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VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings.html
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Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html
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1. VCDL President to speak at LIbertarian Party meeting on Tuesday
2. VCDL to Virginia gun dealers: release guns if no clearance after 3rd business day!
3. Scare at ODU
4. Knife robbery at VCU
5. Who needs a gun at a Chinese restaurant?
6. Why would a delivery driver ever need a gun?
7. Defensive handgun use in Hopewell
8. Republican deathstar subcommittee
9. Virginia gun rights group lays siege to 'castle bills'
10. Bill killed to shield gun permit info
11. Virginia Press Association caught in lie about CHP information not being published
12. Poll finds most back status quo
13. Brady Campaign scorecard
14. Wilder: Senate Dems sold out on gun-a-month repeal
15. Op Ed in Free Lance Star
16. I love guns and coffee at Starbucks 2-14-2012 [VIDEO]
17. Anti column in RTD
18. ACLU files on behalf of gun owner abusively arrested by Philadelphia police [AUDIO]
19. For the "Only police should have guns" file
20. Ignorance of law clears Orange County Sheriff's top lobbyist in gun controversy
21. You can now carry your gun at Florida State Fair
22. Bloomberg report takes aim at Mormon Church for online gun sales
23. Another media hypocrite: has armed guards, but accepts $400,000 gun-control donation
24. Emotional impact video [VIDEO]
25. More guns save lives
26. Antis lose again - Adios Canadian gun registry!
27. Correction on Virginia's Domestic Violence law
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1. VCDL President to speak at LIbertarian Party meeting on Tuesday
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From a Libertarian Party Announcement:
Richmond Metro Libertarians
The Patrick Henry Supper Club, sponsored by the Richmond Metro
Libertarians, returns on Tuesday, March 6, 2012 in a new location with
easy access to I-95 and I-64:
Major Willy Mayo's in Richmond's Historic Shockoe Bottom
15th & Canal Streets
115 South 15th Street
Richmond, VA 23219
(804) 643-1111
Dinner begins at 6 pm with a Guest Speaker at 7 pm. The Guest Speaker in
March is Philip van Cleave, President of the Virginia Citizens Defense
League (VCDL)! The VCDL is a successful grassroots, pro-gun organization
dedicated to defending our right to keep and bear arms. Come and hear
the latest information about important changes on gun rights that are
pending or have recently occurred in Virginia. For more information,
visit www.vcdl.org.
FREE parking tokens will be given to the first 10-15 to arrive - get
them while they last! (Park in the gated area in the rear of the building)
SAVE MONEY!!! $1.00 off on a beverage for the first 20 to RSVP before
February 21st!!! RSVP to RichmondMetro@LPVA.com.
The Patrick Henry Supper Club will continue to meet on the 1st Tuesday
of each month with an exciting speaker! The featured speaker for April
2012 is Dr. Robert Owens of Southside Virginia Community College, a
noted columnist and historian. Watch for Doc Thompson of WRVA radio to
speak at a PHSC in late spring/early summer!
Questions? Information? Contact RichmondMetro@LPVA.com!!
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2. VCDL to Virginia gun dealers: release guns if no clearance after 3rd business day!
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With the current long background check delays for many gun purchasers taking days or weeks, VCDL is calling on gun dealers to release the guns to the purchaser after the 3rd business day, **as they are allowed to do by federal law.** If the State Police later determine the sale should have been denied, they can send an officer out to retrieve the gun from the purchaser.
When a transaction is delayed, the dealer is given the date that the gun can be released without the background check approval. It is the dealer's choice as to whether he wants to release the gun to the purchaser on that date.
Currently the budget is being held hostage by the Democrats in the Senate, so the current delays could continue until the budget is approved and takes full effect (in July).
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3. Scare at ODU
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The disarmament policies at Virginia's colleges and universities are both naive and dangerous. Here is yet another example.
Hat's off to Jeffrey's son for trying to protect his teacher.
Jeffrey Watson emailed me this:
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Philip,
My son, Kyle, is a senior at ODU. Last night he was attending his 6pm Celluar-Bio class when an individual who is not a registered student of this particular class stood up and starting shouting at the instructor. As I understand it, secondhand, his intention was to infer that the teaching of science and specifically the learning of science will guarantee a trip to hell. He was in his mid 20s, and according to Kyle he was dressed in all black with a long scraggly beard.
He positioned himself at the top of an amphitheater styled auditorium in front of the exit. He was obviously disturbed and angry.
The instructor immediately stated that her lesson was concluded and dismissed the class, hoping that he would leave. All 60 students including my 22 y/o son who is an expert marksman were terrified for their lives. This individual had stragic high ground position and Kyle stated that had the intruder opened fire there would be little chance to disarm him given his elevated position.
My son and three other large athletic young men waited with the instructor until the individual left 10 minutes after class was dismissed. I am proud of him, that was very brave, but had there been gunfire he would have had little to no chance.
Campus police was called, Kyle left after the instructor was secure.
So, who needs a gun at ODU........my son!!
Thank you for your outstanding efforts. I guarantee the media will not pick up this story.
Jeffrey Watson
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4. Knife robbery at VCU
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And another example, just this week, why we need to let good people defend themselves on higher-ed campuses across the Commonwealth.
Board member Dennis O'Connor emailed me this:
--
From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: http://tinyurl.com/6nhcl4f
VCU reports man with knife tries to rob student on campus
By TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF
February 16, 2012
RICHMOND, Va. -- A Virginia Commonwealth University student was not injured when she was confronted by a knife-wielding man who attempted to rob her at the school's main academic campus in downtown Richmond.
VCU police said the robbery try was reported at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday outside the Temple Building in the 900 block of West Main Street, where a man with a small knife asked her for money before walking away.
The suspect was described as white, possibly in his early 20s, wearing a gray and white long-sleeve shirt, khaki pants and neon green sunglasses.
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5. Who needs a gun at a Chinese restaurant?
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From wydaily.com: http://tinyurl.com/7xotvdq
Armed Robbery at Chinese Restaurant on Richmond Rd.
By Sam Thrift
February 15, 2012
The York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office is looking for a man who robbed the Tops China, a Chinese restaurant located in the 6300 block of E. Richmond Road, Monday night at gunpoint.
Police say the suspect entered the store at 9:07 p.m., walked up to the counter and displayed a silver, semiautomatic handgun with a black grip, then demanded money.
The suspect then reached over the counter, opened the cash register and stole an undisclosed amount of cash. He also stole money from a tip jar before running out of the store toward the Exxon gas station.
The suspect was described as a young, light-skinned black male, about 5'8" and weighing 140 to 150 pounds. He had a goatee and was wearing a black vest and a red flannel hoodie.
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6. Why would a delivery driver ever need a gun?
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From newsadvance.com: http://tinyurl.com/8yh263t
Pizza delivery driver robbed at Lynchburg apartment complex
By STAFF
February 13, 2012
A pizza delivery driver was robbed while making a delivery to a Timberlake Road apartment early this morning, police said.
Police went to The Vistas at Dreaming Creek apartments at 7612 Timberlake Road at 1:16 a.m.
