VA-ALERT: Good night for Gun Owners! 1/29/09

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VA-ALERT: Good night for Gun Owners! 1/29/09


-----Original Message-----
From: Philip Van Cleave
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2009 11:07 PM
Subject: VA-ALERT: Good night for Gun Owners! 1/29/09

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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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Legislative update 1/29/09

Tonight the Militia, Police, and Public Safety subcommittee #1 met at
5 PM. Here are the bills that were heard, their status, and any
comments:

HB 1655, Delegate Carrico, would put teeth in preemption. PASSED OUT
OF SUBCOMMITTEE!
The lobbyists for local governments hated this bill because it would
hold their clients responsible for illegal gun ordinances. They tried
to say that forcing localities to pay legal fees when sued was never
done before in Virginia. EM Hal Macklin reminded me that Freedom of
Information Act violations do that now. I passed that on to the
subcommittee, killing the lobbyists argument.

HB 1748, Delegate Pogge, would clarify that a permit holder that has
an expired permit does not have to be re-fingerprinted when renewing
his CHP. WITHDRAWN. She withdrew the bill because of objections of
the State Police. We'll revisit this again in the future.

HB 1851, Delegate Lingamfelter, would allow active duty military to be
exempt from Virginia's one handgun a month law. PASSED OUT OF
SUBCOMMITTEE!

HB 1910, Delegate BaCote, would allow guns to be banned in libraries.
KILLED! I pointed out that crimes do occur on library property --
just a few days ago someone was shot right in front of a library.

HB 2144, Delegate Nutter, would restrict access to the concealed
permit holder list from the State Police, but leaves a huge loophole
for circuit courts to give out that same information for their
jurisdiction. PASSED OUT OF SUBCOMMITTEE. I said that VCDL didn't
like the bill because of the huge loophole. Nutter said he wanted to
cement the protection that the Attorney General had provided on the
State Police giving out the list. The bill passed unmodified. (Go
figure.) We'll be back on this one. If any of you see a paper
putting our permit holder information, let me know and we will put
together a huge email blast to the General Assembly (there are now
9,200 of you on this email list).

HB 2178, Delegate E.T. Scott, would make possession of ammunition by a
felon a felony. KILLED! I pointed out that not all felons are bad
people. Someone who wrote a $300 bad check 30 years ago and lived a
clean, productive life ever since is not somebody who should be
categorized with a murder, rapist, or armed robber. With all kinds of
crimes becoming felonies, we are all going to be felons one of these
days.

HB 2227, Delegate Marsden, would make it illegal to carry a concealed
airgun if it can expel a projectile at over 300 feet per second. KILLED!

HB 2318, Delegate Morrissey, would make it a requirement that anyone
selling 3 or more guns at a gun show from a fixed location, like a
table, have a Federal Firearms License. KILLED!

HB 2481, Delegate Ward, would require anyone who legally owns a
machine gun to file a change of address with the State Police if they
move. KILLED! I argued that we need to get the State Police out of
the machine gun registration business, as the feds already do it. The
State Police wanted it so they knew if someone had a machine gun
before they knocked on his door. I said that only 1 violent crime has
ever been reported with a legally owned machine gun and there haven't
been any in Virginia - thus the State Police don't need to know if
someone has such a gun.

HB 2528, Delegate Cole, would make localities that hold gun buybacks
sell such guns to a dealer. PASSED OUT OF SUBCOMMITTEE!

--

Although VCDL tries to concentrate on Virginia laws, sometimes we will
look at a federal law. Jeff Knox, with the Firearms Coalition, wanted
me to pass this on to you as an ACTION ITEM:

Philip,

I understand that VCDL does not typically get involved in federal
matters, but I would appreciate it if you would let members know that
the vote for confirmation of anti-rights extremist Eric Holder to be
Attorney General of the United States is scheduled for Monday in the
U.S. Senate.

The Attorney General has broad powers regarding firearms regulations
and enforcement of federal firearms laws. Having an anti-gun activist
like Holder in such a critical position would be very bad for gunowners.

