New Gun Control Laws Take Effect Today

Today, the gun control bills passed by this year's General Assembly and signed by Governor Northam take effect. These bills are:

• HB 2/SB 70 Criminalizes private sale of firearms - All sales of firearms, including private sales must now undergo a background check before the transfer can be made. Firearm loans, gifts, and transfers that do not involve an exchange of value (money) may still occur without a background check.
• HB674/SB240 Red Flag Laws / Extreme Risk Protection Orders
• HB 812/SB 69 Handgun Rationing limits purchases to one per month. Individuals that possess a valid concealed handgun permit are exempt from this limit.
• HB9 Mandatory reporting of lost/stolen firearms.
• HB1083 Penalties for "recklessly allowing minors 14 and under access to firearms will now carry a penalty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. (the penalty for this had been a Class 3 midemeanor)
• SB35/HB421 allow localities to regulate firearms in public buildings, parks, recreation centers, and during permitted events.
• SB479/HB1004 prohibit individuals subject to protective orders from possessing firearms, require them to turn over their firearms within 24 hours, and certify to the court that they have turned over their firearms.

VSSA, working with the NRA and other firearm groups, successfully lessened the impact that many of the above bills would have had if they had passed as originally introduced.  These efforts were also successful in beating back the most heinous of the bills, Delegate Levine's so-called "assault weapons" ban (HB961).  Northam has made it clear he plans to come back for more next year. He even appointed gun ban advocate Lori Haas to the Virginia Crime Commission. Haas, and Northam's Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran recently appeared on a leftist political podcast and outlined what they had planned. Haas said she has a "big list" of what she wants to do next year.

Now is the time to push back on any new gun ban bills.  We can beat Northam's gun ban if we continue to work with the four Senators who helped defeat HB961.  If you live in the districts of Senators Creigh Deeds, Chap Petersen, John Edwards or Scott Surovell , please reach out to them and ask to meet with them and explain why modern sporting rifles like the AR-15 are the move popular rifle in America.  If you compete with these rifles, share this information with them and let them know how these rifles are used in competition most every weekend across the nation.  They need to hear from you now.

This Year's General Assembly Gun Grab Was Just Round One

VSSA has warned that this year's legislative attack on our freedom was just round one.  According to gun ban advocate Lori Haas and Virginia Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran, besides another attempt at banning commonly owned semi-automatic firearms, they have a whole list of things lined up for next year.  They appeared on a left-leaning podcast in mid-April called "Transition Virginia".  During the interview, Haas said her group, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV), is already working with legislators to pass a ban next year.  Pointing to the 4th Circuit ruling upholding Maryland's semi-auto ban,  Moran said so-called "assault weapons" are not protected under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It is no surprise that Moran pointed to Maryland because that is model that the patron of HB961, Delegate Mark Levine, pointed to when promoting his bill this session.

You can hear the Haas and Moran interview here.  If gun ban groups are already working legislators to pass a semi-auto ban, gun owners need to be doing the same thing.  We can't wait until January.

Hat-tip NRA-ILA.

The Next Step After Defeat of Northam Gun, Magazine, and Suppressor Ban

The Washington Post confirms what VSSA's lobbyist found while working with senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee to defeat HB961 - they thought the bill went too far and captured more firearms than what many think of as so called "assault weapons".  Take Senator Creigh Deeds for instance.  Deeds was one of the four Senators that VSSA focused efforts on to defeat the bills.  He used to be a reliable vote against gun control but started to turn after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007.  He also felt that his support for Second Amendment Rights had been betrayed when the NRA supported Bob McDonnell in the 2009 Gubernatorial election when McDonnell had voted for handgun rationing in 1993 and Deeds had voted against it.  McDonnell had promised he would sign a repeal of the law while Deeds had already started shifting his position on background checks more in line with the gun ban lobby.  I saw gun ban activist Lori Haas giving Deeds an ear full outside the committee room after the vote. He later told the Post:

Deeds said in an interview that the bill’s magazine limits could have applied to some long rifles and handguns that “I don’t think anybody really intended to criminalize.”

