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Chris Fordney: Guns are winning in capital
Philip Van Cleave has been kind enough to send me an e-mail about the activities of his group, the Virginia Citizens Defense League, which fights restrictions on guns for civilians and is not to be confused with the Virginia Defense Force, the state's unarmed military reserve organization.
The VCDL has been as organized and active as usual this year. "Pro-gun bills flood General Assembly," the release is headlined.
The group's Web site states that its rally in Richmond on Martin Luther King Jr. Day was "a stunning success." Some might think it was poor taste to hold it that day, but parking was free around the Capitol and gun-control groups have chosen that day for vigils, etc., so the VCDL apparently wanted its folks to be there too.
It's amazing how well the VCDL was received in Richmond. In the e-mail, Van Cleave acknowledges how cooperative Capitol police were for allowing members to be admitted by showing their concealed-carry permits. Now, where else would security let people in with guns?
The VCDL is serving up its usual menu of bills that seek the lifting of controls on carrying concealed weapons just about anywhere. Among their victories in recent years have been to eliminate restrictions in state and national parks, where muggers, rapists and murderers are known to congregate in large numbers.
By contrast, the perennial gun-control bill that would close the loophole that allows private sales at gun shows without background checks made it out of a Senate committee, but is considered an easy target for pro-gun Republicans in the House of Delegates.
The VCDL is also chafing against the "onerous" one-gun-a-month purchase restriction in Virginia. This has been a terrible hardship, allowing each gun owner to buy only about 200 handguns since this law went into effect. It's harder to gauge its effect on gangsters who might want to stop off at a store in Virginia and fill up a suitcase with Glocks.
Also, the much-feared gun seizure by President Obama has not come to pass. Obama has moved boldly and swiftly on a variety of his goals, so it's a mystery as to why he hasn't sent the feds into the South for the mass removal of firearms.
So the guns seem to be winning and I have even considered joining the crowd and getting a concealed-carry permit. With 160,000 people in the commonwealth now carrying concealed heat, you know there must be a few kooks among that generally law-abiding bunch, and I want to be ready for when I come across one of them.
Seriously, I worry less these days about muggers and more about running into some wacko with a chip on his shoulder, a pistol legally hidden under his coat and a readiness to provoke someone into giving him an excuse to use it.
I figure if a robber runs up and sticks a gun in my face and demands my wallet, I will dramatically raise my chances of being killed if I pull out a gun. If I wait until he turns and runs with my money and then shoot him in the back, I've acted as cop, jury, judge and executioner over the loss of a few bucks and a couple of credit cards.
Many people are carrying guns and have received training on how to use them. A much trickier issue is when to use them.
Contact Chris Fordney at cfordney@nvdaily.com
Chris Fordney: Guns are winning in capital
Philip Van Cleave has been kind enough to send me an e-mail about the activities of his group, the Virginia Citizens Defense League, which fights restrictions on guns for civilians and is not to be confused with the Virginia Defense Force, the state's unarmed military reserve organization.
The VCDL has been as organized and active as usual this year. "Pro-gun bills flood General Assembly," the release is headlined.
The group's Web site states that its rally in Richmond on Martin Luther King Jr. Day was "a stunning success." Some might think it was poor taste to hold it that day, but parking was free around the Capitol and gun-control groups have chosen that day for vigils, etc., so the VCDL apparently wanted its folks to be there too.
It's amazing how well the VCDL was received in Richmond. In the e-mail, Van Cleave acknowledges how cooperative Capitol police were for allowing members to be admitted by showing their concealed-carry permits. Now, where else would security let people in with guns?
The VCDL is serving up its usual menu of bills that seek the lifting of controls on carrying concealed weapons just about anywhere. Among their victories in recent years have been to eliminate restrictions in state and national parks, where muggers, rapists and murderers are known to congregate in large numbers.
By contrast, the perennial gun-control bill that would close the loophole that allows private sales at gun shows without background checks made it out of a Senate committee, but is considered an easy target for pro-gun Republicans in the House of Delegates.
The VCDL is also chafing against the "onerous" one-gun-a-month purchase restriction in Virginia. This has been a terrible hardship, allowing each gun owner to buy only about 200 handguns since this law went into effect. It's harder to gauge its effect on gangsters who might want to stop off at a store in Virginia and fill up a suitcase with Glocks.
Also, the much-feared gun seizure by President Obama has not come to pass. Obama has moved boldly and swiftly on a variety of his goals, so it's a mystery as to why he hasn't sent the feds into the South for the mass removal of firearms.
So the guns seem to be winning and I have even considered joining the crowd and getting a concealed-carry permit. With 160,000 people in the commonwealth now carrying concealed heat, you know there must be a few kooks among that generally law-abiding bunch, and I want to be ready for when I come across one of them.
Seriously, I worry less these days about muggers and more about running into some wacko with a chip on his shoulder, a pistol legally hidden under his coat and a readiness to provoke someone into giving him an excuse to use it.
I figure if a robber runs up and sticks a gun in my face and demands my wallet, I will dramatically raise my chances of being killed if I pull out a gun. If I wait until he turns and runs with my money and then shoot him in the back, I've acted as cop, jury, judge and executioner over the loss of a few bucks and a couple of credit cards.
Many people are carrying guns and have received training on how to use them. A much trickier issue is when to use them.
Contact Chris Fordney at cfordney@nvdaily.com