The Spin in Senator Howell's Op/Ed Qualifies it as a Thrill Ride

Senator Janet Howell (D-Fairfax) recently wrote this Op/Ed in the Washington Post that says there is "hope" for "reasonable gun laws" in Virginia.  We are used to such pronouncements from the gun ban lobby.  But Senator Howell's spin on the results of the just completed 2012 Session of the General Assembly truely qualifies the article as a thrill ride. Her reasoning:

First, while plenty of pundits thought that the gun lobby would have carte blanche in Virginia this session, there was a remarkable level of pushback from both sides of the aisle. While the media focused on the one-handgun-a-month repeal and a new law that prevents localities from fingerprinting those applying for concealed handgun permits, other gun-lobby priorities, such as allowing guns on college campuses, repealing Virginia’s background-check system and expanding the “castle doctrine” (legal immunity for those who defend themselves against intruders at home) were stopped, along with approximately two dozen lower-priority bills. Additionally, two bills that would make it harder for domestic abusers to carry firearms passed the Senate. The gun lobby has lost some clout in Richmond because a powerful grass-roots movement, led by survivors of the horrific shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007, has organized into an effective opposition, helping Virginians keep their families and communities free from gun violence.

Let's address that last claim first.  For the last four years, individuals associated with victims of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting have lobbied the General Assembly to close the non-existent "gun show loophole."  To date they have had no success.  They also lobbied Governor McDonnell to veto the repeal of Virginia's handgun rationing law.  Again, they failed.  Does this sound like a "powerful grass-roots movement" to you?

Regarding pro-rights groups having "carte blanche" to pass pro-rights legislation during the General Assembly, both the NRA and VSSA had rather modest priorities for the session.  VSSA's priorities were repeal of one gun-a-month and passage of Castle Doctrine.  We also supported repeal of fingerprinting for first time concealed handgun permit (CHP) applicants, clarification of the "Emergency Powers" law, restricting the ability for localities to engage in compensated confiscation schemes ("gun buybacks"), and bills streamlining CHP application procedures. All in all, a rather modest list of priorities.  It is true that the NRA asked for a bill to be introduced that would do away with the state police background check and have the state use the federal NICS check.  That bill however never really garnered support from gun owners as there is a school of thought that why force gun owners to rely on federal checks when the state can do it.  Yes, Virginia charges a $2 fee and the feds do not, and there have been some delays in state checks in tight budget times, but we all remember the backlogs during the Clinton years when NICS all but shut down on major sales days like Black Friday. 

VSSA and NRA was successful in having an amendment included in both the House and Senate Budget to provide more funding to the State Police for background checks.  We will have to wait on the final budget currently being considered in the special session to see if we met with success in the final budget.

Senator Howell would have readers believe that the only victories for gun owners during the 2012 General Assembly were repeal of handgun rationing and repeal of the local option to fingerprint first time CHP applicants.  Lets review what passed this year and anti-rights bills defeated:

HB 20: Emergency Services & Disaster Law; shall not be interpreted to prohibit carrying, etc., of firearms.

HB 22: Firearms; disposition thereof acquired by localities. (restrictions on compensated confiscation)

HB 26: Concealed handgun permit; failure to produce upon demand of a law-enforcement officer, penalty

HB 364: Criminal history record information; record check to be performed on prospective transferee. (annual gun show bill)

HB 375: Firearms; workplace rules by localities.

HB 458: Firearms; locality may adopt an ordinance that prohibits in libraries.

HB 754/SB 67: Concealed handgun permit applications; removes option for locality to require applicant fingerprint.

HB 940/SB 323: Handguns; eliminates prohibition on purchasing more than one in a 30-day period.

SB 563: Concealed handgun permits; application procedures.

That's not a bad list of accomplishments for the year.  It is true that campus carry went nowhere but that is not a change from previous years.  It has never had a hearing.  Most folks would consider that a positive for the anti-rights folks only if it had received positive action in the past and is now not being considered. Castle Doctrine did pass both houses for the first time but then got hung up in concerns that the bills may negatively impact current protections in Virginia common law.  In the end, both houses decided they did not have time to deal with fixing the bills to insure they did no harm so one was defeated, and one carried over so that it can at least be considered in the interim.

Howell also considers another positive for gun banners to be polling numbers from Christopher Newport University that found 66 percent of voters statewide wanted to retain the one-handgun-a-month law.  She also touts a poll conducted of in what she calls two south western Virginia Senate Districts.  According to that poll:

●Voters in both districts want to make gun laws stronger, not less restrictive.
●More than seven in 10 voters oppose guns on campus.
●More than six in 10 voters oppose the repeal of one-gun-a-month.
●Ninety-four percent of gun owners support universal background checks.

First, no one has proposed doing away with background checks, only eliminating the state check in favor of the federal check.  Be that as it may, one would think such findings would have already impacted elections.  Howell says these finding show just how much the politics of guns is misunderstood in Virginia. 