“AK-47s or AR-15s — I think they’re impractical, and I can’t imagine that people really need to own those things. In fact, they are weapons of war,” Deeds said. “But when you’re trying to define that as a matter of code, you’ve got to be really careful.”

No Senator Deeds, that is exactly what they wanted to do.  That's why the Secretary of Public Safety, Bryan Moran, focused on the Virginia Tech shooting in his remarks in both the House Public Safety Committee and Senate Judiciary.  The firearms used in the Tech shooting were handguns.  And, despite the fact that the commission appointed by Governor Tim Kaine  after the shooting said that the size of the magazines used would have had no impact on the carnage, that is what Moran focused on.  Deed's comments also show we still need to educate those who voted to waylay about why firearms like the AR-15 are indeed practical and used for sport, hunting, and competition.

Gun owners in the districts of the four senators (Surovell, Petersen, Deeds, Edwards) should use this time to educate them on the many rifles like the AR-15, why they are so popular, why their features make them easy for anyone - youth, women, handicapped shooters - to use. Gun ranges in or near their districts should invite them to competitions that use the rifles so they can see why these firearms are indeed "practical".

Washington Post: McAuliffe Spokesman Lashes Out at Bloomberg Group

It appears Governor Terry McAuliffe is getting tired of getting beaten up by Bloomberg's gun ban group Everytown for Gun Safety.  This from the Washington Post:

Brian Coy spoke dismissively of Everytown for Gun Safety, which is associated with former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, as a “group from New York” that does not have the interests of Virginians at heart.

“One group from New York and its affiliates are upset, but that does not represent Virginia views on this,” Coy said. “We had no interaction with Everytown, the national folks, until after this deal became public. We wouldn’t have even known who to call.”

The Post reminded Coy that Bloomberg came through when McAuliffe wanted money to buy the Virginia Senate during last year's election but, according to the Post, Coy did not back down from his comments:

“He talked to Howard Wolfson. Wolfson’s a political adviser to Bloomberg,” Coy said.” I don’t think he’s a policy advocate from this group. We’ve never heard from anybody at the staff level until now, after the deal has been finalized.”

The Post noted that Coy's comments were made to the Post two days after Everytown unleashed a social media campaign against McAuliffe for agreeing to a deal with GOP leadership to overturn Attorney General Mark Herring's unilateral action to break concealed carry recognition agreements with 25 states.

For Everytown's part, they turned to Andy Parker, a gun ban advocate whose daughter was killed on live TV by a disgruntled former colleague in August, to counter Coy:

“Governor McAuliffe can’t have it both ways,” Parker said. “He stood side-by-side with me and other Virginia survivors from the Everytown Survivor Network and worked closely with Everytown on the Whatever It Takes rally at the U.S. Capitol in September. I am his constituent and friend — I would have happily taken his call and pointed him to the right policy experts before he struck this dangerous deal with the gun lobby.”

Everytown also released emails to show just how much McAuliffe's office and the group had been in contact over 18 months.

McAuliffe's office also claimed they let Lori Haas, a Virginia gun ban advocate whose daughter was injured during the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007 was made aware of the deal, a claim that Haas disputes.  She told the Post that she was only made aware of it less than 48 hours before the Post broke the story.

This just shows that McAuliffe is not above throwing all of his friends under the bus if he thinks it benefits him.  If he is willing to do this to his friends, we should remember he can still do worse to us if it suits his agenda.

Hat tip to the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association.

PolitiFact Rates Lori Haas/Everytown Statement on Background Checks Half True

About a month ago when the General Assembly was considering McAuliffe backed gun control legislation, the gun ban lobby held a press conference in the hope of swaying legislators ahead of committee votes.  During that event, gun ban activist Lori Haas sited an Everytown for Gun Safety statistic that in states where there are background checks on private firearm sales, "49% fewer women are shot and killed." PolitiFact decided to put the statement to the test and found, once again, Everytown plays fast and loose with their numbers:

We should note, however, that Haas’ statement focused on a broader definition of victims.  She cited "women" without any reference to whether they were domestic violence victims.