A pizza delivery driver told them a man approached him on foot, showed a weapon and demanded money and the food. The robber fled. The delivery driver was not hurt.
The suspect is described as:
* white,
* 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches,
* of medium build,
* weighing 170 to 180 pounds, and
* wearing a mask covering his face.
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7. Defensive handgun use in Hopewell
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Odds are this could have turned out to be a deadly event had the restaurant owner not been armed. The criminal shot him before he even tried to offer resistance. (Yeah - just do what the criminal says.)
Roy Scherer emailed me this:
From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: http://tinyurl.com/7mymnym
Hopewell restaurant owner recovering after being shot by intruder
By MARK BOWES
February 13, 2012
HOPEWELL, Va. --The owner of a popular Hopewell eatery who was shot Friday by a man who accosted him and his wife at their Prince George County home is set to be released from VCU Medical Center today with a broken collarbone and a bullet lodged in his shoulder.
Kenny Purdie and his wife, Linda, who have owned and operated K&L Barbecue for 17 years, survived a harrowing robbery attempt and shootout with a gunman who accosted the couple in the garage of their home about 9 p.m.
After first confronting Linda Purdie, who yelled for her husband, the assailant jerked around and fired at Kenny Purdie, hitting him once in his left shoulder in a shot that broke his collarbone, said police and Steve Nugent, Kenny Purdie's stepson.
Although wounded, Kenny Purdie -- who holds a concealed-gun permit -- grabbed a pistol from under the seat of his truck and returned fire, causing the intruder to flee, police and Nugent said.
"The one thing that I have learned from this incident is that Pop having that gun possibly saved the life of him and my mother," Nugent said Monday. "If he wouldn't have had that gun nearby, there's no telling what would have happened after that."
"Pop acted so fast," Nugent added. "This all occurred probably within 20 or 30 seconds."
Nugent said Purdie is eating and walking around at VCU Medical Center in Richmond. K&L Restaurant, which has been closed several days, is set to reopen at 11 a.m. today, Nugent said.
Doctors have decided to leave the bullet in Purdie's shoulder because it's not in a vital area and shouldn't cause medical complications, Nugent said.
Meanwhile, Prince George police are searching for Purdie's assailant, said Capt. Brian Kei. It's possible, Kei said, that the gunman was laying in wait for the couple to arrive home.
"We can't say that for sure, but Hines Road is not a busy area where you have pedestrian traffic and houses bunched up together," Kei said of the largely rural location.
Police and Nugent said the shooting unfolded soon after the Purdies pulled into the garage of their home in the 8400 block of Hines Road.
"As my mom and my stepdad exited the vehicle, my mom walked around the back of the truck," Nugent said. She was met by an armed man, "who told her to get on her knees." [PVC: THAT'S THE POSITION FOR AN EXECUTION.]
Linda Purdie then began yelling for her husband, "and that's when the guy jerked over and shot Kenny" in the shoulder, Nugent said.
"With a bullet in him, Pop proceeded to get his gun from underneath the seat of his truck and he shoots back 16 times," Nugent said. The intruder began to run away but then turned when he got to a corner of the home's rear deck and fired at Purdie.
"Kenny was still shooting at him and the person ran off," Nugent said. Police don't believe the intruder was hit by the gunfire, Kei said.
The intruder apparently had parked his car some distance from the home but left behind some evidence. Investigators have not yet determined its value to the case, Kei said.
Police have little in the way of the suspect's description. Kei said the intruder was between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall with a slim to medium build. He had something covering his face.
"The one thing that really bothers us, as a family, is that somebody thought about this" ahead of time, Nugent said. "There's no doubt that this was premeditated."
--------
From progress-index.com: http://tinyurl.com/6rnly5f
Restaurant owner expected home after being wounded
By CIARRA NEAL
February 14, 2012
PRINCE GEORGE - Restaurant owner Kenny Purdie is expected to return home from the hospital this morning after being shot in the shoulder Friday night in what police believe was a robbery attempt.
Purdie and his wife, Linda Purdie, the owners of the popular Hopewell restaurant K&L Barbecue on Beverly Place, were victims of an attempted robbery in the driveway of their Prince George County home.
The couple encountered a gunman at 9 p.m. Friday in the driveway of their Hines Road home. As the couple was exiting their vehicle, a gunman ordered Linda Purdie to get down on her knees, according to her son, Steve Nugent. She yelled for her husband, who was shot in the shoulder while exiting the couple's truck, Nugent said.
After being shot, Purdie produced a 9 mm handgun and fired the weapon 16 times as the assailant fled the property.
Purdie was later transported to Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond. In addition to the gunshot wound, Purdie also had a broken collarbone. Linda Purdie was not injured.
The restaurant was closed yesterday and a sign on the door had a message that probably surprised some customers, many who are regulars at the barbecue eatery.
"We will be closed Monday 2/13! Kenny was shot in the shoulder, but is doing ok," the sign said. "We will re-open as soon as possible.
"Thanks for your prayers and support :)"
Randy Sealey, who has known the Purdies for years, said the couple have been pillars in the community. The couple are "hardworking and gave back to the community," said Sealey, owner of the Appomattox River Peanut and Wine Co.
The family-owned restaurant, which has been in the community for 18 years, is expected to reopen today for normal business hours.
Nugent said he wanted to thank all the people who sent well wishes to his family during a difficult time.
"Nothing like this has ever happened to my family. I just ask that everyone be aware of your surroundings. It could happen to anyone, keep your eyes open," he said.
Nugent said the family is now looking for justice.
"We are angry that this happened at our home, and we are doing everything we can to make sure this guy is put behind bars," Nugent said. "Why would someone do this?"
The investigation into the attack is continuing, according to Prince George County police.
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8. Republican deathstar subcommittee
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The Republican leadership continues to use their "death star" Militia, Police, and Public Safety subcommittee in the House to let the anti-gun Democrats do the Republican leadership's dirty work by killing good pro-gun bills that the Republican leadership thinks are too controversial. Rank-and-file Republicans are then shielded from having to vote on those bills and being held accountable for that vote. (And here I thought we elected the General Assembly members to vote on bills. Silly me!)
VCDL has been screaming about this practice since its inception years ago. Yes, there is a similar subcommittee that kills anti-gun bills, but VCDL has been consistent in saying that NO gun bills should be killed at the subcommittee level. All should at least have a chance to be vetted at a full committee meeting.
One of the anti-gun Democrats on the death star subcommittee decided to stop playing the game and an important pro-gun bill (the airport gun ban repeal) was given an unexpected rendezvous with the full committee.
From hamptonroads.com: http://tinyurl.com/6wdyy6y
Subcommittee No. 3: It's the boneyard of rejected bills
By Bill Sizemore
The Virginian-Pilot
February 12, 2012
RICHMOND
Guns in airports? College professors packing heat on campuses?
Among the blizzard of gun-friendly bills in this General Assembly session, a few go too far for the Republican leadership calling the shots.
When those bills pop up, there's a place to bury them: the death-star committee.
That's what Philip Van Cleave, president of the pro-gun Virginia Citizens Defense League, calls Subcommittee No. 3 of the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee.
