hopnpop
Regular Member
imported post
Well here's another disturbing trend....
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/ap/repeal-on-buying-more-than-one-gun-per-month-dies-86415902.html
Bill to repeal 1-gun-a-month rule fails to advance
By: DENA POTTER
Associated Press
03/04/10 7:10 PM EST
RICMOND, VA. — A Senate subcommittee created to block pro-gun legislation voted Thursday to shoot down numerous proposals to loosen the state's gun laws, including a measure to repeal Virginia's ban on buying more than one handgun per month.
Republicans and gun rights advocates cried foul when the subcommittee was created earlier in the week and given the authority to kill bills without a vote of the full committee. Though the practice is common in the House, the Senate rules call for subcommittees to make recommendations to the full committee.
One likened the effortless rejection of 10 pro-gun bills to the "Ides of March," the fateful day Julius Caesar was assassinated. Republicans suggested they would try to demand a full committee vote on Monday.
"If the Senate can't follow their own rules you start wondering why people should follow the Senate's rules?" said Philip Van Cleave, president of the pro-gun Virginia Citizens Defense League.
Brushing off complaints, Senate Courts Committee Chairman Sen. Henry Marsh said he would not put the bills on the docket for a vote.
"I don't make my decisions based on criticism," Marsh said after the meeting. "I make my decisions based on what I think is right."
It was Democrats' only hope of killing some of the measures because even though they have a 10-5 majority on the full committee. At least three party members regularly vote with Republicans to approve pro-gun bills.
For Democrats and gun opponents, the major victory was killing Del. Scott Lingamfelter's repeal of the one-gun-a-month law, enacted in 1993 as Virginia had a reputation as an East Coast armory for violent criminals and homicide rates in the capital city soared.
Lingamfelter argued that technology has improved since then, with instant background checks keeping guns out of criminals' hands. He said exemptions carved out of the law for everyone from the state's 214,000 concealed handgun permit holders to those who report their guns stolen within 30 days of purchase have "neutered" the law, rendering it useless.
Criminals don't go to gun stores to buy guns, he argued, leaving only law-abiding citizens to be burdened by the law.
"I don't think we should ration our Second Amendment rights any more than we ration our First Amendment rights," said Lingamfelter, R-Prince William.
Only Virginia, Maryland, California and New Jersey limit the number of handguns that can be bought each month. South Carolina repealed its one-gun-a-month law in 2004.
Other proposals rejected by the subcommittee include:
_Exempting from federal law any gun manufactured or sold in the state.
_Shielding from public record information on concealed handgun permit holders.
_Prohibiting localities from destroying weapons acquired in gun buyback programs without offering them at auction to licensed gun dealers.
_Allowing gun owners to lock weapons in their vehicles on private property against property owners' objections.
_Directing the Virginia State Police to come up with a plan to issue lifetime concealed handgun permits instead of requiring renewal every five years.
_Prohibiting court clerks from asking for any information not required on a concealed handgun permit application.
_Allowing concealed handgun permit holders to take guns into emergency shelters.
_Prohibiting localities from banning hunting near subdivisions.
The bills were part of one of the most ambitious legislative packages in years.
The General Assembly already has passed bills that will allow concealed guns in bars as long as carriers do not drink alcohol, allow renewal of permits by mail and allow gun owners to lock their firearms in vehicle or boat glove boxes even if they do not have a concealed handgun permit.
Earlier in the day, another Senate committee advanced a bill to require the State Board of Education to develop a program of firearm safety education for elementary education students.
The guns-in-bars bill passed the legislature twice before but was vetoed by former Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat. Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell has said he would sign the bill.
"The restaurant bill alone is a big bill for us," Van Cleave said. "We'll be celebrating come July 1st."
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/ap/repeal-on-buying-more-than-one-gun-per-month-dies-86415902.html#ixzz0hP6mzJ0W
Well here's another disturbing trend....
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/ap/repeal-on-buying-more-than-one-gun-per-month-dies-86415902.html
Bill to repeal 1-gun-a-month rule fails to advance
By: DENA POTTER
Associated Press
03/04/10 7:10 PM EST
RICMOND, VA. — A Senate subcommittee created to block pro-gun legislation voted Thursday to shoot down numerous proposals to loosen the state's gun laws, including a measure to repeal Virginia's ban on buying more than one handgun per month.
Republicans and gun rights advocates cried foul when the subcommittee was created earlier in the week and given the authority to kill bills without a vote of the full committee. Though the practice is common in the House, the Senate rules call for subcommittees to make recommendations to the full committee.
One likened the effortless rejection of 10 pro-gun bills to the "Ides of March," the fateful day Julius Caesar was assassinated. Republicans suggested they would try to demand a full committee vote on Monday.
"If the Senate can't follow their own rules you start wondering why people should follow the Senate's rules?" said Philip Van Cleave, president of the pro-gun Virginia Citizens Defense League.
Brushing off complaints, Senate Courts Committee Chairman Sen. Henry Marsh said he would not put the bills on the docket for a vote.
"I don't make my decisions based on criticism," Marsh said after the meeting. "I make my decisions based on what I think is right."
It was Democrats' only hope of killing some of the measures because even though they have a 10-5 majority on the full committee. At least three party members regularly vote with Republicans to approve pro-gun bills.
For Democrats and gun opponents, the major victory was killing Del. Scott Lingamfelter's repeal of the one-gun-a-month law, enacted in 1993 as Virginia had a reputation as an East Coast armory for violent criminals and homicide rates in the capital city soared.
Lingamfelter argued that technology has improved since then, with instant background checks keeping guns out of criminals' hands. He said exemptions carved out of the law for everyone from the state's 214,000 concealed handgun permit holders to those who report their guns stolen within 30 days of purchase have "neutered" the law, rendering it useless.
Criminals don't go to gun stores to buy guns, he argued, leaving only law-abiding citizens to be burdened by the law.
"I don't think we should ration our Second Amendment rights any more than we ration our First Amendment rights," said Lingamfelter, R-Prince William.
Only Virginia, Maryland, California and New Jersey limit the number of handguns that can be bought each month. South Carolina repealed its one-gun-a-month law in 2004.
Other proposals rejected by the subcommittee include:
_Exempting from federal law any gun manufactured or sold in the state.
_Shielding from public record information on concealed handgun permit holders.
_Prohibiting localities from destroying weapons acquired in gun buyback programs without offering them at auction to licensed gun dealers.
_Allowing gun owners to lock weapons in their vehicles on private property against property owners' objections.
_Directing the Virginia State Police to come up with a plan to issue lifetime concealed handgun permits instead of requiring renewal every five years.
_Prohibiting court clerks from asking for any information not required on a concealed handgun permit application.
_Allowing concealed handgun permit holders to take guns into emergency shelters.
_Prohibiting localities from banning hunting near subdivisions.
The bills were part of one of the most ambitious legislative packages in years.
The General Assembly already has passed bills that will allow concealed guns in bars as long as carriers do not drink alcohol, allow renewal of permits by mail and allow gun owners to lock their firearms in vehicle or boat glove boxes even if they do not have a concealed handgun permit.
Earlier in the day, another Senate committee advanced a bill to require the State Board of Education to develop a program of firearm safety education for elementary education students.
The guns-in-bars bill passed the legislature twice before but was vetoed by former Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat. Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell has said he would sign the bill.
"The restaurant bill alone is a big bill for us," Van Cleave said. "We'll be celebrating come July 1st."
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/ap/repeal-on-buying-more-than-one-gun-per-month-dies-86415902.html#ixzz0hP6mzJ0W
