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VA-ALERT: Legislative Session Wrap-up
-----Original Message-----
From: Philip Van Cleave
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 8:57 PM
Subject: VA-ALERT: Legislative Session Wrap-up
Now that the legislative session is over, it's time to recap what
happened in the General Assembly.
Because of the Virginia Tech massacre, the sheer number of bills that
were introduced, both pro-gun and anti-gun, exceeded anything I'd seen
in the past. In fact, my time at the General assembly between mid-
January and the end of February were some of the most intense I have
experienced, requiring, amongst other things, a quick learning session
on Virginia's mental health laws!
The anti-gun groups felt that this year would be a record year for
them. Fortunately for our freedoms, the antis batted zero this
year. Virtually all of the gun control that was introduced died in
committee quickly. Except for trying to block pro-gun bills, the anti-
gunners were pretty much done a couple of weeks into the session!
Even the governor, who put a tremendous amount of political pressure
and spent a lot of political capital to get the so called "gun show
loophole" bill passed, failed to be able to get that bill out of a
single committee - including a committee controlled by Democrats in
the Democratic controlled Senate!
That confirms what VCDL had been saying since last December about the
Senate now being more pro-gun than it was under Republican leadership.
However, it was not a good year for gun owners getting pro-gun bills
passed either.
We did manage to get five pro-gun bills passed, including a mental
health gun bill. But two of the most important bills were vetoed,
leaving us a total of two minor pro-gun bills and one mental health
bill that were signed into law.
Of course, if we walked away with little, the anti-gunners,
demoralized, walked away with their tails tucked firmly between their
legs! Good work, VCDL!
Let's look at the different categories of gun bills that were put
before the General assembly this year.
**********************************************
**What was passed and signed into law **
**********************************************
IMPROVEMENTS IN RENEWAL AND ADDRESS CHANGES FOR PERMIT HOLDERS
The first bill, HB 529, was one that Delegate Pogge carried to
fruition for the VCDL which clarified that when you renew your permit
the renewal date will pick up from the date that the old permit
expired on. This change means that you would not lose any days weeks
or months on the amount of time that you paid for when you received
your five-year permit. The catch is that you must renew between 90
and 180 days before your permit expires. The bill also set up a
mechanism for a permit holder to get a new permit when the permit
holder has a change of address, for a fee of $10. Do realize that you
are NOT required to update the address on your CHP under either
current law or HB 529.
MENTAL HEALTH AND GUNS
HB 815, introduced by Delegate Albo, was a mental-health bill that
dealt with firearms. The bill as originally introduced had many
problems with it and VCDL worked hard with the House Courts of Justice
committee to get HB 815 into acceptable shape.
In the end the bill was improved to such an extent that it could be
supported by VCDL. The bill now has provisions for a person to get
their rights restored if they're either cured of a mental illness or
if they were caught up in the mental health system by mistake.
Here is how the mental health laws will work on July 1 when the new
law goes into effect:
If the police believe the person is mentally ill, the police can take
the person in front of a judge. If the judge feels that the person
needs to be evaluated to determine if the person is mentally ill, the
judge can then issue a temporary detention order and the person will
then be held and evaluated for 48 hours.
NOTE: Under the current law as soon as the temporary detention order
is issued, you lose your gun rights, even if you are later shown not
to be mentally ill. Under the new law your rights are not yet lost.
If the evaluation shows that you are insane, then the judge can either
involuntarily commit you to an inpatient facility for treatment or the
judge can let you have outpatient treatment. Whether you get
mandatory inpatient or outpatient treatment, you lose your gun
rights. If you choose to do voluntary outpatient treatment, skipping
going to court, the new law requires that you must be warned that
doing so will cause you to lose your gun rights.
For that reason, I would recommend a person never agree to mandatory
outpatient treatment! You have nothing to gain and everything to
lose. Go in front of a judge and fight it. Of course, I am not a
lawyer and you need to get proper legal advice if you find yourself in
such a situation.