That obscure panel has its own role to play in the choreography of lethal-weapon lawmaking.
All in all, with the entire legislature now under Republican control, the gun lobby is having a good year in Richmond. Its top priority - the repeal of Virginia's two-decade-old law limiting handgun purchases to one per month - has been achieved. That measure has passed both chambers of the Assembly and will soon be on its way to the desk of Gov. Bob McDonnell, who has said he will sign it.
In addition, several other pro-gun bills seem well on their way to passage. One would prohibit localities from requiring fingerprints with applications for concealed-handgun permits. Another would close off public access to those applications. Still another would let local government employees keep guns and ammunition in their cars at work.
Among the dozens of gun bills in the hopper, however, some have fallen by the wayside. Republicans say that's because they need more study. Some Democrats suggest it's because Republicans are worried that voters will decide they've overplayed their hand and punish them at the polls.
Enter Subcommittee No. 3.
It is a curiosity in the Assembly. In the overwhelmingly Republican House, it is the only subcommittee with a Democratic majority.
The Republican speaker of the House, Del. Bill Howell, appoints the committees. And the panels' Republican chairmen select the members of the subcommittees.
That's where Del. Bob Marshall's bill, HB91, got sent last week. The measure would allow college professors with concealed-handgun permits to carry their weapons on campuses, overriding gun bans now in place at nearly every state college and university.
After hearing vociferous objections from universities, gun-control advocates and the Virginia State Police, the subcommittee killed the measure on a 3-2 party-line vote.
Van Cleave, the pro-gun lobbyist, was disappointed but not surprised.
"Whenever a bill gets sent here, that tells me the leadership didn't want it to see the light of day," he said after the vote.
Next up was Del. Rich Anderson's bill, HB1052. It would overturn the state's prohibition on firearms and other weapons in airport terminals. Airport lobbyists begged the panel to kill it.
But this time, one of the Democrats, Del. Patrick Hope of Arlington County, switched sides and the bill was approved, 3-2, advancing it to the full committee. Nearly everyone in the room was shocked, including the bill's patron.
"I thought for sure I was going to be grounded," Anderson said.
Hope said later that he decided to force the committee's Republican majority to debate the measure.
When the bill came before the full committee, the result was not so much a debate as death by a thousand cuts. Republicans picked it apart, complaining that its language was vaguely worded, its terms poorly defined.
The measure needs more work, the committee chairman, Del. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Prince William County, finally announced.
"I think most people on this committee would agree with the underlying policy," he told Anderson. "But this has now become an explosive bill - no pun intended."
The measure was carried over to the 2013 Assembly session.
Pro-gun lobbyists were disgusted. "I'm getting a little seasick from the tap-dancing," said Bob Sadtler, a member of Van Cleave's group.
Andrew Goddard, president of the Virginia Center for Public Safety, a gun-control group, was amused. "They squirmed like worms on a hook," he said.
Hope, the vote-switching Democrat, said the airport bill was too much for the committee to swallow. "They chickened out," he said. "They're embarrassed by it - and they ought to be."
Democrats have been developing a campaign narrative in which they accuse Republicans of overreaching - of using their majority to muscle through extreme measures on issues like abortion, gays and guns at the expense of such things as education and transportation. Republicans, in response, are starting to pull back, Hope suggested.
Another gun-friendly bill has died without ever making it to Subcommittee No. 3. That measure, HB139, from Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania County, would allow any lawful owner of a firearm to carry it concealed, essentially negating the state's decades-old permit system.
Lingamfelter, the committee chairman, never assigned the bill to a subcommittee, leaving it to simply wither away from inaction. Asked why, he said it would have been an overly ambitious undertaking at a time when other gun-rights issues are more pressing.
"We've got some big things to fix, and I want to be sure we're doing them in the right order," he said.
And what of Subcommittee No. 3? Is it a convenient killing ground for overly aggressive gun-rights bills, as the lobbyists contend?
"That's their opinion," Lingamfelter said. [PVC: Yes it is, but it's supported by the facts and we stand by it.]"
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9. Virginia gun rights group lays siege to 'castle bills'
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From examiner.com: http://tinyurl.com/6v7xq4z
[SNIP]
In 1985 Colorado passed a law intended to protect "people from any criminal charge or civil suit if they use force - including deadly force - against an invader of the home." That statute soon became known as the "make my day" law, a moniker memorializing the iconic demarche issued by Detective Harry Callahan played by Clint Eastwood in the movie Sudden Impact.
Since 1985 other state legislatures have followed Colorado's lead in considering, and often passing, various measures styled as "castle" bills purporting to either expand citizens' rights to use deadly force or make it more difficult for criminals and criminals' estates to sue those who have lawfully injured or killed someone in self-defense of themselves, others, or property. In 2012 legislatures in a number of states are reviewing a bumper crop of castle bills, including Alaska, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. And even in Colorado some legislators aim to expand the reach of the 1985 "make my day law" to businesses.
But in Virginia something strange happened. The state's largest gun rights group known as the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) decide to oppose all of the castle bills being considered this year.
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10. Bill killed to shield gun permit info
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Stephen Wenger emailed me this:
--
From wavy.com: http://tinyurl.com/7s7xs3j
Bill killed to shield gun permit info
February 16, 2012
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A Senate committee has killed legislation to shield concealed weapons permit information from public view.
The Courts of Justice Committee voted 8-6 Wednesday to reject Del. Mark Cole's bill, which the House of Delegates passed by a wide margin last week. The bill would have prohibited court clerks form disclosing information contained in permit applications or in orders issuing permits.
In 2007, The Roanoke Times posted the state police concealed weapons database on its website, prompting a backlash from gun-rights activists. Attempts by the legislature since then to shield the information have failed.
The pro-gun Virginia Citizens Defense League favored Cole's legislation. Representatives of gun control, media and open government organizations spoke against it.
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11. Virginia Press Association caught in lie about CHP information not being published
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Theron Keller emailed me this:
From blogs.fredericksburg.com: http://tinyurl.com/7kydjeo
Weapon-permit secrecy bill dies
By Chelyen Davis
RICHMOND--A state Senate committee has killed a bill to close concealed-weapons permit information to public view.
Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania, said he brought the bill because he doesn't think concealed-carry permits should be public, the way marriage licenses and divorce decrees are.
"This would treat the concealed-carry permit info similar to how we currently treat things like driver's licenses," which are not open to the public, Cole said.
His bill, which had already passed the House, was supported by gun-rights groups, which say publicizing the information could endanger those who get concealed-carry permits for protection.
Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, said that after the Roanoke Times published a database of concealed-carry permit holders' information, some people had to move for their own safety.
"A lot of people that have permits have them because their life is under threat," Van Cleave said.
News and open-government groups opposed the bill.
Virginia Press Association executive director Ginger Stanley said legislators voted a few years ago to close the database itself from public view, while leaving individual permit-holders' information public. She said newspapers now don't publish permit information unless it relates to a story. [PVC: Ms. Stanley was clearly caught in a lie with this. Some newspapers in Virginia continue to publish local CHP applicant information just because they can. I hope she tries that lie again next year.]
