Gun Bills Likely to Move in 1st Full Week of General Assembly

VSSA's lobbyist is getting indications that Northam's gun control bills will move the first full week of the legislature.  That's the week of January 13th.  This likely explains NRA-ILA's focus on the first meeting of Senate Courts of Justice on January 13 and why gun owners need to be contacting their

Graphic by NRA-ILA

delegate and senator now.  You can send an email but a phone call to their Capitol Office phone would be even better.  If you are going to be in Richmond, schedule an appointment to meet with them but arrive early for your meeting because access to the Pocahontas Building is not easy and if there are large numbers of people attempting to enter it can take a while as there is only one access point.

Additionally, special focus should be given to Senator John Edwards, who is the incoming chairman of Senate Courts of Justice and until recently was an ally of gun owners.  Senator Edwards needs to hear especially from gun owners in his district (Roanoke, Montgomery, and Giles).  Roanoke Rifle and Revolver club is in his district so members of the club need to contact Senator Edwards by email and by phone and urge him to oppose any bills that restricts the rights of law abiding gun owners and especially SB16, which would ban many of the guns that used at RRRC for competition and target shooting.  Members of RRRC that have youth that shoot in competitive programs need to have those young shooters contact Senator Edwards and let him know that they would be negatively affected by SB16 and that they don't want their competition firearms banned.

Bearingarms.com: Separating Fact From Fiction with Governor Northam's Gun Control Plans

As is to be expected, with the giddiness of the Democrats to restrict our rights after winning a majority in the state legislature, there has been some disinformation about several of the pre-filed bills and their potential impact on Virginia gun owners.  Yesterday, Cam Edwards did a great job of dispelling some of the myths that have popped up on social media.  Cam covered bills like SB64 and SB 67.  He corrected the myth that Northam said he would call out the National Guard to enforce any gun bills passed - that was actually a suggestion from former slip-and-fall lawyer turned congressman, Don McEachin.  Cam ends with this:

The truth is, the bills that have already been introduced are bad enough that we don’t need to invent any new ones. Here’s a partial list of the legislation Virginia’s anti-gun lawmakers, including Governor Northam, are considering:

• banning the most commonly produced and owned rifles in the United States
• banning magazines that can hold more than ten rounds of ammunition
• requiring background checks on most transfers of firearms
• fining gun owners who fail to report lost or stolen firearms
• prohibits individuals convicted of misdemeanor assault and battery of a family member from owning a gun.
• banning bump stocks and binary triggers
• turning state-owned and leased buildings into gun free zones
• rationing handgun purchases to one per month
• stripping parents of their ability to decide when their child is responsible enough to access a firearm.
• weakening firearms preemption law by allowing localities to ban firearms from permitted events.

Those are just the worst of the bills that have already been pre-filed before the legislative session begins in early January. Bills can be filed until January 17th, and we know that there will be more heading our way, including an Extreme Risk Protection Order or “red flag” firearms seizure bill. Second Amendment supporters need to be armed with the facts in the weeks ahead, because if we focus on the fictions, we’re only going to be hurting our ability to effectively push back on the infringements headed our way.

It doesn't help our cause if we just read parts of the bill and don't read the full bill in context.  Like Cam said, it's bad enough what Northam has said he want's to do, so we really don't need to misrepresent bills to make him look bad.

Safeside Tactical Providing Buses to Gun Owner Lobby Day

SafeSide Tactical in Roanoke is providing buses for gun owners in the western part of the Commonwealth to travel to Richmond for Gun Owner Lobby Day on January 20th.  All you have to do is click here to sign up.  The price is $35.00.

Schedule
3:30am Secure Parking Gates open @ SafeSide
4:30am bus will leave from SafeSide Roanoke
5am Stop @ Big Boyz Guns (Blue Ridge) for pickup
8am Arrive in Richmond
2pm Leave Richmond arriving back in Blue Ridge/Roanoke by 6pm.
All riders will get a free "Shall Not Be Infringed" T-shirt and coupon pack from local vendors valued at over $150 (details will be added).

Safeside also had this suggestion on the web site:

Please consider dressing professionally so we can show the gun haters that WE THE PEOPLE are made up of all walks of life. 

They also have a bus starting in Lynchburg.  Click here for information on that bus.