On a good point, there are provisions where you can petition the court
to get your rights restored. There are even appeal provisions so that
if the court denies your petition, you can appeal to a higher court to
get your rights back. Unless the court can show that you should not
have your rights restored because you still have mental-health
problems, then the court is required to reinstate your gun rights!
MAKING THE LAW SIMPLER SO THAT SOME OF THE MORE CHALLENGED JUDGES CAN
UNDERSTAND IT
There was one other gun bill that was passed into law and that was HB
873, introduced by Delegate Johnson. The bill simply clarified
current law that any kind of training required to get a concealed
handgun permit would never expire. That is current law, but a judge
in Washington County was unable to read the current law correctly, so
this bill was introduced to make sure that it was even more crystal-
clear than it was before.
*****************************************************
**What was passed, but vetoed by the Governor**
*****************************************************
RESTAURANT BAN REPEAL
Senator Hanger put in SB 476 for VCDL, which would repeal the
restaurant ban. That bill passed both houses, which is the first time
that's ever happened, and landed squarely on the Governor's desk. The
Governor vetoed the bill saying that he didn't believe that alcohol
and guns mixed. Forget the fact that the bill prohibited the
consumption of alcoholic beverages by a person carrying concealed in a
restaurant with a permit to be able to drink. Again I'm applying
logic to gun control (and to Governor Kaine's actions) and you can't
do that and keep your sanity.
SB 776, put in by Senator Hurt, completely exempts Commonwealth
Attorneys from the prohibition on carrying concealed WEAPONS anywhere
in Virginia. Thus, Commonwealth Attorneys will be allowed to carry a
concealed handgun off-duty into restaurants and drink alcoholic
beverages as well as carrying openly or concealed on all K-12 school
properties -- both of which CHP holders are prohibited from doing.
VCDL feels that law-abiding concealed handgun permit holders should
have the same abilities to carry as an off-duty Commonwealth
Attorney. We must now make it a priority to fix this inequity.
VEHICLE TRANSPORT OF FIREARMS
Senator Vogel introduced SB 436, which was a bill that would have
allowed a person to have a gun in a locked container or locked
compartment while they are in a vehicle or boat. This bill basically
reinstated law as it was before an activist judge changed it in the
1990s. The governor vetoed this bill, again showing his lack of
understanding of state law.
**************************
**What did NOT pass **
**************************
STRENGTHENING PREEMPTION LAWS AND ADDING SOME TEETH
Delegate Cole introduced HB 109, which would have preempted any state
agency, except colleges and universities, from implementing their own
firearms regulations. This bill did not even get a chance to be voted
on because the House Republican leadership.
Delegate Gilbert introduced HB 1371, the bill that would make it clear
that a person with a concealed handgun permit could carry on all state
property including colleges and universities. It prohibited colleges
and universities from being able to pass any kind of rule that would
have affected the ability of a permit holder to carry, including
students and faculty. Like HB 109, the House Republican Leadership
ensured that this bill would not be heard in Committee so that it
would not be voted on.
Delegate Carrico introduced HB 371 which would have provided a penalty
for any locality that illegally enforced a preempted ordinance, such
as what happened to VCDL member Chet Szymeckii in Norfolk last year.
HB 371 passed the House but died in the Senate Courts of Justice
Committee.
FIREARMS PRIVATE SALE REGISTRATION SCHEME
Senator Marsh introduced SB 109 in the Senate and Delegate Caputo
introduced HB 745 and Delegate Marsden introduced HB 592 in the
House. All three of those bills were to close a nonexistent "gun show
loophole." The real intent of those bills was to implement a private
sale registration scheme for gun owners buying guns from a regular
citizen. Thankfully, all three of the bills died in committee. Even
pressure on the State Police to support the bill by the Governor and a
lot of other political capitol spent by the Governor didn't make any
difference. The Governor just couldn't get on the correct side of gun
rights this year and paid the price.
