Republicans Start from Behind in Election by not Challenging Seats Held by Dems

Yesterday, Jim Geraghty from National Review joined Cam Edwards on Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co. to talk about what’s at stake in this year’s elections.  Cam noted that there is a troubling sign from Republicans: the large number of seats currently held by Democrats that aren’t even being contested. He rightly pointed out that you can’t win if you’re not even competing, and before a vote is even cast Democrats and gun control advocates are already halfway to their goal of 51 seats in the House of Delegates. Jim Geraghty pointed out that if gun control groups are successful at flipping Virginia’s legislature, you can be certain they’ll take their game plan to dozens of other states in the 2020 election cycle.  Take a look at the interview below.

N.J Gun Range Owner Has Message Virginia Gun Owners Should Heed

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has signed six draconian gun control bills into law. Within minutes, the NRA and the Association of New Jersey Rifles and Pistol Clubs, VSSA's sister organization, filed a lawsuit against the ban on ownership of magazines holding more than ten rounds. Yesterday, while appearing on NRATV's Cam and Company, Anthony Colandro, owner of Gun For Hire Range in Woodland Park and host of Gun for Hire Radio, told host Cam Edwards that what happens in New Jersey will spread to the rest of the country.  He's right.  Look at the bills that were introduced in the 2018 session of the General Assembly.  It's isn't hyperbole or fundraising type of rhetoric.  It is a real threat.  And if we don't maintain our pro-rights majority in both houses of the General Assembly in the 2019 elections, it will happen here overnight with Governor Northam in office.  Watch the clip below and heed what Colandro says.  Then get involved.  Join VSSA if you are reading this and are not a member, or renew your membership.  If we sit back and are complacent, the rights we have enjoyed as residents of Virginia will be gone overnight.

Look to Oregon to Understand Why This Year's General Assembly Elections Are Important

You have probably seen the news that Oregon just criminalized the private transfer of firearms.  This happened because there is one party control in Oregon.  The only states where the gun ban lobby has made advances in passing more restrictions on the right's of gun owners is in states that have both a Democrat in the Governor's office and where the legislature is controlled by Democrats.  Yes, there are pro-rights Democrats but in more cases than not, the vast majority of elected Democrats are anti-rights.

Virginia has increasingly been friendly ground for Democrats in statewide elections.  And with the exception of Mark Warner, who signed 17 pro-rights bills as Governor, and Jim Webb, who supported our rights as a U.S. Senator, the Democrats elected statewide have been anti-rights.  This includes U.S. Senator and former governor Tim Kaine, current Governor Terry McAuliffe, Lt. Governor Ralph Northam, and Attorney General Mark Herring.

That makes it vitally important that we re-elect pro-rights majorities in the State Senate and the House of Delegates.  Virginia's House districts are so gerrymandered, the GOP should retain their veto proof majorities at least until the next redistricting.  The State Senate however is a different story.  The races for retiring State Senator John Watkins and State Senator Charles "Chuck" Colgan are considered two of the most competitive.  But we also need to elect a stong pro-rights candidate in the 12th Senate District to replace retiring State Senator Walter Stosch.  On the GOP side, that race features former Delegate and VSSA member Bill Janis and three other candidates who have no voting record on the issue.  Bill is a strong supporter of our rights and was the chief patron of legislation in 2005 that protects Virginia gun ranges.  Janis carried that legislation at the request of VSSA.

Virginia has been able to beat back every gun ban attempt since 1994.  Campaign 2015 is our battleground.  Get informed and get active.

Now is the Time to Contact Your Legislators About McAuliffe's Gun Control Proposals

While not surprising, but at the same time heartening, General Assembly GOP leaders were dismissive of Governor Terry McAuliffe's gun control proposals that he rolled out on Monday.  Having said that, Virginia gun owners should not get complacent and should let their voice be heard.  Contact your General Assembly members ahead of the January 14th opening of the 2015 session and let them know you oppose these proposals.  Here are some great points, courtesy of NRA-ILA, that you can use when contacting your state legislators:

Attempting to reimpose the ineffective one-handgun-per-month (gun rationing) restriction that Virginia repealed in 2012.