So to examine her exact statement, we needed to find figures on gun murders deaths of all women, which are not in Everytown’s report.

After researching the numbers, PolitiFact found, the number while still significant, was 11% lower than Everytown's number that Haas used.  They also found there were states that did not require background checks on all purchases and had lower deaths of women than states that require them on all purchases:

Minnesota, which has no requirement for background checks on private handgun sales, had a rate of 0.6 firearms homicides for every 100,000 women. That was one-third the rate of North Carolina, which requires a background check of anyone seeking to buy a handgun.

Then there is the issue of cause and effect.  PolitiFact spoke with experts such as Gary Kleck who noted states may be taking other steps beyond gun control to reduce domestic violence (though Everytown did not specifically say they were comparing domestic violence deaths).

In the end, Haas got a half true rating for Everytown's claim, which is about what we have come to expect from the group.

Virginia Gun Ban Advocate to Accompany CSGV Billboard at NRA Annual Meeting

Got an email from CSGV around 11:00 this morning alerting me to the rolling billboard they will have in Indianapolis during the NRA Annual Meeting and said they wanted me to be one of the first to see it.  They also asked for money.  Below is the image that accompanied the email.

 The email went on to say:

As I explained previously, the NRA is hoping to dominate the media cycle with their usual propaganda about freedom, liberty and "good guys with guns" during the convention, but we are not going to let them get away with it. It's time the media and public learned that the NRA is run by a group of extremists who routinely trample on any freedom that gets in the way of gun industry profits and unfettered access to firearms.

The billboard is supposed to circle the convention center all weekend and highlight the  "offensive remarks" by NRA Board Members and staff that the group says it has catalogued.  They also plan to send Lori Haas, mother of one of the Virginia Tech shooting survivors and former member of Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe's transition team to Indianapolis to speak for the group.

Virginians for Responsible Gun Laws Details "Next Steps" For Virginia

After recovering from the thumping the gun ban lobby took again at this year's General Assembly, Lori Haas sent out an email earlier today that details what her group has in store for Virginia Gun Gun Owners now that the General Assembly is over:

We continue to work at the grass roots and grass tops levels to bring awareness to our issue. And, we have several opportunities for you to be involved in the coming months. Details for each of the following events have not been finalized, but I wanted you to "save the date" so you can attend as many events as possible and help us grow Virginians for Responsible Gun Laws and support GVP efforts through-out the state.

Saturday, May 17th - Richmond, Va - Summit: General Assembly Wrap-up & 2014 Strategy

Saturday, June 16th - Hampton, VA - Educational Forum - Gun Violence: Public &  Mental Health Issues

We hope that you will be able to attend both of these events but at least one please. We need you and your input to show our elected leaders that we mean business when it comes to the safety of our families and communities.

Look for that "Forum" in June to feature more of what we saw at the UVA gun control forum last December.

Virginia Gun Ban Lobby Using Newtown Anniversary to Push Gun Control

Gun ban advocate and Governor Elect Terry McAuliffe Transition Team member Lori Haas sent out an email earlier today detailing activities they will undertake on Saturday, December 14th.  While the families of those slain have asked to be allowed to honor their lost loved ones without media attention, the gun ban lobby is using the day to make the case for more gun control.  Below is the email Ms. Haas sent out detailing how the Virginia gun ban lobby will mark the day and urging their supporters to use social media to send a message to Virginia's congressional delegation.

As many of you know, on Saturday December 14, 2013 we, as a nation, will be marking the 1^st anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. This anniversary is an opportunity for us to honor and remember the victims of gun violence and remind us why we are committed to creating a safer Virginia. Events and vigils will be held across the state over the next few days as we honor those who have lost their lives and continue to push for stronger responsible gun legislation in Virginia.