CASTLE DOCTRINE
Delegate Janis put in a "castle doctrine" bill, HB 710. That bill
passed the House but ended up dying in a Senate committee as it has
for the last several years. Virginia's self-defense laws (set out in
common law and in case law) are pretty good, so this bill is not as
urgent as it would be in many other states.
PROTECTING THE CHP LIST
HB 982, introduced by Delegate Nutter, was a pro-gun bill to protect
the concealed handgun permit holder list from being made public, as
was done by the Roanoke Times last year. Delegate Nutter's bill made
an exception in it for organizations such as the VCDL to get access to
the list for use in promoting firearm safety and other issues of
interest to gun owners. (The provision allowing firearms advocacy
groups access to the CHP list was stripped from the bill in a House
committee.) The bill also prohibited the release of local lists by
Circuit Courts.
Senator Houck introduced SB 529, which would have blocked the
dissemination of the concealed handgun permit list by the state police
BUT would have allowed local Circuit Courts to disseminate local
permit information. This was something that the Freedom of
Information Act Commission had wanted. However it would allow the
Free Lance-Star to continue publishing the new CHP holders every
month, as they have been doing for years now.
Coincidentally (???) the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star operates
within Senator Houck's district! Senator Houck opposed Delegate
Nutter's bill and both of their bills have been referred back to the
Freedom of Information Act Commission for further work.
We need to see that the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star privacy
invasion acts are stopped. I don't have faith that the FOIA Council
will be helpful.
In the meantime, the CHP list from the State Police remains locked
down per the Attorney General opinion from last year.
VCDL LICENSE PLATES
Delegate Abbitt introduced HB 79 this year for the Virginia citizens
Defense League. The bill would have authorized VCDL license plates.
However due to confusing laws dealing with license plates, we will
have to try to pass that bill again next year. We will begin
gathering the applications and money from people who want the plates
later in the year, as we now know that we have to have all that
available to the committee when the bill is considered.
BAN GUNS HERE, BAN GUNS THERE
There were a variety of gun bans that were introduced this year - all
of them defeated in committees!:
Delegate BaCote introduced HB 697 and Delegate Caputo introduced HB
734, both of which would have banned guns in libraries, of all places.
Delegate Spruill was bound and determined to ban guns on Capitol
grounds, but he got his tail kicked BADLY when he tried it. First he
introduced a resolution in the House to ban guns in House areas of the
Capitol. That resolution was CRUSHED by a bi-partisan vote of 77 to
18! Seeing the writing on the wall (how could he miss it?) Spruill
pulled his Capitol Gun Ban bill, HB 1277.
SB 476, introduced by Delegate Caputo, would have banned guns at day
care centers.
HB 1338, introduced by Delegate Barlow, would have made brandishing a
felony. That bill, however, was not killed but was continued to next
year. Thus we will have to watch to make sure that HB 1338 dies next
year.
HB 899, introduced by gun-hater Delegate Jim Scott, was a bill that
would have required cartridges to be microstamped when they're fired
out of a gun. The idea would be that the casings could be identified
with a gun. There were so many holes in the bill, that it sank like a
sieve.
Delegate Toscano introduced HB 281 and Delegate Eisenberg introduced
HB 608, both of which would have disarmed a person who has a
protective order against them while in their own home. I liked to
think of those bills as, "Claim your spouse is an abuser and let the
government disarm him or her so that you can go over to his or her
house and commit murder safely." The committee agreed with that
assessment.
SB 33, introduced by Senator Locke, would have banned guns at
carnivals, festivals and other events. This bill was in response to
what happened to VCDL member Chet Szymecki in Norfolk, where the
Norfolk Police illegally enforced an illegal City ordinance that was
preempted. The police knowingly break the law and Senator Locke
rushes in not to chastise the police, but to change the law to make
their illegal action legal. To hell with the citizens.
HB 588, introduced by Delegate Marsden, would have made concealing an
air gun a crime. This was the law in the past, but had been fixed not
too many years ago. VCDL would like to continue to see that the
current law remain in effect.
