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HB 171: Firearms in locked vehicles; immunity from liability
- Thread starter TFred
- Start date
T Dubya
Campaign Veteran
imported post
I keep checking VCDL Alerts hoping that the amendment will be scrapped or some miracle to happen.
I keep checking VCDL Alerts hoping that the amendment will be scrapped or some miracle to happen.
streetdoc
Regular Member
imported post
I just sent this to the Senate subcommittee that will be hearing the firearm legislation today. I also attached the referenced OSHA Letter to the e-mail.
__________________
I am urging you to support and pass HB171. This bill would allow us to lawfully secure our firearms at many different locations (employment, shopping, recreation, etc.) while still respecting the property rights of the land owner.
This bill does not change the fact that the land owner can still post his building stating that firearms are not allowed or he can tell the individual that he does not allow firearms inside his facility and that individual would have to take any firearm back outside and secure it in his vehicle. This bill does respect the individuals right, with some restrictions, to have a firearm with him during travel time to and from various locations as guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. The indications are that the Supreme Court is going to rule that this Amendment is Incorporated and applies to state and local government as well. Nine states, Alaska, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Oklahoma have passed versions of HB171. Along with Virginia, the states of Arizona, Missouri and Tennessee are working on passing similar legislation.
This type of legislation has been challenged in court and has gone to various State Courts and US District Courts (see US Court of Appeals, 10[sup]th[/sup] Circuit, Case # 07-5166 dated Feb 18, 2009 ) where it has been ruled to be Constitutional. In the case of Oklahoma, State Senator Ellis requested an opinion from the US Department of Labor, the reply came from the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health dated Jan 16 2009 (OSHAParkingLotLtr01162009.pdf). OSHA held in the summary of this letter and states in part: “OSHA also believes that state firearms right-to-possess laws do not, as a general matter, frustrate the OSH Act’s purpose in Section 2(d) of encouraging employers voluntarily to adopt protective measures. … Accordingly, under these circumstances, in the absence of a recognized hazard, the OSH Act’s general purpose of encouraging employers to provide and promote safety and health also does not preempt these types of state laws.”
Remember what the Constitution of Virginia states in Article 1, Bill of Rights, Section 13. Militia; standing armies; military subordinate to civil power. That a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state, therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
Does this look familiar; "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge all the duties incumbent upon me as ...................., according to the best of my ability (so help me God)." It’s the oath you took when you were elected to represent us is in the state government under Article II, Section 7 of the Constitution of Virginia.
Please support and pass HB171.
I just sent this to the Senate subcommittee that will be hearing the firearm legislation today. I also attached the referenced OSHA Letter to the e-mail.
__________________
I am urging you to support and pass HB171. This bill would allow us to lawfully secure our firearms at many different locations (employment, shopping, recreation, etc.) while still respecting the property rights of the land owner.
This bill does not change the fact that the land owner can still post his building stating that firearms are not allowed or he can tell the individual that he does not allow firearms inside his facility and that individual would have to take any firearm back outside and secure it in his vehicle. This bill does respect the individuals right, with some restrictions, to have a firearm with him during travel time to and from various locations as guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. The indications are that the Supreme Court is going to rule that this Amendment is Incorporated and applies to state and local government as well. Nine states, Alaska, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Oklahoma have passed versions of HB171. Along with Virginia, the states of Arizona, Missouri and Tennessee are working on passing similar legislation.
This type of legislation has been challenged in court and has gone to various State Courts and US District Courts (see US Court of Appeals, 10[sup]th[/sup] Circuit, Case # 07-5166 dated Feb 18, 2009 ) where it has been ruled to be Constitutional. In the case of Oklahoma, State Senator Ellis requested an opinion from the US Department of Labor, the reply came from the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health dated Jan 16 2009 (OSHAParkingLotLtr01162009.pdf). OSHA held in the summary of this letter and states in part: “OSHA also believes that state firearms right-to-possess laws do not, as a general matter, frustrate the OSH Act’s purpose in Section 2(d) of encouraging employers voluntarily to adopt protective measures. … Accordingly, under these circumstances, in the absence of a recognized hazard, the OSH Act’s general purpose of encouraging employers to provide and promote safety and health also does not preempt these types of state laws.”
Remember what the Constitution of Virginia states in Article 1, Bill of Rights, Section 13. Militia; standing armies; military subordinate to civil power. That a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state, therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
Does this look familiar; "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge all the duties incumbent upon me as ...................., according to the best of my ability (so help me God)." It’s the oath you took when you were elected to represent us is in the state government under Article II, Section 7 of the Constitution of Virginia.
Please support and pass HB171.
user
Accomplished Advocate
imported post
It's a trick! There's no enforcement provision.
Suppose an employer fires someone for having the gun in his car on the company parking lot, locked etc.; what recourse does the employee have? Zip, zilch, nada.
In theory,violation of any statute isa misdemeanor, but as far as I know, no Virginia Commonwealth's Attorney has ever filed charges of any kind against any well-established corporation doing business in Virginia. They pick on small time contractors, and such, from time to time. But real crimes go unnoticed. The last time I asked the office of the Commonwealth's Attorney in Fairfax about it (gasoline seepage under a residential neighborhood causing poisonings and birth defects constituted the crime of "public nuisance", a felony), Bob Horan laughed at me and asked me whom I would put in jail. "You can't put a corporation in jail.", he said. I asked about fines, but he just walked away.
Without any enforcement provision, this statute means nothing.
It's a trick! There's no enforcement provision.
Suppose an employer fires someone for having the gun in his car on the company parking lot, locked etc.; what recourse does the employee have? Zip, zilch, nada.
In theory,violation of any statute isa misdemeanor, but as far as I know, no Virginia Commonwealth's Attorney has ever filed charges of any kind against any well-established corporation doing business in Virginia. They pick on small time contractors, and such, from time to time. But real crimes go unnoticed. The last time I asked the office of the Commonwealth's Attorney in Fairfax about it (gasoline seepage under a residential neighborhood causing poisonings and birth defects constituted the crime of "public nuisance", a felony), Bob Horan laughed at me and asked me whom I would put in jail. "You can't put a corporation in jail.", he said. I asked about fines, but he just walked away.
Without any enforcement provision, this statute means nothing.