that Americans should be allowed to own the firearms of their choosing — a contradictory result that underscores the trouble with the issue. However, large majorities of respondents favor registration and background check requirements.

Dave Kopel on MSNBC Assertion that NRA is Fringe Organization

Kopel appeared by phone on a recent edition of Cam and Company on the Sportsman Channel

Are We On Our Way to Extinction?

Several years ago, then Delegate (and VSSA member) Bill Janis was the guest speaker at the VSSA Annual Meeting.  He laid out for those in attendance a picture of what Virginia was becoming based on demographics.  It wasn't a pretty picture.  Basically, the rural power base that ruled the General Assembly for decades was giving way to more urban/suburban influences.  He predicted that if the GOP (Janis is a Republican) and gun owners did not wake up to the changing face of Virginia, we were doomed for a string of defeats.  This was before the 2006 election which saw a Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate  from Virginia for the first time since 1994, and before the 2008 Election where a Democrat won Virginia for the first time since 1964.

So when I read this post by Sebastian over on Shall Not Be Questioned, it reminded me of Janis' comments.

We are not facing the anti-gun crowd, save Bloomberg. We’ re facing the left-wing of the Democratic Party, and they mean to destroy us. They are betting this trend is real, that the country will be increasingly urban, left of center, and more in favor of gun control. They are betting the farm that we’re on our way to extinction. Are we?

Folks, this isn't fearmongering.  The trend is real.  Just as Janis predicted almost 10 years ago, the power of the rural legislator in Virgnia is now a thing of the past.  That means we have to broaden our appeal to people living in the suburbs and cities, many of whom have moved here from places like the northeast as Virginia's tax and business climate has enticed large corporations like Altria to move here.  Otherwise, we may well be on our way to extinction.

Two Virginia Reps Take Diffferent Roads on Background Checks

Yesterday, VSSA issued a legislative alert asking gun owners in the Rep. Scott Rigell's 2nd Congressional District to call him and urge him to oppose proposals that infringe on our rights.  The Washington Post's Plum Line Blog reported that Rigell had joined with anti-rights Democrats to sponsor legislation to targeting "gun trafficking."  According to the New York Times, Rigell defends his joining with anti-rights Democrats this way:

“To the extent that people slow down and take a look at it, read it — unless you’re a gun trafficker, unless you’re a person who’s a straw purchaser, there’s really no problem with this,” Mr. Rigell said.

But, Plum Lines's Greg Sargent also reported that Rigell is "open" to President Obama's proprosal to impose background checks on the private sale of firearms.  He has not yet decided whether he will support it.  That is the part that caught VSSA's attention.  One VSSA member contacted Rigell's office immediately after receiving the alert and was told that was not true.

On the other hand, we have this CNN report of Congressman Eric Cantor arguing that the Virginia approach after the Virginia Tech shooting, would have a greater impact on insuring that those who should not have firearms don't get them. 

"I think that we can take a lot of lessons from what Virginia did and put it in place at the federal level, because there are a lot of states that aren't doing what Virginia is doing to try and beef up the database for the background checks to make sure that we actually can do something that does have a chance at reducing the likelihood and hopefully eliminating it from happening again," Cantor said.

Since changing the law on reporting mental health information to the National Instant Check System, Virginia leads the nation in reporting such information.

So, we have Rep. Rigell, who campaigned as a friend of freedom and who welcomed the support of gun owners in his bid to become a congressman now openly working with those who would infringe our rights at every turn and maybe even requiring us to do background checks on our friends and fellow gun club members to sell or trade a firearm with them.

Congressman Cantor is talking about what has worked in Virginia and what can work nationally if it is tried.

During the 2nd District Republican Primary in 2010, some questioned rather Mr. Rigell was truely conservative and if he would stay true to the principles he professed in the campaign.  Some may be wondering now if they were right.

More Evidence That Congress Will Focus on Background Checks

This from the Wall Street Journal:



And this from Roll Call Daily Briefing:

The betting odds today would be that universalizing background checks (which has overwhelming public support) has a 2-in-3 chance of becoming law, curbing ammunition clips is a 50-50 proposition and the reinstatement of the assault weapons ban (which expired in 2004) is no better than a 1-in-10 shot. (So far, the other things he wants Congress to do — including increasing mental health care funding, boosting federal aid for school security and lifting restrictions on government studies about the causes of gun violence — have not gotten enough attention to merit such predictions.)

Keep up the pressure on your U.S. Senators. Vice President Joe Biden has said new gun laws would not stop mass shootings.

Homeland Security: Combat Mass Murderers With Scissors

Yep, that's what Homeland Security's new video says according to the New York Post:

But if you do arm yourself with shears, the narrator warns you to drop them when cops arrive.

The video is part of the Obama Administration's larger effort to reduce "gun violence."

Here's an idea, how about doing away with "gun-free zones" for law abiding citizens since the criminals don't abide by such restrictions.

Walmart Limits Ammo Purchases After Runs on Sales

VSSA has heard from some members that buying ammunition at Walmart has been difficult of late.  Some attributed that to the fact that the administration was trying to put pressure on retailers to enact policies that the administration favors, including limiting access to ammunition.  The Washington Times reports that Walmart is restricting purchases to three boxes per customer per day.  Walmart says this is because of the increased demand and the inability to keep supplies to meet that demand.

Walmart in the past has cooperated with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on firearm sales schemes like installing video cameras to record sales.  So, it's no suprised some are skeptical of this new policy.  However, in this case, it is probably true that the policy is driven by increased demand.  One of the local gun shops in the Richmond area announced a similar policy on their Facebook page and that was driven by the increased demand for certain ammunition of certain calibers.

Update: Colonial Shooting Academy is also limiting ammo purchases to 2 boxes per person for use on the range due to recent market demand.

Biden: New Gun Laws Should Be No Brainer

That's right, it should be a no brainer that restricting law abiding citizen's access to firearms does not prevent crime.  Unfortunately that's not what Biden meant as reported by The Hill.

“Look, nothing we’re going to do is going to fundamentally alter or eliminate the possibility of another mass shooting or guarantee that it will bring gun deaths down to 1,000 a year from what it is now,” the vice president said.

He added: “If I can prove that there is no constitutional impact on your right to bear arms and the action I’m taking can, in fact, demonstrably show some people could be saved, then it seems to be a no-brainer to me.”

Biden all but admits the administration's proposals will be ineffective and are simply symbolism over substance.