SB 300, introduced by Senator Whipple, would have banned guns in
government buildings. He did make an exception for concealed handgun
permit holders and police, but VCDL still opposed it because citizens
should not need to have a concealed handgun permit to be able to
exercise their rights. Especially in a government building!
LOBBY DAY
We had a spectacular VCDL "Lobby Day" this year. With 400 gun owners
showing up at the General Assembly, we dwarfed the approximately 100
anti-gun supporters who showed up to hold a rally. The VCDL Lobby Day
members were broken into groups and went around lobbying the various
Delegates and Senators, providing reports back to me on who they had
talked to and what was said. Those reports were very enlightening and
helped greatly in our efforts to get pro-gun bills passed and anti-gun
bills killed.
It is, yet again, gun owners who stood up when called upon and did an
excellent job in protecting our rights and the rights of future
generations.
RANDOM NOTES AND RUMINATIONS
There's little doubt that the private sale registration scheme
(incorrectly referred to as 'gun show loophole') bills that were
defeated this year will be back again next year with new provisions.
The crime commission is going to look at the bills and provide some
information for Delegates and Senators to consider as they look at
future versions of those bills. But VCDL will be there to fight hard,
with your help, to make sure that those bills are defeated yet again.
VCDL will continue to push to repeal the restaurant and we plan to put
a significant amount of effort into that before the next General
Assembly session even starts. We will also be fighting to ensure
college students, faculty, and staff at universities and colleges can
carry a concealed handgun if they have a CHP without fear of being
fired or expelled. We will continue to support bills that allow law-
abiding citizens to have a gun in a locked container or locked
compartment in a vehicle. Hopefully the Governor will do some
research to see that had been the law for a very long time before that
bad judicial ruling.
I was shocked earlier this year when the State Police spoke in favor
of the gun show bills in the House and Senate. I believe, however,
that the support of the State Police was probably coerced by the
Governor, who had pulled out all stops in trying to get the gun show
bills passed into law. Fortunately, the position of the State Police
did not seem to have any effect on the disposition of those bills.
HB 436, introduced by Delegate Jackson Miller, which would have
allowed a police officer to arrest someone for a class 1 and class 2
misdemeanor was ultimately defeated in a Senate committee. But a
recent ruling by the US Supreme Court said that an officer can indeed
search your vehicle and your immediate surroundings any time you are
arrested for any reason, regardless of whether that arrest is actually
legal under state law (!). I imagine that the ruling will now negate
the need for Delegate Miller to introduce that same bill again next
year. We'll see.
In summary, gunowners took a small step forward and did not take any
steps backward. Mental health laws were improved and now offer better
protections for gun owners should they be cured of mental illness or
should they be incorrectly caught up in the mental health system.
All things considered we did a good job this year! I want to thank
everyone for their efforts protecting our rights and for moving the
ball forward a little more.
SPECIAL THANKS FOR SUPPORTING VCDL'S EFFORTS THIS YEAR
Special thanks to those who put in bills for VCDL: Delegate Pogge (HB
529 -signed into law), Senator Emmett Hanger (SB 476), Delegate
Carrico (HB 371), Delegate Gilbert (HB 1371), and Delegate Abbitt (HB
79).
Thanks also Delegates Johnson and Albo for working diligently with
VCDL to fix problems in their original bills (HB 873 and HB 815,
respectively). Delegates Janis, Griffith, and Frahlin also helped
considerably with fixing HB 815.
Thanks to freshman Senator Jill Vogel for stepping up to the plate and
doing a good job fighting for her locked container bill., Many
legislators stay away from controversial bills their first year, but
hats off to Senator Vogel for showing how to do it.
Finally, thanks to Senator Richard "Banjo" Saslaw for reminding us why
we formed VCDL in the first place. We must never give in to the
bigotry, the "freedom-be-damned," and the "ends-justifies-the-means"
mentality of gun-haters. Never.