It's obvious that McAuliffe and anti-gun leader Michael Bloomberg, his political patron, are clearly out of touch with the views and priorities of ordinary Americans on this issue.  Last week's Pew Poll showed a majority of Americans believe owning a firearm makes you safer and it is more important to protect our firearm freedoms than to control the ownership of firearms.  Gun rationing schemes are archaic and ineffective.  Like every gun control law, one-gun-a-month restrictions only burden law-abiding citizens and do absolutely nothing to reduce violent crime.  Purchasers of firearms are already subject to criminal records checks, and further and arbitrary control of these legal items does nothing but unfairly burden Virginia’s law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen.

Seeking to arbitrarily strip some 9,000 Virginia residents of their right to hold concealed handgun permits for falling behind on child-support payments and pursuing prohibitions for people convicted of certain misdemeanor crimes from possessing a firearm.

Being behind on child-support payments is not relevant to your constitutional right to defend yourself and does not indicate that you are a violent person or a danger to others.  In many cases, individuals who are behind on child support payments may have simply hit on hard financial times and making it more difficult for them to defend themselves will only compound their difficulties and offer no public safety benefit.  Likewise, misdemeanor offenses should not warrant the permanent loss of Second Amendment rights.  No other civil right is lost in the Commonwealth for conviction of misdemeanor offenses.  McAuliffe clearly wishes to treat the Right to Keep and Bear Arms as a second class civil right.

Attempting to expand background checks.

Anyone engaged in the business of buying and selling firearms for livelihood and profit must be federally licensed as a firearm dealer (FFL) and thus there is no such thing as a “private vendor.”  A gun dealer must maintain a record of every firearm received from, or transferred to, another person or dealer and any further expansions of the law will have no impact on criminal activity.  Today, gun control activists like McAuliffe are trying to expand this system to all firearm transfers at gun shows, under the banner of “universal” background checks; an innocent sounding title for what should really be called “universal registration.”  What they won’t tell you is that no background check system will ever be truly “universal” because criminals will not submit themselves to such system and therefore their anti-gun approach once again singles out individuals who are law-abiding citizens.  The NRA opposes these misleading proposals and will work diligently to defeat this legislation.

You can find your Delegate and State Senator by clicking here.  

Virginia Beach City Council Approves Amended Anti-gun Proposal With Legislative Package

Pilot Online reported yesterday that the Virginia Beach City Council approved an amended anti-gun proposal Tuesday night to be included with their legislative requests for the 2015 session of the Virginia General Assembly.   The chief of police, who requested that the council make the request, said this isn't about gun control but a way to make it easier to reunite the owner with his or her lost or stolen firearm:

The agenda item - one of 26 recommendations by the council - came at the behest of police Chief Jim Cervera, faced with the exact problem Frost described. Cervera said the proposal is an administrative change to make it easier to reunite gun owners with their property, not a gun control initiative.

One has to ask, if this is simply a way to reunite the owner with their stolen property, why was the first request to make not reporting a Class 1 Misdemeanor carrying up to a year in jail, and now an undetermined civil penalty?  I had the opportunity to discuss the issue yesterday with Cam Edwards of NRANews's Cam and Company.

Pro-Gun Chafin Wins Puckett Seat to Keep State Senate in GOP Hands

Delegate Ben Chafin (R-Russell County), won a special election Tuesday for former state Sen. Phillip Puckett’s (D-Russell County) Southwest Virginia seat, which means Republicans will maintain control of the State Senate and keep a pro-gun majority in place.  The GOP briefly lost control after the 2013 elections when Democrat Lt. Governor Ralph Northam took over for outgoing Republican Bill Bolling and a Democrat was elected to replace Northam.  While the Senate organization put into place in 2011 was to remain in effect until after the 2015 election, Democrats immediately used their new found power in a 20-20 chamber to change that and took control of the committees in the middle of the 2014 session, souring relations in the chamber.

