Busy Weekend for Sportsmen in Virginia

Hunters and Sportsmen of all stripes have plenty to choose from this weekend when it comes to preparing for the coming hunting seasons. First and foremost is the 26th Annual Virginia Outdoor Sportsman Show. This show is put on by Hugh Crittenden in association with the Virginia Deer Hunters Association. This is the longest running outdoor show in the Commonwealth and it attracts upwards of 20,000 people every year. This is a show not to be missed. Also, while you are at the show, be sure to stop by the NRA-ILA booth and sign up to be a Frontlines Volunteer for this year's election.

Also starting this weekend is Bass Pro Shops 2009 Fall Hunting Classic in both the Hampton and Richmond stores. This event runs from August 7-23 and will include sales on hunting supplies and seminars on various topics.

Two of Richmond's local retailers are also holding big sales this weekend to take advantage of the influx of sportsmen. First is Dance's Sporting Goods located in Colonial Heights. This is Dance's 2nd Annual Outdoor Sportsman's Show event and runs from August 8 - 16th.

Greentop Sporting Goods, in Hanover County just down the interstate from Bass Pro Shops, has their annual Summer Sale which began August 5th and runs through August 9th.

In short, there are a lot of activities that sportsmen can take advantage of this weekend.

VSSA Membership Drive

Since 1938 VSSA has been fighting to protect the rights of law abiding gun owners. The fact that Virginia is one of the most friendly states in which to own a keep and bear arms is a testament to the success of our efforts on behalf of gun owners. This year, with the help of our members who contacted their state senators, we defeated the so-called gun show loophole bill, the gun show promoter tax bill, and bills that would have undercut the state's preemption statute. We also helped some good pro-rights legislation progress and are continuing to work for the passage of bills related to compensated confiscation schemes, strengthening preemption and repeal of the restaurant ban. In short, VSSA has a long list of accomplishments working for gun owners. In addition, VSSA is actively promoting the shooting sports and Second Amendment to the next generation.

But, as I have said since last fall, there are storm clouds on the horizon. It is no secret that President Obama is no friend of gun owners or our rights. It is also well known that he has a four point agenda to directly attack those rights at some point in his administration. In addition, the news of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg's pancreatic cancer shows how quickly a President may have the ability to appoint a new justice to the Court. While we pray that Justice Ginsburg successfully recovers from her cancer surgery, the President may have an opportunity to attack our rights without signing one piece of legislation - appointing a Supreme Court Justice sooner rather than later. He has made it clear that he prefers jurists in the mold of Ginsburg and Breyer - two justices that sided with the minority decision in Heller that the Second Amendment does not protect an individual right to keep and bear arms,

Also, this year Virginia will elect a new Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and all 100 seats in the House of Delegates. We have lived with a Governor the last four years who has vetoed two important pro-rights bills while signing other pro-rights legislation into law. We need a Governor that will stand with us 100% of the time.

At the same time, we have had an Attorney General that has stood with gun owners and introduced legislation to bar New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's gun dealer entrapment schemes. With a federal administration that is against us and appointing more anti-rights individuals to high levels of government every day, a pro-rights state Attorney General will be more important than ever.

With all this in mind, now is the time for all Virginia gun owners to stand up and join VSSA. If we wait until the federal administration starts its legislative attack, it will be too late. At the state level, we need to mobilize all gun owners to support a pro-rights candidate for Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General.

Washington is filled with talk of "Economic Stimulus." I doubt any of what is contained in that massive spending bill will impact you or me. But, VSSA's membership drive not only will help protect your gun rights, you just might win a prize that can be used at your favorite gun shop or at a shooting range. Starting today, any current VSSA member that recruits a new member will have their name entered in a bi-monthly drawing. That's one entry for every new member you recruit! The new member will be entered in the drawing too. That new member can get another entry for every new member they recruit.

Prizes include gift certificates from such retailers as Dance's Sporting Goods, Greentop, Dicks Sporting Goods, Gander Mountain, and Bob's Gun Shop in Norfolk. And that is just the beginning. So far we have 40 prizes. So sign up a new member today. If you are not a member, join, then sign up a friend. You can get your member application here. If you are recruiting a new member, don't forget to complete the "Recruited By" line on the application. Your member number is not necessary but will be helpful.

Dinwiddie Sporting Goods Target of Thieves

The Richmond Times Dispatch reported that for the second time in five weeks, thieves have broken into the Dinwiddie Sporting Goods store and stolen numerous handguns. The latest theft occurred Sunday about 12:25 a.m. at the store at 7812 Boydton Plank Road. Like the earlier break-in on Oct. 23, the intruders entered by peeling back the sheet-metal building's exterior siding, said Dinwiddie County Sheriff's Capt. William Knott. According to Knott, the thieves took eight pistols of assorted calibers.

Knott said it has not been determined whether the same group of thieves was involved. With Sunday's burglary, more than 100 guns have been stolen in the past eight months from shops in Dinwiddie, Hanover County (Greentop) , Colonial Heights (Dance's Sporting Goods) and Chesterfield County (Bob Moates).

Greentop Sporting Goods Becomes Second Local Gun Store to be Robbed

Shortly after midnight Thursday night (June 12th), Greentop Sporting Goods became the second locally owned gun shop to be broken into. In April, Dance's Sporting Goods was broken into. The Richmond Times Dispatch reported today that the suspects, wearing dark clothing that covered most of their bodies, smashed into glass cases at the front of the store and stolen 34 semi-automatic handguns of various calibers. They were caught on the store's video tape system.

The RTD reported that deputies arrived three minutes after the alarm went off, but the thieves were already gone.

Photo courtesy of Hanover County Sheriff's Office

The handguns stolen were taken from locked glass cases in the front of the store, which were broken by the suspects involved in this case. The guns stolen were .357, .380, .40, .44, .45, and .50 caliber semi-automatic weapons. After a review of the security video provided by Green Top officials, the suspects (shown below) involved in this case were wearing clothing that concealed most areas of their bodies, which makes it more difficult to provide an accurate suspect description in this case.

On April 19th, local CBS affiliate WTVR reported that surveillance tape caught two masked individuals taking 30 guns in just over a minute in the Dance's break-in.