-------------------------------------------
***************************************************************************
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
***************************************************************************
VA-ALERT: Legislative Session Wrap-up
-----Original Message-----
From: Philip Van Cleave
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 8:57 PM
Subject: VA-ALERT: Legislative Session Wrap-up
Now that the legislative session is over, it's time to recap what
happened in the General Assembly.
Because of the Virginia Tech massacre, the sheer number of bills that
were introduced, both pro-gun and anti-gun, exceeded anything I'd seen
in the past. In fact, my time at the General assembly between mid-
January and the end of February were some of the most intense I have
experienced, requiring, amongst other things, a quick learning session
on Virginia's mental health laws!
The anti-gun groups felt that this year would be a record year for
them. Fortunately for our freedoms, the antis batted zero this
year. Virtually all of the gun control that was introduced died in
committee quickly. Except for trying to block pro-gun bills, the anti-
gunners were pretty much done a couple of weeks into the session!
Even the governor, who put a tremendous amount of political pressure
and spent a lot of political capital to get the so called "gun show
loophole" bill passed, failed to be able to get that bill out of a
single committee - including a committee controlled by Democrats in
the Democratic controlled Senate!
That confirms what VCDL had been saying since last December about the
Senate now being more pro-gun than it was under Republican leadership.
However, it was not a good year for gun owners getting pro-gun bills
passed either.
We did manage to get five pro-gun bills passed, including a mental
health gun bill. But two of the most important bills were vetoed,
leaving us a total of two minor pro-gun bills and one mental health
bill that were signed into law.
Of course, if we walked away with little, the anti-gunners,
demoralized, walked away with their tails tucked firmly between their
legs! Good work, VCDL!
Let's look at the different categories of gun bills that were put
before the General assembly this year.
**********************************************
**What was passed and signed into law **
**********************************************
IMPROVEMENTS IN RENEWAL AND ADDRESS CHANGES FOR PERMIT HOLDERS
The first bill, HB 529, was one that Delegate Pogge carried to
fruition for the VCDL which clarified that when you renew your permit
the renewal date will pick up from the date that the old permit
expired on. This change means that you would not lose any days weeks
or months on the amount of time that you paid for when you received
your five-year permit. The catch is that you must renew between 90
and 180 days before your permit expires. The bill also set up a
mechanism for a permit holder to get a new permit when the permit
holder has a change of address, for a fee of $10. Do realize that you
are NOT required to update the address on your CHP under either
current law or HB 529.
MENTAL HEALTH AND GUNS
HB 815, introduced by Delegate Albo, was a mental-health bill that
dealt with firearms. The bill as originally introduced had many
problems with it and VCDL worked hard with the House Courts of Justice
committee to get HB 815 into acceptable shape.
In the end the bill was improved to such an extent that it could be
supported by VCDL. The bill now has provisions for a person to get
their rights restored if they're either cured of a mental illness or
if they were caught up in the mental health system by mistake.
Here is how the mental health laws will work on July 1 when the new
law goes into effect:
If the police believe the person is mentally ill, the police can take
the person in front of a judge. If the judge feels that the person
needs to be evaluated to determine if the person is mentally ill, the
judge can then issue a temporary detention order and the person will
then be held and evaluated for 48 hours.
NOTE: Under the current law as soon as the temporary detention order
is issued, you lose your gun rights, even if you are later shown not
to be mentally ill. Under the new law your rights are not yet lost.
If the evaluation shows that you are insane, then the judge can either
involuntarily commit you to an inpatient facility for treatment or the
judge can let you have outpatient treatment. Whether you get
mandatory inpatient or outpatient treatment, you lose your gun
rights. If you choose to do voluntary outpatient treatment, skipping
going to court, the new law requires that you must be warned that
doing so will cause you to lose your gun rights.
For that reason, I would recommend a person never agree to mandatory
outpatient treatment! You have nothing to gain and everything to
lose. Go in front of a judge and fight it. Of course, I am not a
lawyer and you need to get proper legal advice if you find yourself in
such a situation.