In a surprise mover earlier this summer, Senator Puckett resigned, throwing control back to the GOP.  A special election was called to fill the seat and Chafin came up the winner.

Virginia's Struggle Over Gun Laws

The Washington Post has this article that is as much a profile of pro-rights Delegate Todd Gilbert (and to a lesser extent gun ban lobbyist Andrew Goddard) as it is a report on how pro-rights bills have fared much better than anti-rights bills since the Virginia Tech shooting seven years ago.

After the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary, horror and outrage prompted lawmakers in Connecticut, Maryland, New York and a handful of other states to implement tough new gun restrictions. But since its own tragedy seven years ago at Virginia Tech, the commonwealth has gone in the other direction. Over the six full legislative sessions since Seung Hui Cho’s rampage left 32 dead, it is gun rights, not gun restrictions, that have grown stronger. 

Gilbert, a former Shenandoah Valley prosecutor and the deputy majority leader in Virginia’s House of Delegates, is a big reason why.

Delegate Gilbert approaches the issue from the perspective of a former prosecutor who believes you take the guns out of the hands of the bad guys and keep them in the hands of the law abiding.

“All the members of this place try to oversimplify everything all the time. I know it’s a complicated issue,” Gilbert said. “But I’ve just never seen how disarming law-abiding people made anybody safer.”

The Post also touched on an issue that seems to be a favorite of those reporting on Virginia gun laws, and at the same time misreported - online safety courses that qualify applicants for concealed handgun permits (CHPs).

“I think I’ve said this every year since I’ve been here,” Goddard began. “I got a permit. I shouldn’t have a permit. I’ve never held a handgun. I should have had training. I went online and answered some questions that I could have answered if I hadn’t watched the silly little movie in advance. I shouldn’t be allowed to have a permit to carry a handgun in public until I know how to handle it and know about the laws.”

The Post refers to the online course under the requirement that the applicant has a "demonstrated competence with a handgun" from the CHP statute without also listing all of the different courses that qualify. There is no range time requirement in the Code and some of the examples given as acceptable courses do not include instruction on a handgun.  It has been a long time since I took a hunter safety course (which is one of the acceptable courses listed in the Code) but I did not have any handgun instruction in that course.  What no one in the media seems to understand is that Virginia's requirement is a basic safety course.  Anyone serious about carrying concealed should (and likely does) take a lot of different training that includes subjects like situational awareness, drawing a firearm in various senarios, just to name a couple. But to qualify for the permit, you simply have to take a basic firearm safety course.  But Gilbert makes an excellent point:

“While this is couched as a reasonable extension of public policy, it really just nibbles away at that basic proposition that we shouldn’t have to go get the government’s permission to go protect ourselves and our families as we see fit,” Gilbert said. “Free citizens, acting as Mr. Goddard does, will choose to carry a firearm or not carry a firearm. Criminals will choose to do it or not do it — without regard for any of these laws.”

The article ends with a discussion of how we may be entering a period of a stalemate as the Governor's office and the State Senate are now controlled by the Democrats.  If this session is an indication, the Post may be right on that point.

Will Zimmerman Trial Change Self Defense in Virginia

WTVR 6 asked that question today.

The short answer is, we will continue to push for Castle Doctrine legislation at the Virginia General Assembly.

VSSA's position has always been one of support for Castle because we believe someone should not have to lose everything they have defending their actions in court before Virginia takes steps to protect our right to defend ourselves in our home or on our property.  So, when Virginia does finally pass Castle Doctrine legislation, it won't be due to what happened in Florida, it will be due to the fact a majority of the General Assembly finally has figured out that Virginians are at risk of being sued by criminals who try to do us harm in our own home until the law specifically says they cannot seek legal action against a law abiding citizen attempting to protect themselves or their families.

Here is the TV6 report.