Anderson and Associates Law Firm Gives Gun Law Updates

Found this thanks to the VA2ANews You Tube Video channel.  It is highly recommended you listen to this.  The Attorney talks about the new talk about the so-called "grandfather" clause in the "assault weapons" ban bill.  Let me be clear,  VSSA opposes registration, and VSSA opposes a ban on modern sporting rifles.  It is VSSA's responsibility to keep members and gun owners informed so that is why this video is being shared.

New NRA-ILA Website "StopNorthamsGunBan.org"

If you live in Virgnia you may have received an email today from NRA-ILA with an update from NRA-ILA.  Included in it is a new web site StopNorthamsGunBan.org.  The website includes talking points that you can use when drafting letters to the editor and talking with legislators.

Senator Janet Howell: We would have citizens wandering the halls carrying Uzis and other assault weapons

That was State Senator Janet Howell's description of the annual Second Amendment Lobby Day at the General Assembly in E. J. Dionne's Washington Post article on Governor Northam's push for gun control in a special session.  Senator Howell wasn't the only one quoted though.  There is this from former State Senator and now Congresswomen Jennifer Wexton:

If you want to know how things have rolled in Virginia on the firearms issue, consider that Gun Lobby Day is an unofficial but highly memorable event held every year at the state Capitol on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“That was so wrong for so many reasons,” Jennifer Wexton, a former state senator who is now a member of Congress, observed about the timing of the pro-firearms offensive. Wexton, first drawn to politics in part by her desire for tougher gun laws, said that the state Senate’s Republican leadership would “put up all the gun bills on that day and kill them, one after another.”

You see, even though Governor Northam claims the GOP majority holds "early morning meetings" where they kill everything, the fact is, the State Senate holds hearings on the bills with the most people are at the General Assembly to be heard - on Martin Luther King Day when a number of groups hold lobbying days, not just the pro-rights community, but the anti-rights folks hold a rally at the Bell Tower and are there for the Senate Courts of Justice Committee meeting.  On the House side, the subcommittee that hears gun related bills meet at 4:00 PM on Thursday afternoons in a usually packed meeting room and both pro-rights and anti-rights supporters are there to speak for or against legislation.

So, no Ms. Wexton, it isn't wrong for so many reasons.  And, no, there weren't people runing around the halls of the General Assembly Building with "Uzis and other assault weapons".

Delegate Todd Gilbert on Governor Northam's Call for Gun Control Special Session

Delegate Todd Gilbert was on the Virginia Talk Radio Network this morning talking about Governor Northam's new calls for gun control and a special session.

VSSA Talks Governor Northam's Gun Control on Cam and Company

Legislative Director David Adams was on NRATV's Cam and Company last night talking about the Governor's call of a gun control special legislative session.

WRIC Live Feed of Governor Northam's News Conference to Call Special Session

News Conference will begin at 10:00 AM

Governor Northam Calls for Special Session to Take Up Gun Control in Response to Virginia Beach Shooting

The Roanoke Times reports that Gov. Ralph Northam will recall lawmakers to the state Capitol in coming weeks to take up a package of gun-control legislation he said is urgently needed to prevent killings like Friday's mass shooting in Virginia Beach.  In this morning's announcement he said he will call legislators back later this summer.  He will hold a 10:AM news conference that will be available on this blog.

He said in an interview that he wants the Republican-controlled General Assembly to hear from the public about the need for "common-sense" law related to guns and accessories.

Republicans have previously rejected Northam's gun control bills out of hand, but a top GOP lawmaker signaled Monday that he's open to a legislative debate.

Northam's expected announcement comes less than a week after Virginia Beach city employee DeWayne Craddock used two semi-automatic handguns, a silencer and extended ammunition magazines to kill 12 people, all but one them colleagues he had worked with for years, and injure several others. Craddock was then killed in an intense gunbattle with police during which a bullet hit one officer in a bulletproof vest.

Northam's package of bills includes legislation that directly relates to Friday's shooting — including a ban on silencers and high capacity ammunition magazines as well as broadening the ability of local governments to limit guns in city buildings. But Northam said other recent shootings, including the death last month of a 9-year-old girl who was shot at a community cookout in Richmond, are also driving his call for a special session.

Suppressors are currently legal in Virginia, but an individual has to undergo what amounts to a federal anal exam from ATF after paying a $200 tax before a purchase can be completed.  It normally takes at least six months for the process to run it's course.

Some law enforcement told news outlets on Saturday that the suppressor did not necessarily make it easier for the killer to complete his plan and that it was likely his familiarity with the building that allowed him to kill so many.

Contact you legislators now and let them know that you oppose any new restrictions on your rights.