NEWTOWN ACTION ALLIANCE EVENTS & MOMS DEMAND ACTION: NO MORE SILENCE EVENTS TO COMMEMORATE THE ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY AND THE 26 LIVES LOST IN THE SHOOTING RAMPAGE AT SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN NEWTOWN, CT

Thursday Dec 12^th

3:45 – 5:00 p.m. - Newtown National Vigil for all Gun Violence Victims at the National Cathedral, 3101 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, DC

Friday Dec. 13^th

Call Congress with our easy call-in tool – check the website at momsdemandaction.org

Saturday Dec 14^th

8:30 – 9:15 a.m. - Ceremony of Remembrance and Activation at UUCF, 2709 Hunter Mill Road, Oakton, VA

9:00 – 10:00 a.m. – Bell ringing at the Netherlands Carillion near the Iwo Jima Memorial (1222 N. Meade Street, Arlington, VA) with Moms Demand Action VA

9:30 – 10:30 a.m. – Bell ringing at the Carillon at Byrd Park (1300 Blanton Avenue Richmond, VA) with Moms Demand Action VA

9:30 – 10:30 a.m. – Bell ringing at Freedom Wall on Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, VA with Charlottesville Coalition for Gun Violence Prevention.

10:00 – 11:30 a.m. – Vigil & protest in front of the NRA headquarters at 11250 Waples Mill Rd., Oakton, VA

12:00 – 1:00 p.m. - Bell ringing at Lee Plaza (1525 Westover Avenue SW Roanoke, VA 24015) with Moms Demand Action VA

2:00 – 3:00 p.m. – Bell ringing at Canal Park, 200 M Street, SE, Washington, DC with Moms Demand Action DC.

Social Media Actions

· On Facebook, change your “hometown” to “Newtown, CT”

· Paint your nails “Sandy Hook Green” and encourage everyone you know, male and female, to do the same. Tweet photos of your green nails with the hashtag #NoMoreNewtowns

· Tweet a photo of your hands holding a sign that says “Remember Newtown” to the VA Representatives who have not co-sponsored the background check bill with the hashtag #RememberNewtown #cosponsor1565. Twitter handles as follows:

@RobWittman

@RepScottRigell

@Randy_Forbes

@RepRobertHurt

@RepGoodlatte

@EricCantor

@RepMGriffith

@RepWOLFPress

Beyond the Vigils, please plan to go to Richmond on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 20^th

We need to have as many people as possible in Richmond on MLK day to represent the majority of Virginians who support responsible gun laws. Please mark this date on your calendar and plan to join mothers, fathers, teachers, law enforcement officers, faith leaders, politicians, activists, andmany more who will gather to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and remember the countless Virginians who have lost their lives to gun violence. We will make our voices heard as the Virginia General Assembly comes back into session and continue to fight for the freedom to live in a world free from gun violence.

Please continue to tell your friends and family to sign up for Virginians for Responsible Gun Laws at www.vrgl.org and, if you haven’t already, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Thank you for all of your hard work and commitment to this cause. There will be more updates to follow as we head into 2014.

Sincerely,

Lori Haas
 

Virginia gun owners should contact their congressman and let them know none of the gun control proposals being pushed by gun ban advocates would have stopped the Newtown shooter and that they should focus on real solutions and not feel good measures.

Gun Control Consortium Wants to Make it Easier to Seize Firearms

One of the take aways from yesterday's gun control forum hosted by the Consortium for Risk-Based Firearm Policy at the UVA Law School is that the gun ban lobby wants to use a little slight of hand to get the same tired proposals passed that they have been pushing for years.  Josh Horwitz said as much when he said during his comments that all of their proposals that would be outlined must start with background checks.  But this time, they hope to gain support by making it sound like they only want to keep firearms out of the hands of people they think are a threat to others - like people who may have been convicted of driving under the influence (DUI), and even people that neighbors or family members think pose a threat to others.  To do this, they want to create the ability for law enforcement to seize firearms with and without warrants.  Throughout the four hours of the forum, attendees and those watching the event live streamed heard from anti-rights "researchers" and legislators. 

The Daily Progress summarized their proposals:

The group recommended a special warrant that would allow police to remove firearms from the possession of people authorities believe to be a danger to themselves or others. Additionally, the consortium proposed a new civil restraining order process could allow citizens to petition the court for the temporary removal of firearms from friends or family members who are considered at that time to be dangerous, according to the report.