Crime Commission to Look at Virginia's CHP Statute Today

The Virginia Crime Commission will meet this morning at 10:00 AM and one of the items on the agenda is Virginia's Concealed Handgun Permit (CHP) law.  Last year, the General Assembly referred Delegate Scott Lingamfelter's HB923 to the Crime Commission for study.  HB923 would create separate sections to address the general criminal prohibition against carrying concealed weapons; the requirements for applying for a concealed handgun permit; the process the circuit court follows in reviewing, issuing, and denying permits; the appeals process; procedures for nonresidents to obtain permits; the renewal process; disqualifications; and other procedural issues currently addressed in the statute. 

The bill would not make any substantive changes to the law but was introduced by Delegate Lingamfelter because the statute has become complex, cumbersome, and to put it simply, is difficult to understand, apply, and amend.  It has intertwined the rights, responsibilities, and obligations of citizens, circuit courts, and state police into one lengthy section of law.  The current statute as written covers eleven full pages in the Code of Virginia, and any amendment to the CHP law requires a bill that is, at a minimum, nine pages.  Delegate Lingamfelter believed that reorganizing the statute into several distinct sections and into a logical order would benefit private citizens and government officials to better understand their responsibilities, rights, and obligations relating to CHPs, and will assist members of the General Assembly in better understanding the law as they seek to make future amendments

The Crime Commission  will review current statutes for changes and, if found, compile a list of additional statutes that will need to be amended if the CHP statute is reorganized.

New Virginia Gun Laws Effective Sunday, July 1st

Sunday, July 1st, is the day laws passed by the General Assembly during the 2012 Session will take affect.  Most important among them is the repeal of gun rationing and repealing the requirement that first time concealed handgun permit applicants be fingerprinted.  Here is the complete list:

HB 20 - Emergency Services & Disaster Law; shall not be interpreted to prohibit carrying, etc., of firearms.
HB 22 - Firearms; disposition thereof acquired by localities (requires localities to pass an ordinance allowing engage in a compensated confiscation scheme).
HB 26 - Concealed handgun permit; failure to produce upon demand of a law-enforcement officer, penalty (provides a minor $25 penalty that may be waived by the court once the permit is produced similar to current law related to failure to produce a drivers license).
HB 288 - Courthouses; exception from prohibition against carrying weapon for city and county treasurers.
HB 375 - Firearms; workplace rules by localities (no locality shall adopt any workplace rule, other than for the purposes of a community services board or behavioral health authority, that prevents an employee of that locality from storing at that locality's workplace a lawfully possessed firearm and ammunition in a locked private motor vehicle).
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.
HB 943 - Service handguns; certain law-enforcement officers to purchase.
SB 563 - Concealed handgun permits; application procedures.
SB 573 - Capitol Police; disposal of unclaimed firearms (provides that the Division of Capitol Police may destroy unclaimed firearms or other weapons after the items have been in the possession of the Division for 60 days).

Three More Bills Headed to Governor McDonnell

The General Assembly is winding down toward its closing day on March 10th.  As the House and Senate continue to take up each other's legislation, gun owners had more victories today and three more pro-gun bills are headed to Governor Bob McDonnell for his approval:

SB 67, removes the option for a locality to require an applicant for a concealed handgun permit to submit fingerprints with the application. This legislation was passed in the House of Delegates by a 72 to 24 vote.

SB 323 is the Senate companion bill to HB 940, repealing Virginia's handgun rationing law.  The gun ban lobby has long claimed that gun rationing keeps handguns out of the hands of criminals, yet there is no evidence this law has been effective, and its only affect has been to penalize law-abiding citizens. SB 323 passed the House  64 to 32. HB 940 was previously sent to the Governor for his approval.  He has said he would sign a repeal of the one gun-a-month law..

SB 563 alters certain application procedures to obtain a concealed handgun permit, including allowing for the submission of an initial application via U.S. mail. This bill would also restrict the clerk and the circuit court from requesting or requiring any information from an applicant other than that which is allowed on the concealed handgun permit application. This legislation was passed in the House of Delegates by a 79 to 20 vote.