"This is not a Second Amendment issue, but it is about the public's ability to monitor how government conducts the process," Stanley said. "We would urge you to err on the side of keeping the public's right to know with court records."
Megan Rhyne of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government said the fact that the state has chosen to require licenses to carry concealed weapons means information about those licenses should be open.
Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, asked her if she also thought taxpayers' IRS information ought to be published.
Andrew Goddard, whose son was injured in the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, showed the Senate Courts of Justice Committee his concealed-carry permit.
"It doesn't make me into some kind of special agent whose identity needs to be kept secret at all costs," Goddard said. "If I abuse it and do something illegal, then people should know they've given me this permit erroneously."
The bill failed, with Sen. Tommy Norment, R-James City, voting against it, and one senator not present.
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12. Poll finds most back status quo
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James Dinger emailed me this:
--
I'd like to know where they took the poll. City of Richmond? What other cities? Did they poll rural Virginians? They're reporting that only 31% of Virginians want the one handgun a month repealed. It concerns me that people will so easily give up a Constitutional guarantee because a slick talking politician convinced them that it's the safe thing to do.
[PVC: A poll can be worded to get whatever result a client wants to see. This isn't the first non-believable poll result I've seen from Christopher Newport University.]
From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: http://tinyurl.com/6o4b555
Poll finds most Virginians oppose changes in abortion, gun laws
By OLYMPIA MEOLA
February 19, 2012
Virginia voters, by wide margins, want to retain the state's landmark one-handgun-a-month law and oppose mandating that a woman receive an ultrasound before having an abortion, according to a new poll.
The results of the Christopher Newport University/Richmond Times-Dispatch survey put majorities at odds with legislation poised to pass in the General Assembly.
The survey indicates that the electorate is satisfied with the direction of the state and with the status quo on several key matters before the legislature. For example, majorities oppose requiring state workers to pay more toward their pensions and a measure defining life as beginning at conception.
Of the 1,018 registered Virginia voters polled Feb. 4-13, 66 percent want the one-gun-a-month restriction to remain and 31 percent favor repeal. A signature law from former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder's administration, it was enacted in 1993 in response to interstate gun-trafficking problems on the East Coast.
Legislation to repeal the law has won approval in both chambers and is headed to Gov. Bob McDonnell's desk. He's expected to sign it.
Another measure that could reach the governor would require women to undergo an ultrasound before having an abortion. Of those polled, 55 percent say they oppose the requirement and 36 percent support it. The House and Senate have passed versions of the legislation.
"The governor will await the General Assembly's final action," said Tucker Martin, a spokesman for McDonnell. "If the bill passes he will review it, in its final form, at that time."
In the survey, 46 percent said the state is on the right track, versus 30 percent who think it's headed in the wrong direction.
That's in sharp contrast to their view of the federal government, with 23 percent of respondents saying it's headed in the right direction and 62 percent saying the wrong direction. McDonnell's approval rating sits at 59 percent.
On matters before the General Assembly, 51 percent of those surveyed think state employees should not be required to pay more toward their retirement, and 80 percent want colleges and universities to retain the power to ban guns on campus.
Efforts to change the campus rules seem unlikely to survive in the legislature at this point. Lawmakers are considering changes to pension benefits and retirement plans but rejected a proposal by McDonnell to increase state employees' contributions from 5 percent to 6 percent of pay.
The one-gun-a-month issue doesn't necessarily split along party lines, as some Republicans oppose repeal and some rural Democrats support it. The poll showed greater support among women for keeping the ban, with 75.3 percent preferring that it remain compared with 56.2 percent of men.
Patricia Lane, of Chester, said she is not a particularly close follower of gun-related issues, but that "my thoughts would be that one gun a month would be sufficient for anybody."
Sharon Dennison of Harrisonburg, who says her whole family hunts, backs repealing the law. "I feel it's in their right if they want to get one," she said, as long as guns are not in the wrong hands.
Roger Skeen, of Midlothian, also exercises his Second Amendment right but thinks one purchase a month is sufficient even for enthusiasts or people who use guns for sporting.
"I think that's a happy point with me in terms of what I'm comfortable with," he said.
As of Friday, the bill to repeal the one-gun-a-month law was headed to McDonnell, and once it's before him, he has seven days to act.
Bobby Coburn, of Midlothian, disagrees with the proposed ultrasound requirement before an abortion and has concerns about the potential impact on some women.
"I don't think poor women will have the opportunity to even have that done," he said. "I really think it would push women into places (without) perfect hygiene."
On another social issue, those surveyed oppose defining life beginning at conception 52-41 percent with 7 percent saying they didn't know or refusing to answer.
The House of Delegates has passed a measure sponsored by Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, that would impart the rights of "personhood" to a human embryo at the moment of conception. The measure could come before a Senate committee this week.
The poll also showed that 62 percent of respondents do not want to change voter-registration rules to give people the option of registering by party while 32 percent favor such a change.
Efforts to add party affiliation to registration appear dead for the year.
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13. Brady Campaign scorecard
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John Wilburn emailed me this:
--
It just occurred to me, with the repeal of one-gun-per-month, Virginia will drop from 12 points to 9 out of 100 on the Brandy Campaign's scorecard. That makes us a red-coded or bottom tier state in their book, something I've wanted to see for a while.
[PVC: Yes, but two states (AZ & AK) have ZERO points and 29 other states will still have fewer Brady points than Virginia. I am envious.]
http://www.bradycampaign.org/stategunlaws/scorecard/VA
http://www.bradycampaign.org/xshare/stateleg/scorecard/2011/2011_scoring_system.pdf
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14. Wilder: Senate Dems sold out on gun-a-month repeal
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Democrat Senators Deeds and Edwards deserve recognition from Virginia gun owners for voting for repealing One Handgun A Month, while taking a massive amount of heat from their Party for doing so. Without their support, we would still be stuck with that stupid law.
Board member Bruce Jackson emailed me this:
--
From realclearpolitics.com: http://tinyurl.com/6qzev5o
Wilder: Senate Dems sold out on gun-a-month repeal
By Bob Lewis
February 12, 2012
Former Gov. Doug Wilder is blaming fellow Democrats in Virginia's Senate for allowing the repeal of one of his legislative legacies _ a limit of one individual handgun purchase per month.
Wilder spoke for the first time on the issue in an Associated Press interview last week.
The nation's first elected black governor said he knew Democratic Sen. Creigh Deeds would support repealing the law enacted during his term 19 years ago when Virginia was a gun-runner's paradise. Deeds opposed it back then.
Wilder said he's surprised that Democratic Sen. John Edwards of Roanoke supported the repeal.
The grandson of slaves also says Republicans are embarrassing Virginia with requirements to present identification at polls to vote, saying they target minorities, the old and the disabled in a presidential election year.
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15. Op Ed in Free Lance Star
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David Gilmore emailed me this:
--
Philip,
There was a nicely worded Letter to the Editor piece in the Free Lance Star printed today Feb 15, 2012. I wish I could write this good. [PVC: Indeed. Poor Mr. Pitts's arguments are shredded by Dennis Hannick - line by line, thought by thought.]