On a good point, there are provisions where you can petition the court
to get your rights restored. There are even appeal provisions so that
if the court denies your petition, you can appeal to a higher court to
get your rights back. Unless the court can show that you should not
have your rights restored because you still have mental-health
problems, then the court is required to reinstate your gun rights!
MAKING THE LAW SIMPLER SO THAT SOME OF THE MORE CHALLENGED JUDGES CAN
UNDERSTAND IT
There was one other gun bill that was passed into law and that was HB
873, introduced by Delegate Johnson. The bill simply clarified
current law that any kind of training required to get a concealed
handgun permit would never expire. That is current law, but a judge
in Washington County was unable to read the current law correctly, so
this bill was introduced to make sure that it was even more crystal-
clear than it was before.
*****************************************************
**What was passed, but vetoed by the Governor**
*****************************************************
RESTAURANT BAN REPEAL
Senator Hanger put in SB 476 for VCDL, which would repeal the
restaurant ban. That bill passed both houses, which is the first time
that's ever happened, and landed squarely on the Governor's desk. The
Governor vetoed the bill saying that he didn't believe that alcohol
and guns mixed. Forget the fact that the bill prohibited the
consumption of alcoholic beverages by a person carrying concealed in a
restaurant with a permit to be able to drink. Again I'm applying
logic to gun control (and to Governor Kaine's actions) and you can't
do that and keep your sanity.
SB 776, put in by Senator Hurt, completely exempts Commonwealth
Attorneys from the prohibition on carrying concealed WEAPONS anywhere
in Virginia. Thus, Commonwealth Attorneys will be allowed to carry a
concealed handgun off-duty into restaurants and drink alcoholic
beverages as well as carrying openly or concealed on all K-12 school
properties -- both of which CHP holders are prohibited from doing.
VCDL feels that law-abiding concealed handgun permit holders should
have the same abilities to carry as an off-duty Commonwealth
Attorney. We must now make it a priority to fix this inequity.
VEHICLE TRANSPORT OF FIREARMS
Senator Vogel introduced SB 436, which was a bill that would have
allowed a person to have a gun in a locked container or locked
compartment while they are in a vehicle or boat. This bill basically
reinstated law as it was before an activist judge changed it in the
1990s. The governor vetoed this bill, again showing his lack of
understanding of state law.
**************************
**What did NOT pass **
**************************
STRENGTHENING PREEMPTION LAWS AND ADDING SOME TEETH
Delegate Cole introduced HB 109, which would have preempted any state
agency, except colleges and universities, from implementing their own
firearms regulations. This bill did not even get a chance to be voted
on because the House Republican leadership.
Delegate Gilbert introduced HB 1371, the bill that would make it clear
that a person with a concealed handgun permit could carry on all state
property including colleges and universities. It prohibited colleges
and universities from being able to pass any kind of rule that would
have affected the ability of a permit holder to carry, including
students and faculty. Like HB 109, the House Republican Leadership
ensured that this bill would not be heard in Committee so that it
would not be voted on.
Delegate Carrico introduced HB 371 which would have provided a penalty
for any locality that illegally enforced a preempted ordinance, such
as what happened to VCDL member Chet Szymeckii in Norfolk last year.
HB 371 passed the House but died in the Senate Courts of Justice
Committee.
FIREARMS PRIVATE SALE REGISTRATION SCHEME
Senator Marsh introduced SB 109 in the Senate and Delegate Caputo
introduced HB 745 and Delegate Marsden introduced HB 592 in the
House. All three of those bills were to close a nonexistent "gun show
loophole." The real intent of those bills was to implement a private
sale registration scheme for gun owners buying guns from a regular
citizen. Thankfully, all three of the bills died in committee. Even
pressure on the State Police to support the bill by the Governor and a
lot of other political capitol spent by the Governor didn't make any
difference. The Governor just couldn't get on the correct side of gun
rights this year and paid the price.