Finally, another pro-gun bill, SB 4, the Senate bill tha would codify a version of the Castle Doctrine, was re-referred to the House Courts of Justice Committee.  It may remain in committee as the committee currently has no additional committee hearings scheduled. The House companion bill, HB 48 was passed by for the day today in the House of Delegates and will be on the calendar again tomorrow.

Militia & Police Subcommittee 1 Meeting Results

This evening, the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Subcommittee #1 took action on three bills of importance to gun owners. During their meeting the subcommittee unanimously passed both Senate Bill 245, the update to Virginia's Emergency Powers statute,  and Senate Bill 563 a bill that streamlines the concealed handgun permit application process. Both SB 245 and SB 563 will now be considered by the full House Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee tomorrow morning.


In another act supported by pro-gun advocates, this subcommittee also decided to “carry over” until next year one of the few remaining anti-gun bills, Senate Bill 554 by a 4 to 1 vote. Sponsored by state Senator Barbara Favola (D-31), SB 554 would have created a Class 1 misdemeanor for the transportation or possession of firearms within the residence of the alleged victim by persons subject to emergency protective orders issued as a result of an assault and battery against a family or household member.

Legislation is moving quickly in both houses of the legislature as the session races to a final closing date of March 10.

Another Full Agenda in Militia and Police Subcommittee 1 at 5:00 PM

As we draw closer to "crossover" committee agenda's are full.  Tonight's Militia, Police and Public Safety Subcommittee #1 is no exception. Included on the agenda tonight are:

H.B. 797 : Morrissey - Carrying a handgun while under the influence of alcohol or drugs; penalty.  Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person carrying a handgun in a public place while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and prohibits a person from obtaining a concealed handgun permit for five years following such a conviction. The prohibition applies regardless of whether the person is carrying the handgun openly or concealed. Current law makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to carry a concealed handgun in a public place while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but does not speak to openly carrying a handgun while under the influence.
 
H.B. 859: Gilbert - Criminal history record information check for transfer of certain firearms; exemption for concealed handgun permittees.  Provides an exemption from the required criminal history record information check upon firearms transfers in the Commonwealth for persons holding a valid Virginia-issued concealed handgun permit.

H.B. 1135: Ware, R.L. - Out-of-state concealed handgun permits; photo identification.  Removes certain requirements for an out-of-state concealed handgun permit to be recognized and accepted in Virginia. Requires an out-of-state permittee to carry and present a valid government-issued photo identification in order for his valid out-of-state concealed weapon permit to be recognized and accepted in Virginia.

H.B. 1197: McClellan - Lost or stolen firearms; failure to report; penalties.  Creates a Class 3 misdemeanor for the offense of failing to report to law enforcement that a firearm a person owns or lawfully possesses has been lost or stolen. Subsequent violations of the law would be a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for the knowingly false reporting of a lost or stolen firearm.
Impact Statements

H.B. 1223: Hope - Possession of weapons in legislative buildings. Except those lawfully possessing a handgun, no person shall possess a weapon in legislative buildings and all persons, except General Assembly members, staff or any law enforcement officer.

H.B. 1226: Patron - Torian - Regulating firearms by educational institution.  Provides that the board of visitors or other governing body of an educational institution has the power to establish rules and regulations for the possession or transportation of firearms or ammunition on property owned or operated by the institution.

H.B. 1257 : Sickles - Firearms; alcohol; penalties. Provides that it is a Class 1 misdemeanor for a person who is under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs to carry a loaded firearm on or about his person in a public place and that a person found guilty is ineligible to apply for a concealed handgun permit for a period of five years. The bill also creates a Class 2 misdemeanor for a person who carries a loaded firearm on or about his person onto the premises of any restaurant or club licensed to sell and serve alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption and consume an alcoholic beverage while on the premises. The bill contains technical amendments.

Two Pro-rights Bills Set for Passage Today in House of Delegates

Today, the Virginia House of Delegates is scheduled to have its third and final readings for House Bill 25 and House Bill 754.
 