From fredericksburg.com: http://tinyurl.com/7vvdbla
Pitts prefers gun bans to the Constitution
2/15/2012
This is in response to Leonard Pitts' Feb. 6 op-ed ["The carnage goes on: Our gun laws are insane"].
Mr. Pitts begins with a misleading statement: "In a democracy, nothing is supposed to matter more than the will of the people."
We are a constitutional republic, not a democracy. "Democracy" is not in the Constitution. He misleads again, blaming a tool (a gun) for overturning the people's will (i.e. the election of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords). He doesn't blame the criminal, which shows his true intent.
Mr. Pitts never asks why the current laws prohibiting the criminal acts he listed are not enforced. Rather, he claims the lack of laws is allowing criminals to procure guns.
In fact, there are thousands of laws against these criminal acts. There are so many laws against criminal misuse of a firearm that the legislators don't even know what they are. They pass legislation that contradicts existing laws.
Mr. Pitts claims the solution to criminal misuse of firearms is not rocket science. He is right. It is American constitutional law; as such, it must meet the strict requirements of the Bill of Rights.
If a background check were all that he was proposing, it would make sense; it is not. He is proposing that all background checks go through licensed dealers, where transaction details will be recorded and available to the government, thus disallowing private sales of private property.
He could probably get good support if he proposed a background check with no record of the transaction and access without having to go through a dealer. That would take care of his nonexistent loopholes.
Anti-gun people would never go for that because they want registration and records. They look at any anti-gun law as the camel's nose under the tent, as do pro-self-defense people, for good reason.
Fully automatic weapons? Anyone knows the extreme regulations placed upon fully automatic weapons and would be embarrassed to display such ignorance as Mr. Pitts has done.
If Mr. Pitts and his ilk would educate themselves on the subject, then yes, a reasonable dialogue would be possible.
Dennis Hannick
King George
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16. I love guns and coffee at Starbucks 2-14-2012 [VIDEO]
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Ed Levine emailed me this:
--
From YouTube: http://tinyurl.com/7c7k437
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17. Anti column in RTD
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Roy Scherer emailed me this:
--
The sky is falling again. This was in Tuesday's Richmond Times-Dispatch.
-- Roy
[PVC: BUT the world won't actually come to an end until July 1st when the One Handgun A Month repeal takes effect ;-) ]
From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: http://tinyurl.com/72uea3w
Mike Williams: A step backward on guns
By MICHAEL PAUL WILLIAMS
February 14, 2012
Somewhere, gun traffickers are smiling.
The gun lobby is ecstatic.
New Yorkers? Not so much.
The repeal of Virginia's one-handgun-a-month law would complete the gutting of a measure that was a documented success before state lawmakers began chipping away at it.
Three years after the 1993 enactment of the signature initiative by then-Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, a study conducted by the Washington-based Center to Prevent Handgun Violence said the law had reduced by two-thirds the illegal trafficking of firearms from Virginia to points northeast.
Before the law, people could buy unlimited numbers of handguns from licensed dealers. Monday, the state Senate approved the repeal of the handgun limit. If Gov. Bob McDonnell signs the measure into law, Virginia will have taken a huge step backward.
The GOP-led repeal was also supported by Democrats John S. Edwards of Roanoke and R. Creigh Deeds of Bath, the party flag-bearer in the 2009 gubernatorial election.
It's hard to understand why anyone needs to purchase more than one handgun a month. You don't hunt deer with handguns, which too often end up in the wrong hands. Perhaps repealing this law is a way for some diehards to get back at those Yankees, 150 years after the Civil War. [PVC: Board member Dennis O'Connor notes: It's hard to understand why anyone needs to purchase more than one pair of shoes a month. You don't swim with shoes, and they too often end up causing sore feet. Perhaps having an arsenal of shoes is a way for some diehards to show up Imelda Marcos, 25 years after her wardrobe became news.]
The decreased effectiveness of the handgun limit was self-inflicted. In 2004, lawmakers carved out exceptions for concealed weapon permit holders and persons purchasing a handgun in a private sale.
"I think the law was dumbed down a bit," said Josh Horwitz, director of the Washington-based Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, who estimates that private sales make up 40 percent of the Virginia market.
"What I really find offensive about this is that we started with something that really works," he said.
But by 2009, Virginia had the seventh highest rate of crime-gun exports in the nation, according to Trace the Guns, a project of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. If our handgun limit is repealed, whatever ranking we have will come with a bullet.
According to Trace the Guns, two of our neighbors -- North Carolina and Maryland -- rank 20th and 33rd in crime-gun exports. West Virginia is No. 2 nationally, behind Mississippi.
These rankings have real consequences. If McDonnell supports the repeal, law enforcement will have one less tool to work with in stopping the flow of weapons.
In December, a Virginia gun was linked to the fatal shooting of New York Police Officer Peter Figoski, 47, a father of four. The gun was lost by its owner here in 2009; its disappearance was never reported, Horwitz said.
According to an article in the New York Daily News, Figoski "has become the face of New York's futile fight to stop the flow of deadly guns from Virginia's gun dealers up the so-called Iron Pipeline to the city." [PVC: Baloney. New York has a crime problem they aren't taking care of. Rather than admit that, they are looking for someone else, anyone else, to blame.]
Perhaps the faces and gun-control records of Virginia legislators should be plastered on New York billboards.
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18. ACLU files on behalf of gun owner abusively arrested by Philadelphia police [AUDIO]
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Ben Piper emailed me this:
--
From jonathanturley.org: http://tinyurl.com/78l3joa
ACLU Files On Behalf Of Gun Owner Abusively Arrested By Philadelphia Police
February 17, 2012
We previously discussed the abusive arrest of Mark Fiorino by Philadelphia police. Now the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the law firm of McCausland Keen & Buckman have filed a federal complaint today against the city of Philadelphia in his defense. It is an important case and we will be following it closely.
The audio recording (below) shows Fiorino, 25, being confronted by a Philadelphia police officer about carrying a gun in public. Fiorino is allowed to open carry in the city, but the officers appear completely ignorant of their own directives and became increasingly hostile to Fiorino's effort to show them that he was lawfully carrying the weapon.
The encounter occurred on February 13, 2011, nearly five months after a new policy allowing such carrying of a weapon was implemented. Fiorino was stopped on a street by an officer pointing a gun at his chest and yelling "Yo, junior, what are you doing?" Sgt. Michael Dougherty would not listen to Fiorino's explanation of his own policy and ordered Fiorino to get on his knees or else "I am gonna shoot ya." Other officers then arrived and continued to heap abuse on Fiorino after he was handcuffed and put face down on the sidewalk. He was later released without charges, but (despite this shocking record) there is no report of disciplining of all of the officers involved. Worse still, after Fiorino said that he was considering a lawsuit and his tape was placed on YouTube, Commissioner Charles Ramsey ordered an investigation. (For the record, Ramsey is a defendant in the World Bank case in which I am one of the lead counsels suing the District and federal government for a mass arrest of citizens without legal cause or due process). After investigating, the department decided to crack down on Fiorino rather than the officers. He was charged with disorderly conduct and recklessly endangering another person. Five officers were sent to his workplace to arrest him. He later surrendered and was charged. However, the police then arrested him again a week later -- saying that the warrant had not been changed in the system. He was eventually cleared of all charges on October 27, 2011 after spending time in jail and having to get a lawyer. Despite the clear absurdity of the charge that he was disorderly or that he endangered others, there was no effort to hold either the police or the prosecutors involved to any form of discipline.