House Bill Raising Age to Purchase Firearms Introduced in House

Friday was the last day to introduce bills for the 2019 General Assembly.  Most of the gun control bills that have been introduced has already been defeated but one last bill dropped on Friday - House Bill 2797.  The bill would raise the age to purchase firearms from 18 to 21.  Like Senator Saslaw's SB1162 that was defeated last week in Senate Courts of Justice, it gradually raises the age over three years (i.e. if an individual is 18, 19 or 20 by July 1, 2019, they would not be covered by this bill).   It also includes additional language (italicized) that was not in Senator Saslaws bill:

To purchase from a dealer a handgun or an assault firearm as herein defined, a person shall (i) be 21 years of age or older; (ii) have attained the age of 18 by July 1, 2019; or (iii) be 18, 19, or 20 years of age and have received a high school diploma, have passed a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education, or be a member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the National Guard of the Commonwealth or of any other state and shall consent in writing, on a form to be provided by the Department of State Police, to have the dealer obtain criminal history record information.

It is expected that the House will dispose of this bill like they did all of the other gun ban bills last Thursday evening.

A Coming Wave of Gun Control

On Friday, Delegate Michael Webert appeared on NRATV's Cam and Company to talk about the slew of gun control proposals Governor Ralph Northam introduced in Richmond this year. During the interview, they talked about Governor Northam's inventive take on so-called "assault weapons" and how it would have affected millions of guns already owned by Virginia gun owners.  They also talked about the so-called "red flag" law proposals.  Delegate Webert talked about his biggest concern is we are talking about rights and that you cannot take a right away without due process.  He said he heard from Commonwealth Attorneys that you should be convicted or adjudicated of something before you lose your rights.

Senate Version of Northam Gun "Assault Firearm" Bill Introduced

The Senate version of Governor Northam's "assault firearm" ban bill was introduced yesterday.  Senator Ebbin's SB1748  prohibits any person to knowingly and intentionally possess or transport any assault firearm or to knowingly and intentionally carry about his person, hidden from common observation, an assault firearm.  The legislation redefines "assault firearm" as "any semi-automatic center-fire rifle or pistol that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material and is equipped at the time of the offense with a magazine that will hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition or designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer or equipped with a folding stock."

Last night, the House, Militia, Police, and Public Safety defeated the Delegate Tran's version of Governor Northam's gun ban bill.

House Militia, Police, and Public Safety Subcommittee #1 Defeats Northam Gun Grab

After a three hour marathon meeting, the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Subcommittee #1 dealt a blow to Governor Northam's gun ban proposals. All of the bad bills on the docket, including his attempt to ban and confiscate any firearm that is capable of holding a magazine of more than 10 rounds, were defeated and the one good bill, Constitutional Carry, was reported and rereferred to Appropriations.  The complete results are below.

HB2253 Nonresident concealed handgun permits; time of issuance.
Subcommittee recommends reporting (4-Y 2-N)

HB1616 Firearms; use or display during commission of a felony, killing or injuring police animals, penalty.  Subcommittee recommends striking from docket (6-Y 0-N)

HB1644 Firearms; reporting when lost or stolen, civil penalty.
Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (4-Y 2-N)

HB1654 Prohibited public carrying of certain firearms in public areas; penalty.
Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (4-Y 2-N)

HB1691 Manufacture, import, sale, transfer, or possession of undetectable firearms; penalty.
Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (4-Y 2-N)

HB1763 Firearms; removal from persons posing substantial risk of injury to himself, etc., penalties.
Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (4-Y 2-N)

HB1856 Firearms; libraries owned or operated by localities.
Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (4-Y 2-N)

HB1956 1956 Firearms, etc.; permitted events.
Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (4-Y 1-N)

HB1957 Children in need of services; disposition, certification by parent that firearms are secure.
Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (4-Y 1-N)

HB1992 Localities; regulation of firearms in government buildings.
Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (4-Y 2-N)

HB2244 Firearms; possession or transportation following convictions for certain misdemeanor crimes. Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (4-Y 1-N)

HB2285 Minors; allowing access by minors, penalty.
Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (4-Y 1-N)

HB2399 Firearms; transfer, criminal history record check delay.
Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (4-Y 1-N)

HB2479 Firearm transfers; criminal history record information checks, penalty.
Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (4-Y 1-N)

HB2492 Firearms magazines and firearms, certain; penalties, prohibition of sale, transfer, etc.
Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (4-Y 1-N)

HB2604 Handguns; limitation on purchases, penalty.
Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (4-Y 1-N)

It has been a good two days for gun owners but we cannot get complacent.  If we lose the majority in this year's General Assembly elections, all of the above bills that failed tonight will become law.