HB 25, sponsored by Delegate Mark Cole (R-88), seeks to prohibit the Clerk of the Court from disclosing information contained on a concealed handgun permit application or on an order issuing a concealed handgun permit.

Sponsored by Delegate Ben Cline (R-24), HB 754 would eliminate the local option to require fingerprints of first time concealed carry permit applicants.

Both bills are expected to pass and move on to the Senate.  The State Senate has already passed a companion bill (SB 67) to HB 754.

Legislative Update

Yesterday saw a number of pro-rights bills pass the House of Delegates, not least of which was the repeal of Virginia's handgun rationing law (HB 940).  In addition to HB 940, the other bills that passed were HB 20, a bill that clarifies Virginia's emergency powers statute to make it clear that not only may a citizen keep a firearm during a declared emergency, but they may also carry and transport the firearm(s) during such emergency.  Also passing was Delegate Coles HB 22, a bill that states before a locality may engage in compensated confiscation schemes ("gun buybacks") it must pass an ordinance allowing it to do so.

At the same time, the State Senate moved SB 4 (Castle Doctrine) and SB 67, a bill repealing fingerprinting of first time concealed handgun permit applicants, to Third Reading and a final vote which should take place today. SB 323, the Senate bill to repeal handgun rationing was passed by for the day in a stall tactic by anti-rights Senator Don McEachin (D-Richmond).

Also in the Senate yesterday, the Senate Courts of Justice Committee defeated SB 379 on a vote of 6-8, Senator McEachin's bill to outlaw all private sales.  Another bill patoned by Senator McEachin, SB 648, a bill that would add additional penalties for gun owners being in possession of a firearm while intoxicated, failed to report on a 7-7 vote.

This morning, House Militia, Police and Public Safety Subcommittee # 2 met and took up HB 237, which would allow long gun background checks to go through the federal NICS system rather than the state background system.  It was recommended reporting by a vote of 4-1 by the subcommittee.

This evening in Subcommittee #1 at 5:00 PM, the following bills will be heard:

HB 25: a bill that prohibits circuit courts from disseminating information related to concealed handgun permits.

HB 592: a bill that exempts CHP holders from state background checks when purchasing a firearm.  This bill is similar to HB 859.

HB 754: the House companion to SB 67 which removes the option for localities to require the fingerprinting of first-time CHP applicants.

Senate Sunday Hunting Bills on Thursday's Senate Ag Agenda

Four Senate bills addressing Sunday Hunting are on the agenda for tomorrow's 2:00 PM Senate Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources Committee meeting.

The four bills are Senate Bill 151, Senate Bill 173, Senate Bill 464, and Senate Bill 512.

Senate Bill 173 is different in that it allows landowners to hunt on their own property on Sundays. It also allows persons who have the written permission of the landowner to hunt on the landowner's property on Sundays. The other three bills simply strike the ban on Sunday hunting.

Firearm Bills Pre-filed for 2012 General Assembly Session

Four bills have been pre-filed for the 2012 Session of the General Assembly.

HB 20 Emergency Services & Disaster Law; shall not be interpreted to prohibit carrying, etc., of firearms-Provides that nothing in the Emergency Services and Disaster Law shall be interpreted to limit or prohibit the possession, carrying, transportation, sale, or transfer of firearms.

HB 22 Firearms; disposition thereof acquired by localities - Provides that no locality may participate in any program in which individuals are given a thing of value in exchange for surrendering a firearm to the locality (compensated gun confiscation) unless the governing body of the locality has enacted an ordinance authorizing the participation of the locality. The ordinance shall require that such firearms shall be offered for sale by public auction or sealed bids to a person licensed as a dealer.

HB 25 Concealed handgun permits; confidentiality of permittee information - Prohibits the clerk of the court from disclosing information contained on a concealed handgun permit application or on an order issuing a concealed handgun permit.