CASTLE DOCTRINE
Delegate Janis put in a "castle doctrine" bill, HB 710. That bill
passed the House but ended up dying in a Senate committee as it has
for the last several years. Virginia's self-defense laws (set out in
common law and in case law) are pretty good, so this bill is not as
urgent as it would be in many other states.
PROTECTING THE CHP LIST
HB 982, introduced by Delegate Nutter, was a pro-gun bill to protect
the concealed handgun permit holder list from being made public, as
was done by the Roanoke Times last year. Delegate Nutter's bill made
an exception in it for organizations such as the VCDL to get access to
the list for use in promoting firearm safety and other issues of
interest to gun owners. (The provision allowing firearms advocacy
groups access to the CHP list was stripped from the bill in a House
committee.) The bill also prohibited the release of local lists by
Circuit Courts.
Senator Houck introduced SB 529, which would have blocked the
dissemination of the concealed handgun permit list by the state police
BUT would have allowed local Circuit Courts to disseminate local
permit information. This was something that the Freedom of
Information Act Commission had wanted. However it would allow the
Free Lance-Star to continue publishing the new CHP holders every
month, as they have been doing for years now.
Coincidentally (???) the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star operates
within Senator Houck's district! Senator Houck opposed Delegate
Nutter's bill and both of their bills have been referred back to the
Freedom of Information Act Commission for further work.
We need to see that the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star privacy
invasion acts are stopped. I don't have faith that the FOIA Council
will be helpful.
In the meantime, the CHP list from the State Police remains locked
down per the Attorney General opinion from last year.
VCDL LICENSE PLATES
Delegate Abbitt introduced HB 79 this year for the Virginia citizens
Defense League. The bill would have authorized VCDL license plates.
However due to confusing laws dealing with license plates, we will
have to try to pass that bill again next year. We will begin
gathering the applications and money from people who want the plates
later in the year, as we now know that we have to have all that
available to the committee when the bill is considered.
BAN GUNS HERE, BAN GUNS THERE
There were a variety of gun bans that were introduced this year - all
of them defeated in committees!:
Delegate BaCote introduced HB 697 and Delegate Caputo introduced HB
734, both of which would have banned guns in libraries, of all places.
Delegate Spruill was bound and determined to ban guns on Capitol
grounds, but he got his tail kicked BADLY when he tried it. First he
introduced a resolution in the House to ban guns in House areas of the
Capitol. That resolution was CRUSHED by a bi-partisan vote of 77 to
18! Seeing the writing on the wall (how could he miss it?) Spruill
pulled his Capitol Gun Ban bill, HB 1277.
SB 476, introduced by Delegate Caputo, would have banned guns at day
care centers.
HB 1338, introduced by Delegate Barlow, would have made brandishing a
felony. That bill, however, was not killed but was continued to next
year. Thus we will have to watch to make sure that HB 1338 dies next
year.
HB 899, introduced by gun-hater Delegate Jim Scott, was a bill that
would have required cartridges to be microstamped when they're fired
out of a gun. The idea would be that the casings could be identified
with a gun. There were so many holes in the bill, that it sank like a
sieve.
Delegate Toscano introduced HB 281 and Delegate Eisenberg introduced
HB 608, both of which would have disarmed a person who has a
protective order against them while in their own home. I liked to
think of those bills as, "Claim your spouse is an abuser and let the
government disarm him or her so that you can go over to his or her
house and commit murder safely." The committee agreed with that
assessment.
SB 33, introduced by Senator Locke, would have banned guns at
carnivals, festivals and other events. This bill was in response to
what happened to VCDL member Chet Szymecki in Norfolk, where the
Norfolk Police illegally enforced an illegal City ordinance that was
preempted. The police knowingly break the law and Senator Locke
rushes in not to chastise the police, but to change the law to make
their illegal action legal. To hell with the citizens.
HB 588, introduced by Delegate Marsden, would have made concealing an
air gun a crime. This was the law in the past, but had been fixed not
too many years ago. VCDL would like to continue to see that the
current law remain in effect.