Governor Northam's Gun Confiscation Bill on Militia Police and Public Safety Sub 1 Docket Thursday

The General Assembly is wasting no time taking up gun bills this session.  The Senate Courts of Justice Committee will hear a number of bills at Wednesday's meeting.  And, it is possible that Governor Northam's big gun grab may not last even a week after introduction of the bill.  On Thursday, House Militia, Police and Public Safety Subcommittee #1 will hear a number of gun bills, including HB 2492, Governor Northam's bill to ban the possession, sale, and transfer of  "any firearm that is equipped with a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds of ammunition."  The meeting will take place at 4:00 PM in 400-C Subcommittee Room.  There will also be other gun bills on the docket but HB2492 is by far the big one.  Please contact committee members and urge them to defeat HB2492 and as well as the other anti-rights bills that will heard.

Governor's Bill Bans Possession of "Assault Firearm" as Advertised in Jan. 4 Press Announcement

House Bill 2492, the Governor's sweeping legislation to ban so-called "assault weapons" in the Commonwealth does indeed ban possession, not just the sale and transfer of the firearms.  It does this by changing the definition of an "assault firearm" as it is currently in the Code of Virginia by including "any firearm that is equipped with a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds of ammunition. This would affect most firearms on sale in Virginia.

Stephen Gutowski of the Washington Free Beacon has reported on the legislation and appeared on NRATV's Cam and Company to talk more about the Governor's proposed gun confiscation plan.  He said the Governor's office will not return his calls to answer questions of how they plan to enforce this if the bill passed.
Rest assured that the VSSA legislative team is working to defeat this an all of the gun ban legislation that has been introduced in the legislature.  Call your Delegate now and urge them to oppose HB2492! This bill should be a wake up call to all Virginia gun owners.  If we don't get involved in this year's elections, this is the type of legislation that could pass in 2020.

The Fight Against Governor Northam's Gun Control

Democrat Governor Ralph Northam started off 2019 with a slate of new gun-control legislation that would fundamentally change gun ownership in Virginia. In addition, other gun ban legislators have proposed additional restrictions beyond what Northam laid out last Friday. For instance, Senator Dick Saslaw (D-Fairfax) has introduced a bill to raise the age for purchasing a long gun from 18 to 21. Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak with fellow Virginian and NRATV host Cam Edwards, to talk about the plausibility of stricter gun control laws being signed into state law.


You can catch the latest 2nd Amendment news from Cam on NRATV's Cam and Company every weekday at 5:30 or anytime on demand.

TRS: Governor Northam's "Assault Weapon" Ban Would Include Rifle That is Favorite of Boy Scouts

The Republican Standard blog has this piece that points out how Governor Northam's "common sense gun safety" proposals would prohibit rifles that are standard for Boy Scout marksmanship training.

Among the bills in the sweeping proposal is one which the governor said, according to his announcement, “modifies the definition of assault firearm to any firearm that is equipped with a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds of ammunition.”

Northam’s proposal would “ban the sale, purchase, possession, and transport of assault firearms in the Commonwealth,” according to the announcement.

The measure is not the same as a magazine capacity restriction, which bans possession of the magazines themselves, depending on capacity. Similar magazine bans were introduced by lawmakers in previous years, and may resurface in 2019.

Detachable magazines are interchangeable on semiautomatic firearms. Consequently, any firearm which accepts detachable magazines is equipped to fire more than 10 rounds in a detachable magazine of varying size, and would be banned.

Detachable magazines are used in common firearms, from the AR-15 to the 10/22, the common .22 rifle used by scouting groups and other youth, which even comes in an edition officially licensed by the Boy Scouts of America.

Also note that Northam's bill would ban not only the sale, but also the possession of, so-called "assault rifles" in the Commonwealth. This means that the Governor would expect the hundreds of thousands of Virginians that own the rifles to turn them in.  Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax campaigned on a platform to confiscate firearms in 2017 so it would not be out of the whelm of possibility for the Governor to pick up that mantle.

In related news, VSSA Life Member and Second Amendment attorney Steve Halbrook told Dana Loesch yesterday that Governor Northam's gun ban proposals are just one more step of trying to "Californacate" Virginia.

If this is not enough to prove that the 2019 General Assembly elections will determine if Virginia's gun owners begin to face what California and New Jersey gun owners already face, nothing will.