That is why this lawsuit is so important. For those on the right who criticize the ACLU, the case is also a reminder of the work that this organization does for all citizens regardless of their politics or views. He is being represented by Benjamin Picker and Glenn Gitomer of McCausland Keen & Buckman and Mary Catherine Roper and Chris Markos of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. The case is Fiorino v. City of Philadelphia, et al.
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19. For the "Only police should have guns" file
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Because there were other armed individuals in this workplace, the shooter wasn't going to get a high body-count.
Dave Hicks emailed me this:
From CNN: http://tinyurl.com/6mp3llq
ICE agent killed in shootout at California federal building
By CNN Wire Staff
February 17, 2012
Los Angeles (CNN) -- A dispute between federal immigration agents that left one of them dead and another injured in southern California prompted the head of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to travel to the scene on Friday.
Federal officials said the incident occurred during a counseling session regarding performance.
Director John Morton traveled to Long Beach, where the confrontation occurred Thursday evening,
"The situation began ... as an incidence of workplace violence involving two federal agents in their office space," said Steven Martinez, assistant director of the FBI office in Los Angeles. "When the incident escalated, one agent fired several rounds at the other agent, wounding him."
A third colleague intervened and fired at the shooter, killing him, Martinez said.
Kevin Kozak, 51, a deputy special agent in the Los Angeles area, suffered multiple injuries and is undergoing treatment at a hospital. He is in stable condition.
Federal agent Ezequiel Garcia, 45, was killed during the incident.
"At this time, we believe this is an isolated incident and we believe the shooter was acting alone," Martinez said.
The investigation includes officers from the ICE, the Long Beach Police Department and the FBI.
By Friday morning, the federal building had reopened to the public, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.
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20. Ignorance of law clears Orange County Sheriff's top lobbyist in gun controversy
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Ignorance of the law is no excuse? Not if you work for the government.
Ben Piper emailed me this:
--
From orlandosentinel.com: http://thesent.nl/z9ylzz
Ignorance of law clears Orange County Sheriff's top lobbyist in gun controversy
No discipline for identifying gun permit holders to lobby against open-carry law
By Henry Pierson Curtis
February 9, 2012
Ignorance of the law helped clear Sheriff Jerry Demings' political lobbyist of wrongdoing for handing out gun owners' restricted driver's license photos last year in Tallahassee to lobby against an open-carry law, Orange County sheriff's records show.
Capt. Mike Fewless set off a statewide controversy in a April by distributing eight photos from a secret intelligence file that he claimed were outlaw bikers with valid state Carry Concealed Weapon permits.
The lobbying was part of an effort by the Florida Sheriff's Association to persuade legislators that tourists would avoid Florida if gun owners were allowed to openly display their firearms.
Critics of the outlaw biker ploy included former NRA President Marion Hammer, Florida Carry.Org founder Sean Carrana and others representing the state's 900,000 gun owners with concealed weapon permits.
The agency cleared Fewless, because he said he hadn't known the pictures were restricted driver's license photos or that state law prohibited identifying anyone with a CCW permit. The federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994 also prohibits releasing personal information, including a motorist's license photograph, records show.
"The fact that nobody from the (Florida Sheriff's Association) meeting indicated it was bad idea to show photographs of (the bikers) that had CCF (firearm permits) indicates that nobody was aware of the law prohibiting it," said Fewless, who heads the Professional Standards unit enforcing agency policy.
Fewless blamed the incident on Agent John McMahon, the agency's motorcycle gang expert, for sending him the photos after a late-night telephone request. He said McMahon should have told him the pictures came from confidential files, records state.
The agency cleared Fewless and gave McMahon a written reprimand. Sheriff's spokesman Capt. Angelo Nieves said privacy restrictions involving the driver's license database is "something we have tried to hammer home" in the wake of what happened.
"When you or I do something we're told 'ignorance of the law is no excuse,'"said Hammer, who believes Fewless' actions might become a campaign issue in the fall election for Orange County's 42,000 residents with concealed weapon licenses. "I don't have a crystal ball but people don't like it when certain people are above the law."
The eight motorcyclists have retained Tarpon Springs attorney Jerry Theophilopoulos.
"The Sheriff's intent was to discredit the NRA with back door, underhanded tactics and...now they have egg on their faces," Theophilopoulos wrote the Sentinel. "If the public cannot trust the Sheriff and his staff to follow the law then who do they look to for guidance?"
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21. You can now carry your gun at Florida State Fair
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Ken Martin emailed me this:
--
Too bad the State Fair of Virginia is private. Of course that is why they are in bankruptcy. [PVC: I stopped going years ago when they posted "no guns."]
From tbo.com: http://tinyurl.com/72n9g36
You can now carry your gun at Florida State Fair
By WILLIAM MARCH
February 15, 2012
TAMPA -- Following complaints by a gun rights group, and a law passed by the Florida Legislature last year, you can now carry your gun at the Florida State Fair.
"We have changed the policy to comply with the state law - it allows a person with a concealed weapon permit to come in with a firearm," said Charles Pesano, executive director of the State Fair Authority. "We've changed some signs to reflect that."
Instead of "No Weapons," the signs now say, "No Unlawful Weapons."
The policy changed Sunday, after Florida Carry Inc. and Marion Hammer of the Florida NRA complained to state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, said Sean Caranna of Florida Carry, a gun rights group.
At the same time, local members of the group complained to the State Fair Authority after a member of Florida Carry was denied admittance Saturday.
Pesano said the authority decided after meetings Sunday to change its policy.
"It was brought to our attention, and we quickly determined we wanted to be in compliance with the state law - we acted within minutes."
It's the first time in his experience, which covers eight state fairs, that fairgoers have been allowed to carry weapons.
"Since I've been here, the policy has been not to allow weapons on the fairgrounds just through good common sense," Pesano said.
The change was required by a 25-year-old law in which the state Legislature took control of all firearms regulations, declaring local government ordinances void -- an act known as "pre-emption."
But the law wasn't generally enforced, said Arthur Hayhoe of the Florida Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
"That law had no penalties so a lot of local governments ignored it," he said. "Some local governments dropped some laws, and a lot of them kept their laws."
In 2011 however, the Legislature passed a new law imposing tough penalties -- fines of $5,000 against officials of any local government that enforces a gun control law, along with removal from office by the governor and provisions for individuals and organizations to sue the local government for damages and legal fees.
Caranna said the gun rights groups contacted Putnam before the fair and were told the policy would be changed.
"They've been violating this law for nearly 25 years, and we wanted to make sure it didn't happen again this year," he said. "Unfortunately, it did happen."
A Putnam spokesman couldn't provide any comment from the agriculture commissioner Tuesday afternoon.