I am urging everyone to call Senators Web and Warner to ask that they
vote against confirmation of Holder and that if there is a filibuster,
that they not support ending the filibuster.

Eric Holder has many problems from his days as Janet Reno's deputy,
but his biggest problem should be his unconstitutional position on gun
ownership. Anyone seeking more information about Holder's activities
against the Second Amendment can find it at our web site:

www.FirearmsCoalition.org

Activists can reach Senators Webb and Warner at the following:

Senator Mark Warner
Phone: (202) 224-2023
WebMail: http://warner.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm

Senator Jim Webb
Phone: (202) 224-4024
WebMail: http://webb.senate.gov/contact/

The vote is scheduled for Monday so immediate action is needed!
Thanks,

Jeff Knox
Director, The Firearms Coalition



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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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imported post

W.E.G. wrote:

VA-ALERT: Good night for Gun Owners! 1/29/09

HB 2144, Delegate Nutter, would restrict access to the concealed
permit holder list from the State Police, but leaves a huge loophole
for circuit courts to give out that same information for their
jurisdiction. PASSED OUT OF SUBCOMMITTEE. I said that VCDL didn't
like the bill because of the huge loophole. Nutter said he wanted to
cement the protection that the Attorney General had provided on the
State Police giving out the list. The bill passed unmodified. (Go
figure.) We'll be back on this one. If any of you see a paper
putting our permit holder information, let me know and we will put
together a huge email blast to the General Assembly (there are now
9,200 of you on this email list).

Click to expand...

All in all, a very good day.

However, the gaping hole in the Nutter bill just makes my head want to explode. After reading the bold text above, which is similar to what Senator Houck said last summer in the FOIA Council Subcommittee that mindlessly sent the bill back to the full General Assembly this year, I just have to ask, why do they want to codify only a part of the opinion!?

Here are two paragraphs from the Attorney General's opinion, which they claim they are trying to "cement" into law. My emphasis is added.

First, at the beginning of the opinion:

Response

It is my opinion that the Department of State Police possesses the discretionary authority to release the names of concealed carry handgun permittees, including other associated personal information, pursuant to a request under The Virginia Freedom of Information Act. However, since such list of permittees will include names and other personal information of crime victims and witnesses, it is my opinion that the identities and locations of these persons should be protected in the interest of public safety. The Department has the responsibility to refrain from releasing sensitive personal information when the interests of public safety demand discretion. Further, it is my opinion that the express language of §18.2-308(K) limits the use of concealed carry permit information to law-enforcement personnel for investigative purposes.

Click to expand...

Then again, at the end of the opinion:

Conclusion

Accordingly, it is my opinion that the Department of State Police possesses the discretionary authority to release the names of concealed carry handgun permittees, including other associated personal information, pursuant to a request under The Virginia Freedom of Information Act. However, since such list of permittees will include names and other personal information of crime victims and witnesses, it is my opinion that the identities and locations of these persons should be protected in the interest of public safety. The Department has the responsibility to refrain from releasing sensitive personal information when the interests of public safety demand discretion. Further, it is my opinion that the express language of §18.2-308(K) limits the use of concealed carry permit information to law-enforcement personnel for investigative purposes.

Click to expand...

Nearly identical text, repeated twice in the three page opinion, found here.

How can the Clerk of the Court, releasing this information for publication in the local newspaper possibly be consistent with "limited... to law-enforcement personnel for investigative purposes"?

The entire reason for restricting the State Police from releasing this information is to protect the safety of the public. Again, how do Clerks feeding the local newspapers with this information on a regular basis, possibly keep the public "safe"?

Nobody seems to have an explanation as to why they seem to want to cement into code only one half of the opinion, leaving the courthouse side wide open for public dissemination and publication in your local newspaper for any criminal to see and come invade your home and steal your firearms. Even from an anti-gun perspective, this does not seem like such a good idea.

Ok, I'm off my rant for the moment.

I was fortunate enough to sit down one-on-one with my Delegate (Speaker Howell) and share my thoughts on this for about 10 minutes during the afternoon on the 19th, and he was very cordial and understanding about the problem. I believe if we could get the bill amended to close both ends, he would support it.

TFred