Other high-risk populations targeted by the consortium's recommendations include people with histories of substance abuse and domestic violence.  

Another recommendation temporary bars anyone convicted of a violent misdemeanor; a temporary domestic violence restraining order placed on them; or multiple DUI, DWI or controlled substance convictions in the past five years from purchasing or possessing firearms. 

“We are looking not just at mental illness, but at elevated risk,” Horwitz said. “We also need to look at meaningful prohibitions for people who are at increased risk for other reasons.”

So who gets to decide the people at an "elevated risk"?  You guessed it - the gun ban lobby.  VSSA will be paying special attention to mental health bills. It will be a busy session again this year.

Gun Control Proposals to be Released at UVA December 2nd

A group of leading gun ban advocates will convene at the University of Virginia on Monday, December 2nd, to propose "specific state-level policy recommendations" they say are designed to keep firearms out of the hands of those most likely to commit violence.

Among those slated to participate are Lt. Gov.-elect Ralph Northam, state Sen. Donald McEachin; Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence; and gun ban advocate and member of Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe's Transition Team, Lori Haas.

Given this line up, look for the usual proposals such as so-called "universial" background checks, bans on ammunition magazines that hold more than ten rounds, and so on and so on.

The event will be live streamed from 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM. at http://new.livestream.com/UVABattenSchool/events/2565671.

Another Voice and View on Virginia Tech Shooting

After the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, a survivor - Colin Goddard - and the mother of a survivor - Lori Haas - became very engaged in the gun ban movement.  Goddard went to work for the Brady Campaign and Haas is the Virginia Director of the Campaign to Stop Gun Violence.  Haas was recently appointed to Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe's transition team.

But not all of those affected by the Virginia Tech shooting turned to the gun ban movement to try and change things.  The December Issue of America's First Freedom (AFF) featured the story of Holly Adams, who lost her daughter that April 2007 day in Blacksburg, VA.  While Goddard and Haas have fought any attempts to allow students or staff with carry permits on college campuses, Adams' is a different  quest:

I ask a simple question: Would the other parents of victims be forever thankful if a professor or student was allowed to carry a firearm and could have stopped Seung-Hui Cho before their loved ones were injured or killed? I would be. I also suspect that the tragedy may not have occurred at all if Cho knew that either faculty members or students were permitted to carry their own weapons on campus.

While Colin Goddard and Lori Haas chose to make gun control their life's focus, Adams makes it clear they don't speak for her and offers an explanation for why that is the case:

Colin is a survivor. He doesn’t look at it from the point of view I do. He can travel the country and speak out on these issues. He’s not the parent of a child who died. So I have trouble with it, the ones who get together as Virginia Tech victims. There are two separate camps—the ones who stand in one corner, who lost our child and will never see them again; and there’s this other group who are celebrating their child made it through. If I were to go back and relive that day, I would give anything if that day, that morning, somebody in the classroom was armed and could have stood up and taken Cho out before he got 32 victims. I wish there had been a gun in the classroom.

And, she makes it clear that she has a cause of her own:

Affiliating myself with the NRA, doing some target shooting, answering the call if anybody wants to talk about why I believe what I do—why I don’t support tighter controls on guns, why I do support classroom concealed carry. From day to day, I’m open to answering the same kind of questions we just discussed. I’m not hiding from it, but I don’t pretend to represent a whole group of people. These are my views, and I’m not afraid to tell you.

If it weren't for the AFF article, you probably would not know there is someone associated with the Virginia Tech shooting that supports campus carry, because the mainstream media doesn't want to tell that story.

Conversation With Cam and Company on McAuliffe and Gun Control

NRANews.com's Cam Edwards asked VSSA's Legislative Director about gun control advocate Lori Haas being added to Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe's transition team.

McAuliffe Appoints Gun Ban Activist to Transition Team

Gun control activist Lori Haas has been appointed to the McAuliffe transition team. One more overt action by T-Mac to push fun control.