Freelance Star Gets it Right

The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star has a great editorial this morning about Delegate Mark Cole's HB 2528 - the bill aimed at requiring localities that engage in "compensated confiscation" schemes to sell any firearms taken in through the "buy backs" to sell them to an FFL. Says the FFS:

The crucial fact is that there is no evidence that the programs reduce crime. Criminals don't want to undersell the tools of their trade any more than a carpenter wants to part with a favorite saw.

If only cities like Newport News, Washington DC and Chicago understood this. But the FFL knows the real purpose of these schemes and as much as says so - it's to get all guns out of the hands of citizens, and offer them a bribe to do so. The FFL however applied the same logic to HB 2538 that Delegate Cole did to the Washington Times earlier this week:

Why should a piece of property worth two or three hundred dollars be destroyed when a city could sell it to recoup--or perhaps more than recoup--what it paid for the item?

Kudos to the Free Lance-Star for applying common sense. Hopefully, the State Senate will do the same when it takes up the bill later this month.

Always Be Aware of Your Surroundings

The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star reported on November 18th that on Nov. 9, a man who had just purchased a gun and ammunition at the Fredericksburg Gander Mountain was returning to his vehicle and was the victim of an attempted robbery where a black man attempted to take the weapon out of his hands. The victim yelled and kicked the suspect, who ran past another store in the shopping center, toward Task Force Drive.

Surveillance tapes show two black men entering Gander Mountain together, standing near the victim when he was purchasing the gun and then leaving the store before the victim did. The victim identified one of the black men as the same man who attempted to rob him. During the Holiday Season these types of attacks increase so folks should be aware of who is around them when purchasing firearms and when leaving the gun store or gun show with them.

Hat tip to VSSA member Greg Harrod for passing along this tip.