Howell is not the first anti-rights person to spin something positive out of annual legislative defeats, and she won't be the last.

Newsflash to NYTimes Op/Ed Writer Gail Collins: Criminals Don't Obey the Law

Gail Collins wades in to the Trayvon Martin matter with this Op/Ed in today's New York Times, writing how it's nuts to be talking about reducing the number of young people wearing hoodies instead of the number of people carrying handguns.  She takes the customary swipe at politicians cowering before the NRA, writes about how easy it is to get a concealed handgun permit in Florida, then proceeds to aim her verbal barbs at the two versions of the national reciprocity bills currently in under consideration in congress.  It is here where she shows why gun ban proponents have lost favor with the American public.

Senators John Thune of South Dakota and David Vitter of Louisiana have a competing bill that would relieve residents of states like Vermont and Arizona — which don’t require concealed weapons permits at all — from the cumbersome process of actually putting in some paperwork before they tote their handguns to, say, California or New Jersey. Under this one, Jared Loughner, who shot Representative Gabrielle Giffords, a judge, a small child and four other innocent Arizonans, could have brought his loaded handgun to Times Square.

Here's a newsflash Ms. Collins; nothing is going to keep a criminal like the Arizona shooter from bringing a gun into Times Square with or without national reciprocity - criminals don't obey the law - which is why law abiding folks want to be able to exercise our constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.  Most all polling on the issue shows the vast majority of the public agrees we don't need new gun control laws.

Collins apparently thinks she lives in a crime free area because most people can't own a firearm in New York.

Really, just leave us alone. If you don’t like our rules, don’t come here. Is that too much to ask?

Here's a question for Ms. Collins, "Do you really think living in New York City is safer than living in Virginia?"

Don't worry, I have no intention of going to New York. 

Open Carry or Concealed Carry

The Richmond Times Dispatch weighed in yesterday with an article on the topic of open carry.  They interviewed an activist with one of Virginia's other pro-rights groups as well as gun owners who expressed views supporting open carry as well as some who prefer concealed carry.

And some owners said if they wear guns, they keep them concealed as a way to respect the public's concern.

"You don't want to make people nervous by having a gun hanging on you," said Sam Slate, 57, of Midlothian, who has a concealed permit and was practicing shooting at Dominion Shooting Range Inc. in Chesterfield County last week.

His neighbor, J.R. Smith, 62, added, "You want to be subtle."

The usual malcontents on the anti-side also dragged out the worn out arguments against law abiding citizens carrying firearms.

Gov. Bob McDonnell has added two new locations to the list. In January, he approved the open carry of guns in state parks, where concealed weapons have been permitted for years for those with a permit. Public consumption of alcohol in parks is still forbidden.

Last year, he rejected the restaurant industry's concerns and approved legislation that allows gun owners to carry loaded, concealed weapons into restaurants that serve alcohol, but only if they do not imbibe. Openly carrying a gun into restaurants was already permitted, if frowned upon by bartenders.

Gun-control advocates say both decisions fall into the gun lobby's strategy to increase the number of places where guns are allowed.

"It is an attempt to make what is abnormal seem normal," said Joshua Horwitz, executive director of the Washington-based Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and vice president of The Virginia Center for Public Safety.

Horwitz also used the opportunity to push the gun ban crowd's favorite issue:

Gun-control advocates, like Horwitz, say they have made little headway with their argument that there are certain places guns don't belong, including locations where alcohol is consumed or children are present. The National Rifle Association is a powerful opponent, he said, and his organizations must carefully pick their battles.

He has focused efforts on closing Virginia's so-called gun-show loophole, which allows buyers to purchase from unlicensed sellers without having to go through a criminal background check. He said the loophole means guns are being sold to felons, who by law are not allowed to purchase guns.

The pro-rights community is not in lock step on the issue of open carry.  While it is probably safe to say that most pro-rights activists agree we have the right to carry openly, some believe openly carrying to make a political point is not the best way to win non-gun owners to our side of the issue.  VSSA supports the rights of gun owners to carry in the manner they believe best allows them to protect themselves and their families and that should be the reason one carries - not to make a political point.

Gun Control Surfaces in Virginia's 11th Congressional District Race

Ben Pershing is reporting over on the Washington Post Virginia Politics blog that gun control has surfaced as an issue in the 11th Congressional District race between Republican Keith Fimian and Democrat incumbent Congressman Gerald Connolly .  Omar Samaha, the brother of Virginia Tech victim Reema Samaha, appears in a new ad from a Bloomberg funded group calling itself Americans United for Safe Streets targeting Republican Keith Fimian.  Fimian is endorsed by the NRA-PVF in this year's election. 

Samaha has become the darling of the gun ban lobby since the Virginia Tech shootings.  He has appeared before the Virginia General Assembly every year since the shootings to push for a bill to put gun shows out of business in Virginia.  The ad is basically the same message with a different target that has been used to apply pressure to the General Assembly as well as then candidate Bob McDonnell to support legislation to close the so-called "gun show loophole."