Scott Barrish of Plant City, a member of Florida Carry, sent complaints to Putnam and Pesano after another member, Charles D. Bingham, said on the group's Facebook page that he was searched and denied entry to the fair while carrying a gun Saturday.
Barrish, a Republican candidate for Hillsborough County clerk of court, said he went to the fair Monday, carrying his Springfield Armory 1911 Range Officer semi-automatic pistol.
Barrish said he carries a firearm "everywhere that it's legal for me to do so," because, "I take responsibility for my own safety and that of my family and friends - law enforcement can't be everywhere every single second."
But Hayhoe said the law "has created a lot of problems, and there are a lot of people angry about it - people can't post their land for no firearms.
"Local governments can't do anything - they can't pass or enforce any law that even has the word gun in it."
Last month, the Hernando County commissioners cited the law in reluctantly allowing a Spring Hill homeowner Paul Hargis of Hague Court to sell guns from his home, despite objections from the neighborhood.
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Major Al Greco, in charge of security for the fair, said in past years, officers made anywhere from two or three to 15 or 20 arrests during the fair, mostly for fighting, drug or weapon possession.
He said he didn't know how many had been made this year.
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22. Bloomberg report takes aim at Mormon Church for online gun sales
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Mayor "Blame anyone but me" Bloomberg up to his usual political stunts.
From buzzfeed.com: http://tinyurl.com/7al3eto
Bloomberg Report Takes Aim At Mormon Church For Online Gun Sales
"One would think that a church would feel a special obligation to make sure that they weren't fueling a black market for a particularly deadly form of commerce," a source involved in the report says.
By McKay Coppins
Feb 6, 2012
The Mormon Church owns one of the most active and unregulated gun sale portals on the web, according to a national investigation released by the New York City Mayor's office.
The website in question is KSL.com, the online hub for Utah's NBC affiliate and sister radio station, which are both owned and operated by the for-profit arm of the Mormon Church. In addition to local news, KSL.com produces a popular classifieds section that reaches millions of users well beyond Utah.
The LDS connection drew little notice when Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a leading financier of the gun control movement, published the report in December, but an official involved with Bloomberg's investigation is calling out the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for putting "profits over principle."
"A church, like any other organization, has the right to raise money," said the person, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for the mayor. "But one would think that a church would feel a special obligation to make sure that they weren't fueling a black market for a particularly deadly form of commerce."
According to the Bloomberg report, KSL.com had the third-most active gun listings of any site on the web during a 100-day period last year (2,713), coming in behind only large specialty firearm sites Gunlistings.org, and Armslist.com, and beating out even Craigslist.
But the real problem isn't the volume, the report's authors say; it's the unregulated nature of KSL.com. While other classifieds sites require users to deal only on their sites with registered and confirmed accounts, KSL makes it easy for buyers and sellers to deal behind closed doors.
From the report:
[On KSL.com] sellers frequently list their contact email and phone number, which are openly displayed on the ad. This feature makes it easy for buyers to contact sellers and arrange to buy a firearm without identifying themselves - a feature that is particularly attractive to unscrupulous purchasers who do not want their purchases detected or recorded. And the website allows visitors to search for items being sold by private individuals who, in contrast to licensed dealers, are not required to conduct background checks.
Brett Atkinson, general manager of the site, insisted that KSL is a "responsible corporate citizen" that cooperates with law enforcement, and "frequently reviews its policies and procedures."
But its own internal reviews have yielded little change in its approach to gun ads--even as local police have raised concerns.
According to an article published last March in the Deseret News,which is also owned by the Mormon church, KSL considered eliminating the firearm category from its site altogether, under pressure from state law enforcement. Ultimately, though, it decided to keep the gun ads, opting only to post a guide to gun sale laws more prominently on its homepage.
"The responsibility for the transaction is that of the parties involved," Atkinson said. "This is just like any other transaction, a vehicle, a lawnmower, a bicycle."
But the person involved with the Bloomberg investigation said KSL and the Mormon church should set a higher bar for gun ads.
"The fact that they have looked into this makes it clear that they understand they have a problem, he said. "If they have essentially decided to press on without taking effective action, it seems they've made a choice to put profits over principle."
He continued: "If you're going to [facilitate sales] for something deadly, you have an obligation to make sure it's done legally and appropriately," the person said. "Just throwing up your hands and saying, 'We're not willing to give up this profit center' is unacceptable, and particularly so when it comes from a religious organization."
UPDATE: Mark Glaze, Director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns--which is co-chaired by Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino--reached out to BuzzFeed to push back against the notion that the Mormon Church was being singled out.
"Just like Craigslist and every other site, if [KSL is] allowing gun sales, they have a responsibility to make sure they're not an entry point for buyers trying to avoid a background check," Glaze said. "There are simple steps that can screen out bad actors, and many sites are already using them."
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23. Another media hypocrite: has armed guards, but accepts $400,000 gun-control donation
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Another gun-control hypocrite, a la Rosie O'Donnell.
Jay Minsky emailed me this:
From foxnews.com: http://tinyurl.com/8axan72
Brock and the Glock: Armed men guarded Media Matters boss as he took $400,000 gun control donation
By Perry Chiaramonte
February 16, 2012
The recent revelation that the head of Media Matters walked the streets of Washington with a Glock-toting personal assistant acting as a bodyguard may make it a little awkward for the group the next time it seeks a donation from a gun control advocacy group.
Media Matters reportedly took more than $400,000 from the Joyce Foundation specifically earmarked to promote a $600,000 initiative on "gun and public safety issues." At the same time, Media Matters' gun-guarded boss David Brock reportedly obsessed over his own security.
"It doesn't look good," said Fraser Seitel, president of Emerald Partners Communications and a public relations expert who authored the book "Rethinking Reputation."
"But it is a gray area in terms of public relations. Since (Media Matters) is so anti-NRA, to have their members packing heat leaves them open to criticism," he said.
Brock reportedly told confidantes that he feared for his safety and needed hired guns to keep him safe. The District's gun laws are among the strictest in the nation, which raises the question of whether Brock's assistant at times was in violation of its ban on carrying a concealed weapon.
"He had more security than a Third World dictator," one Media Matters employee told The Daily Caller. Brock's guards rarely left Brock's side and even accompanied him to his home in a tony Washington neighborhood where they "stood post" nightly, the source told the DC.
Media Matters proudly claims to be engaged in an information war to bring down Fox News, and has been exposed as a distributor of liberal talking points that regularly find their way into the reporting of mainstream media outlets, according to The Daily Caller.
Officials at the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation did not return repeated calls for comment. The nonprofit doles out donations to a variety of groups to address such issues as urban public education, job training, the environment, and gun violence.
A July 2010 grant of $400,000 to Media Matters was specifically targeted to support a gun and public safety issue initiative. As part of the initiative, Media Matters sent a representative, David Holthouse, undercover to a shooting sports trade show and had him write about the experience. [PVC: Could Media Matters have thought the $400,000 donation was intended to provide 24/7 armed security for their boss?]