SB 300, introduced by Senator Whipple, would have banned guns in
government buildings. He did make an exception for concealed handgun
permit holders and police, but VCDL still opposed it because citizens
should not need to have a concealed handgun permit to be able to
exercise their rights. Especially in a government building!
LOBBY DAY
We had a spectacular VCDL "Lobby Day" this year. With 400 gun owners
showing up at the General Assembly, we dwarfed the approximately 100
anti-gun supporters who showed up to hold a rally. The VCDL Lobby Day
members were broken into groups and went around lobbying the various
Delegates and Senators, providing reports back to me on who they had
talked to and what was said. Those reports were very enlightening and
helped greatly in our efforts to get pro-gun bills passed and anti-gun
bills killed.
It is, yet again, gun owners who stood up when called upon and did an
excellent job in protecting our rights and the rights of future
generations.
RANDOM NOTES AND RUMINATIONS
There's little doubt that the private sale registration scheme
(incorrectly referred to as 'gun show loophole') bills that were
defeated this year will be back again next year with new provisions.
The crime commission is going to look at the bills and provide some
information for Delegates and Senators to consider as they look at
future versions of those bills. But VCDL will be there to fight hard,
with your help, to make sure that those bills are defeated yet again.
VCDL will continue to push to repeal the restaurant and we plan to put
a significant amount of effort into that before the next General
Assembly session even starts. We will also be fighting to ensure
college students, faculty, and staff at universities and colleges can
carry a concealed handgun if they have a CHP without fear of being
fired or expelled. We will continue to support bills that allow law-
abiding citizens to have a gun in a locked container or locked
compartment in a vehicle. Hopefully the Governor will do some
research to see that had been the law for a very long time before that
bad judicial ruling.
I was shocked earlier this year when the State Police spoke in favor
of the gun show bills in the House and Senate. I believe, however,
that the support of the State Police was probably coerced by the
Governor, who had pulled out all stops in trying to get the gun show
bills passed into law. Fortunately, the position of the State Police
did not seem to have any effect on the disposition of those bills.
HB 436, introduced by Delegate Jackson Miller, which would have
allowed a police officer to arrest someone for a class 1 and class 2
misdemeanor was ultimately defeated in a Senate committee. But a
recent ruling by the US Supreme Court said that an officer can indeed
search your vehicle and your immediate surroundings any time you are
arrested for any reason, regardless of whether that arrest is actually
legal under state law (!). I imagine that the ruling will now negate
the need for Delegate Miller to introduce that same bill again next
year. We'll see.
In summary, gunowners took a small step forward and did not take any
steps backward. Mental health laws were improved and now offer better
protections for gun owners should they be cured of mental illness or
should they be incorrectly caught up in the mental health system.
All things considered we did a good job this year! I want to thank
everyone for their efforts protecting our rights and for moving the
ball forward a little more.
SPECIAL THANKS FOR SUPPORTING VCDL'S EFFORTS THIS YEAR
Special thanks to those who put in bills for VCDL: Delegate Pogge (HB
529 -signed into law), Senator Emmett Hanger (SB 476), Delegate
Carrico (HB 371), Delegate Gilbert (HB 1371), and Delegate Abbitt (HB
79).
Thanks also Delegates Johnson and Albo for working diligently with
VCDL to fix problems in their original bills (HB 873 and HB 815,
respectively). Delegates Janis, Griffith, and Frahlin also helped
considerably with fixing HB 815.
Thanks to freshman Senator Jill Vogel for stepping up to the plate and
doing a good job fighting for her locked container bill., Many
legislators stay away from controversial bills their first year, but
hats off to Senator Vogel for showing how to do it.
Finally, thanks to Senator Richard "Banjo" Saslaw for reminding us why
we formed VCDL in the first place. We must never give in to the
bigotry, the "freedom-be-damned," and the "ends-justifies-the-means"
mentality of gun-haters. Never.
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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
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hilip@virginiasystems.com]