HB 26 Concealed handgun permit; failure to produce upon demand of a law-enforcement officer, penalty - Provides that failure to produce, upon demand of a law-enforcement officer, a concealed handgun permit and a government-issued photo identification while carrying a concealed handgun is punishable by a $25 civil penalty. A court may waive this penalty if the person presents a valid concealed handgun permit and government-issued photo identification to the court. The bill also introduces an affirmative defense of having a valid concealed handgun permit to a charge of violating the concealed weapons statute.

HB 22 and HB 25 have surfaced before.  A bill similar to HB 22 was vetoed by Tim Kaine when he was governor.  HB 25 address the issue of newspapers like the Fredericksburg Free Lance Star publishing the names of people issue concealed handgun permits.  Prior biills introduced to address this issue have not passed but with the change in the make-up of the state senate, there is hope this may be the year for this legislation.

Virginia's Firearm Instant Background Check System Targeted for Elimination

The Virginian Pilot ran this report today that Virginia's instant background check, known as the Virginia Firearms Transaction Program, may be one of the issues debated at the 2012 Session of the Virginia General Assembly.

Gun-rights advocates have lobbied Gov. Bob McDonnell to scrap the program, arguing that it is redundant because a federal background check system can replace it.

As you can imagine, the gun ban lobby is less than happy about the prospect.  But the Governor's office has acknowledged that the idea is under review.

A spokeswoman for McDonnell said "informal discussions with interested parties" about the background check system have been held and the subject remains under review.

The idea first surfaced a couple years ago when State Senator John Watkins, who represents Chesterfield, Powhatan, and a small portion of the City of Richmond, proposed raising the current $2 transaction fee to $5.  The fee is charged to gun owners for the check.  At the time, the state police, claimed they no longer had the staff to efficiently run the background checks due to the surge in new purchases that began in the fall of 2008, and the increase would fund new staff to run the system.  The increase also coincided with what had become long delays in approvals, something that the Virginia system, unlike the federal system, had not been known for in the past.  Pro-rights groups, including VSSA, successfully lobbied to kill the bill in the House of Delegates after it sailed through the more liberal State Senate.

The Pilot reports that doing away with the system could be a two edged sword for the Governor.

Doing away with it would likely shrink the state bureaucracy and at least nominally reduce spending, areas where the governor has worked to distinguish himself. But it also invites potential blowback from gun-control and public-safety advocates at a time that McDonnell is nurturing vice-presidential aspirations.

Both the Virginia program and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) screen purchasers for criminal history, illegal presence in the country, drug offenses, dishonorable military discharge, mental health adjudications and protective orders against them.  While there is overlap as some pro-rights groups point out, the state system is not exactly the same as federal system, which has been around since 1998 and is overseen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to the state police, Virginia's check includes some standards are stricter than the federal prohibitions.  They say ending the state program would undercut aspects of state gun law.  For instance, state protective order rules apply to more family situations than the federal standards; Virginia's drug policy disqualifies buyers for longer periods of time; and rules on foreign-born purchasers differ.  Additionally, Virginia law prohibits people with juvenile felony convictions from obtaining a firearm. One reason for the disparity between the federal and state checks related to juveniles is the state has strict limits on access to state juvenile criminal records, therefore, information about youthful felonies doesn't appear in the federal background check system.

Handgun rationing (Virginia's one handgun-a-month) was also mentioned, though the Pilot links the background check to the rationing scheme.  While the background check is a way for the state police to know who has purchased a handgun in the last thirty days, the two are not officially linked.  And, VSSA has already stated to members that repealing handgun rationing is this year's top priority.  While Governor McDonnell is already on record as supporting repeal of handgun rationing, the pilot pointed out that Senator Watkins, who voted for the law in 1993, is also now in favor of repealing it.
 

This is good news because repeal is going to require people who voted for it to switch their vote.

This is going to be a very active and important legislative session.

New York Daily News: Bloomberg's Anti-gun Candidates Win in Va. but Gun Control Measures Could be Repealed

The New York Daily News has this story today pointing out that all six of the candidates to whom Bloomberg donated campaign funds won their state senate races Tuesday but that the Republicans still may have won control which could mean bills that had failed to make it out of the chamber in the past may now move forward.