In a Media Matters article entitled, SHOT Show 2011: "The Second Amendment Ain't About Duck Hunting," Holthouse wrote that "increased lethality has become the nicotine of the firearms industry."
"Every year gun makers roll out new lines of assault rifles, tactical shotguns and handguns that hold even more bullets, or fire even faster, or boast new gadgetry that supposedly enables their user to kill other human beings more efficiently than ever before," reads a line from the January 2011 article.
Holthouse previously wrote an article for a Denver publication claiming he once planned a murder in such detail that he traveled to a neighboring state to buy a gun with a scratched-off serial number so it could not be traced back to him. His intended target was someone who attacked him as a child, forcibly raping him as a 7 year old, according to the article.
The latest revelations about Media Matters has raised questions in Washington, with some lawmakers in Congress considering opening a investigation into the group's tax-exempt status, according to reports in The Daily Caller.
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24. Emotional impact video [VIDEO]
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Dave Knight emailed me this:
--
Philip,
I came across this video back in 2007: "Rape prevention - two options."
It speaks to the "when seconds count" notion with a stark contrast between calling 9-1-1 and armed self-defense.. Despite having watched it numerous time, the intensity of the 1st "option" has not waned.
From YouTube: http://tinyurl.com/7rlxrhp
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25. More guns save lives
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Dale Welch emailed me this:
--
Site is an up-to-date collection of self-defense reports broken down by states.
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26. Antis lose again - Adios Canadian gun registry!
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Tony Yankowsky emailed me this:
From news.nationalpost.com: http://tinyurl.com/72yn8c7
Conservatives and enthusiasts cheer the end of the long-gun registry
By Jeff Davis
Feb 15, 2012
OTTAWA -- The Conservative government says its MPs will celebrate after a historic vote to end the long-gun registry Wednesday evening, despite vehement opposition to the move in Quebec and much of urban Canada.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews told reporters Wednesday, hours before the vote, that the government's actions are long overdue.
"It does nothing to help put an end to gun crimes, nor has it saved one Canadian life," he said.
"It criminalizes hard-working and law-abiding citizens such as farmers and sport shooters, and it has been a billion-dollar boondoggle left to us by the previous Liberal government."
Quebec MP Maxime Bernier said MPs and gun-rights advocates will celebrate together Parliament Hill after Wednesday evening's vote.
Meanwhile, opposition MPs and supporters of the registry are expected to say the government's actions are a step backwards, because the registry has been useful in keeping the country's streets safe.
Bill C-19, the Ending the Long Gun Registry Act, is guaranteed to pass through the House of Commons, thanks to the Conservative government's majority, but more political wrangling is expected to follow.
Liberals in the Senate say they have no intention of "rubber stamping" the bill, which they say needs time for sober second thought.
Meanwhile, the government of Quebec, meanwhile, has plans to take legal action against the Harper government for withholding Quebec-specific data, which is essential to its plans to launch a provincial registry.
The federal law will end the requirement for lawful gun owners to register their long guns, and it relaxes rules around selling or transferring guns. Gun licences for individuals will still be required, and the registry for restricted and prohibited firearms such as handguns will be maintained.
Gun control has been ferociously debated in Canada for decades, particularly since the Montreal massacre of 1989, when a gunman shot and killed 14 women with a rifle. This event prompted the Liberal government of Jean Chretien to tighten gun controls and create Canada's first mandatory long-gun registry in 1995.
Hunters and sport shooters reviled the registry, and dismantling it became a central plank of Reform, and later, Conservative party policy.
Liberal Senate leader James Cowan said while the Liberals in the Red Chamber have no intention of filibustering Bill C-19, they'll make sure it gets the serious consideration it needs.
Cowan said the Tories have taken five months to move Bill C-19 through the House, taking their time with an issue that pleases their base and is a good fundraising tool.
"We're not going to rubber stamp anything," he said. "But certainly it won't be in Senate longer than in House."
Cowan said he expects Bill C-19 to arrive at the committee on legal and constitutional affairs sometime in March, at which time the committee will hear testimony, which could continue for weeks.
"We want to make sure all sides are heard," he said. "We are determined to use the powers we have to make sure the committee has a full hearing."
The Harper Conservatives now have a commanding majority in the Senate, so while Liberal senators may succeed in slowing down the passage of C-19, it will ultimately pass.
According to Bill C-19, all data pertaining to non-restricted firearms will be deleted.
Michael Patton, a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, said the gun registry's central database is located in an RCMP headquarters in Ottawa. Since only data for non-restricted guns will be removed, the officials are still deciding how to carefully sift out what to delete and what to keep. He said he could not predict exactly how long the deletion of all long-gun data would take.
Patton said officials with the Canadian Firearms Program have not requested any additional money or outside assistance for this task.
Once the bill is finally passed into law, Quebec will immediately seek an injunction from the courts to halt the destruction of the registry data.
Mathieu St-Pierre, a spokesman for Quebec Public Security Minister Robert Dutil, said Quebec has the full intention of taking legal action against the federal government if it does not cough up the data it wants.
Appearing at a parliamentary committee in November, Dutil made clear his province's desire to maintain the national gun registry. If it is scrapped, he said, Quebec should be given the data it paid for.
St-Pierre said Quebec can't take legal action against the federal government until the bill passes. The only thing that will stop them now, he said, is if the government voluntarily transfers the Quebec-specific data from the long-gun registry.
"We will go before the courts if Bill C-19 passes, and if the (Quebec) government does not receive the data, our government lawyers already have their strategy in mind," he said.
Jeff Larivee, whose wife was killed in the 1989 Montreal massacre, is a spokesman for the Coalition for Gun Control. He said he and many other Quebecers feel outrage at the Harper government's determination to dismantle laws that, for many, serve as a memorial.
"I feel frustrated and I feel sad for my wife," he said. "We are continually facing a government with an ideological belief that guns should not be controlled."
While some lawyers doubt the constitutionality of provincial firearms registries, Toews has said that provincial registries are indeed legal.
"It's certainly possible for a province to create a gun registry under property and civil rights," he told Postmedia News in January. "I don't see a constitutional issue there."
Nevertheless, Toews said he is "certainly not advocating" provincial registries be set up.
Tony Bernardo is Canada's leading advocate for gun owners, as executive director of the Canadian Sports Shooting Association and a lobby group called the Canadian Institute for Legislative Action.
"I've been working for 15 years to make this happen," he said. "It's a big deal for me."
Bernardo says scrapping the long-gun registry is already a "defining moment" in Canadian people power.
"What you're seeing here, this is democracy in action at its finest," he said. "Millions of people spoke up and said we don't want this, and the government responded and now it's gone."
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27. Correction on Virginia's Domestic Violence law
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One of our law enforcement members sent me an email correcting a mistake I made in the alert on 2/26/12, item #2 "Bad bills killed in subcommittee last Friday" when quoting Virginia's domestic violence law.
We are a *three* strikes, you're out, not a two strikes. On the third misdemeanor domestic violence conviction in 20 years, the penalty moves from a misdemeanor to a felony.
Sorry for any confusion.
-------------------------------------------
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VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization
dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to
Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.
VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org [http://www.vcdl.org/]
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