Americans United for Safe Streets filed with the Federal Election Commission for the first time Wednesday, reporting that it had received a single donation of $153,000 from Bloomberg and was spending all of it on the anti-Fimian campaign. The group, organized under section 527 of the tax code, normally files its reports with the IRS. Those reports show the group has received just $1,500 in itemized donations this cycle from people other than Bloomberg, who has donated a total of $1.5 million.

In the ad, Samaha wants viewers to ask Fimian why he won't commit to close the "gun show loophole."  According to the blog post, Connelly is also trying to use an interview that Fimian did with a local TV station where Fimian stated if one of the students in the classrooms target by Cho had been armed, the out come may have been different.

If you live in the 11th District, please contact the Fimian campaign and offer to assist the campaign in these closing days.

Franklin, Virginia Mayor James Council is a Member of MAIG

The Mayor of Franklin, Virginia, James P. Councill, III, is a member of Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG). This comes as a great surprise to VSSA as Mayor Council's father, J. Paul Council, Jr., was a stalwart supporter of the right to keep and bear arms for many years as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. In addition, the City of Franklin is not your usual urban area, it is a very rural community and I would be willing to bet that many of its citizens own one or more firearms. It is possible that Mayor Councill may, like many former members of MAIG, has been duped into believing that MAIG is not an anti-gun group.

Gun owners in Franklin, Virginia, should immediately contact Mayor Councill and politely inform him that he is part of a group that wants to ban our right to keep and bear arms.

Some useful information to include in your communication is that Bloomberg created MAIG as a front group to lobby Congress to oppose important pro-gun reforms and support new federal gun control restrictions. Let Mayor Council know that some mayors have joined thinking Bloomberg was simply targeting those who acquire firearms illegally but that it is really part of Bloomberg's anti-gun crusade. Also tell Mayor Council that a number of mayors have already quit the anti-gun Bloomberg coalition once they learned the group's true motives and that he should be the next one to do so.

Please call, e-mail, and write, Mayor Council today and ask him to support law-abiding gun owners by publicly disassociating with Michael Bloomberg and "Mayors Against Illegal Guns." Help Mayor Council make the right choice between protecting your Second Amendment rights or continuing to be associated with those who actively oppose and undermine your firearms freedom.

McDonald vs. Chicago at Supreme Court Today

Oral arguments are behing heard in the McDonald vs. Chicago gun ban case today at 11:00AM. VSSA joined our sister state associations in filing an amicus brief supporting McDonald last fall. You can get live updates at Noon and 3:00PM at NRANews.com.

The Wall Street Journal had this report earlier today.

Starbucks in Crosshairs of Gun Control Lobby

Do a Google search for "Starbucks and Gun Control" you will find dozens of newspapers that have picked up this AP article on people exercising their right to bear arms in local Starbucks, and the coffee company actually letting them.

Dale Welch recently walked into a Starbucks in Virginia, handgun strapped to his waist, and ordered a banana Frappuccino with a cinnamon bun. He says the firearm drew a double-take from at least one customer, but not a peep from the baristas.

Welch's foray into the coffeehouse was part of an effort by some gun owners to exercise and advertise their rights in states that allow people to openly carry firearms.

Even in some "open carry" states, businesses are allowed to ban guns in their stores. And some have, creating political confrontations with gun owners. But Starbucks, the largest chain targeted, has refused to take the bait, saying in a statement this month that it follows state and local laws and has its own safety measures in its stores.

I don't usually go to Starbucks, mainly because I can buy coffee cheaper at another merchant the same distance from my office as the nearest Starbucks. But, I give them kudos for following state and local laws in setting policy related to the legal carrying of firearms.

Culpeper Town Council Defeats Police Chief's Anti- Gun Ordinance

Culpeper Chief of Police Scott Barlow tried to get the Culpeper Town Council to ban all discharge of firearms inside the town's Corporate Limits but was unsuccessful. The council voted Tuesday, September 9th, 6-2 not to change a local gun ordinance that allows people to obtain special permits to discharge guns within the Town Limits. With the vote, residents will still be able to discharge guns for such things as killing garden pests like groundhogs.

The Town Council Public Safety Committee will continue to look at the permit process to ensure that town citizens discharging firearms know how to do so properly and have enough land on which to safely shoot their gun but for now, the law stands.

Pro-gun advocates urged the Council to let state laws regarding wrongful discharge of firearms to address the issue. According to the Culpeper Star Exponent, Vice Mayor Billy Yowell said he said he understood the chief’s safety concerns in more congested areas, but that there had been no problems through the years with the ordinance as written.

Gun owners need to remain vigilant. This is the second time in three years that an anti-gun ordinance has come up in the Culpeper area (the first time was the a proposal by a member of the Board of Supervisors in 2005). If you live in a locality that is proposing an anti-gun ordinance, be sure to contact VSSA so we can lobby the elected officials and urge members in the area to contact their representatives.