There are 10 gun bills that have passed the GOP-controlled General Assembly and now could also pass the Senate, including one that would repeal Virginia’s current mandate that a person can only buy one gun a month.

UVA political scientist Larry Sabato told the Post that wholesale changes still may not be likely since the GOP only reached parity with a 20-20 tie.  It should be noted however that there are a couple (and I do mean that literally) of pro-rights Democrats still in the chamber that could help the majority of Republicans who support firearm freedom to move legislation.  This group of Republicans is much more conservative that the bunch of RINOs who lead the GOP majority four years ago.

Redistricting Takes Center Stage in Virginia

Virginia has fast tracted its redistricting process due to this year's state legislative races where all 140 seats in the Virginia General Assembly (100 in the House of Delegates and 40 in the State Senate) are up for grabs. With the House controlled by the Republicans and the Senate by the Democrats, it promises to be a process worth watching as both sides attempt to protect their majorities. Forums are being held around the Commowealth to get reaction to the plans from the public. Neither the House or Senate plans were well received in Roanoke last night as the Roanoke Times reports.

Speaker after speaker during a Roanoke meeting of the General Assembly's Committee on Privileges and Elections complained that both House and Senate proposals split precincts, carved up communities of interest and generally redrew districts in a confusing manner. "I think what we have here is representatives picking their voters, not voters picking their representatives," said Brown Burton, a Roanoke County resident. In particular, Burton was concerned about the Virginia Senate proposal put forth by Democrats in that chamber: "When I opened it up this morning and looked at it, I said this looks like someone on drugs did this with an Etch A Sketch."

Roll Call Politics weighed in this morning on the redistricting efforts going on around the country and mentions Virginia as well.

George Mason University professor Michael McDonald, an adviser to the commission, said the division of power and Democrats' slim hold on the state Senate could cause further delay in agreement on a Congressional map. "What is likely to happen with these maps is the Democrats in the state Senate are going to hold the Congressional map hostage until they get a deal on the state legislative maps," he said. "That's their overall concern - we have a divided legislature, and they're worried they won't get a deal on the state Senate map," McDonald added. He confirmed the existence of a map proposal that would solidify the current 8-3 partisan breakdown of the Congressional delegation. That incumbent protection plan would especially help Rep. Gerry Connolly (D), he said, whose Northern Virginia district is the most competitive.

For the first time, Governor McDonnell also appointed a nonpartisan advisory commission to assist in the redistricting process. He tasked the commission to offer independent guidance to what is a decennially partisan process. Race is also playing a role in the Virginia map drawing. Currently, the 3rd congressional district is racially gerrymandered to insure that a minority-majority district where mostly black voters are crammed into one district.

Jim Dyke, a partner at McGuire Woods who sits on the advisory commission, said the third map increases the percentage of African-Americans in the majority-minority 3rd district of Rep. Bobby Scott (D). Meanwhile, there is a push by state Senate Democrats to increase the number of voting-age African-Americans in Republican Rep. Randy Forbes’ 4th district, which in its current form is already more than one-third African-American. With the state’s current black population at 20 percent, the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus increased its push last week to add another Congressional district to at least come close to being majority-minority.

Minority-majority districts do two things - it all but insures the election of a minority representative, but it also removes the incentive for candidates in surrounding districts to reach out to minority voters because they have been removed to a more homgenious district. This might be good partisan politics in that it aruably helps elect more Republicans in surburban districts, it is bad for the county as it further Balkanizes the nation into racial groups where blacks represent blacks, whites represent whites, etc. And all of this affects gun owners. As districts are redrawn, there is a chance that two pro-rights legislators are put into one district - thus reducing the number of pro-rights legislators in the assembly. If for instance population changes result in rural districts losing numbers and anti-gun northern Virginia districts gaining population and legislators, it makes the job of VSSA even more important as it works to protect the rights of gun owners. Stay tuned as the process heats up next week when legislators return for the reconvened session and redistricting session.