Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL)

Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
PO. Box 513, Newington, VA 22122 • 804-639-0600 • 703-372-3285 • 757-271-3705 • 540-446-5783

08/12/09 - VCDL Update 8/12/09 - Part 1

Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VCDL Update 8/12/09 - Defending your right to defend yourself 1. VCDL picnic in Salem this Saturday 2. VCDL membership meeting in Richmond on Thursday, August 20 3. Re: Innsbrook Roundup protest - Eric Cantor townhall meeting Aug 17th 4. Va. Beach councilman seeks permit to sell guns from home 5. VA-ALERT reader: Deeds's record on hunter rights is smoke and mirrors 6. The gubernatorial debate is now available to watch on VirginiaTalks.com 7. LTE in RTD: Self-defense is the last defense 8. [FALSE] LTE: S.B. 2099 "IRS Gun Tax" [FALSE] 9. Mark Baker Foundation Seeking Help 10. LTE: Gun statistics can be misleading 11. Re: Online training 12. Gun prohibitionists' new strategy: demonize CCW holders 13. Switchblades and Customs and Boarder Protection (CBP) 14. ATF firearms trace data 2008 15. Lawsuit seeks right to carry guns in public 16. Who needs a gun in a gym? 17. More on L.A. Fitness shooting 18. USA Today on Concealed Carry 19. Demand for guns may be easing 20. Sotomayor's confirmation isn't a win for the White House 21. AARP Letter 22. Washington Times Editorial: Gun control on a roll? 23. John Burnett at it again 24. Gym shooter bought from sites that sold to college gunmen 25. FYI -- Canadian Gun Laws ************************************************** 1. VCDL picnic in Salem this Saturday ************************************************** Final reminder: VCDL will again have a pot luck picnic at LONGWOOD PARK, SALEM VA (same location as the last two). Eating to start at 11:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. Early birds and set up helpers will start at 10:00. VCDL will furnish paper plates, napkins, plastic ware, soft drinks and such. Please bring one of your favorite dishes, with enough extra to help feed our out of town members (so they don't have to worry about food and long rides also). Come on out to enjoy a family gathering! Please RSVP so we have a good idea how many are coming so enough supplies will be on hand. Remember -- members, families and guests are invited! Contact Al Steed, Jr., at SWVAgunshows*vcdl.org to RSVP. ************************************************** 2. VCDL membership meeting in Richmond on Thursday, August 20 ************************************************** VCDL is having another membership meeting in Richmond on the 20th! As with all VCDL meetings, they are open to the public, so bring friends, family, and co-workers. After the meeting, there will be continued fellowship at a local restaurant. North Park Library 8508 Franconia Road Henrico, VA 23227-1213 http://www.henricolibrary.org/Libs/np.html Organization: Virginia Citizens Defense League Room: NP Meeting Room (60) Date: Thursday, August 20, 2009 Time: 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM, fellowship begins at 6:30 for those wishing to come a little early. Contact North Park Library at 262-4876 if you have any questions. ************************************************** 3. Re: Innsbrook Roundup protest - Eric Cantor townhall meeting Aug 17th ************************************************** Eric Cantor should be asked tough questions about Innsbrook's anti-gun policy and the Cantor's insistence at holding their "Republican Roundup" there. I will be there handing out GSL stickers. EM Hal Macklin writes: Now that the latest issue of 'The Defender' makes public the plans for a protest of Innsbrook and the Republican Roundup, let's be clear that the real purpose of the Roundup is a Fundraiser for Eric Cantor. Therefore, it is fair to believe that he is involved, and perhaps responsible, for the Innsbrook fiasco. Well, Cantor will be holding an August Recess townhall meeting (he calls it a 'Cantor Advisory Council Meeting') at: Sheraton Park South 9901 Midlothian Turnpike Richmond, VA 23235 Monday, August 17, 2009 5:30PM - Drinks and Hors D'Oeuvres 6:00PM - General Meeting and Q&A RSVP by Aug. 12: (804) 358-6160 Cindy*CantorforCongress.com (http://www.ericcantor.com/) ************************************************** 4. Va. Beach councilman seeks permit to sell guns from home ************************************************** City councilman seeks permission to sell guns out of Great Neck home http://tinyurl.com/mr5ufz Va. Beach councilman seeks permit to sell guns from home By Aaron Applegate The Virginian-Pilot VIRGINIA BEACH Councilman Bill DeSteph has applied to the city for a permit to sell guns out of a Great Neck home he will be moving into later this summer. DeSteph, a gun collector, said he wants to expand his hobby into a business. If the City Council approves the permit, DeSteph said he will apply to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for a permit to be a licensed dealer. "Once you're clear with city zoning, the federal requirements for dealers are the same out of your house or a storefront," ATF inspector Michael Adkins said. Three people in Virginia Beach have city permits to sell guns from their homes, city records show. DeSteph added a 17-by-10 foot concrete vault to the home to store firearms. His targeted clientele listed in the permit application includes "elected officials, law enforcement, military and other dealers and collectors." "We have other elected officials who collect guns," he said. DeSteph wasn't sure how many guns he owns. "Honestly, I'd have to count," he said. He estimated he has close to 20, including pistols, shotguns, rifles and machine guns. Part of his collection is of machine guns manufactured before 1986, the year federal legislation banned civilians from owning machine guns manufactured after that date, he said. As a result, those guns tend to be valuable. "The good thing is they appreciated on average 10 to 15 percent a year," DeSteph said. "They are a darn good investment. Some people collect art, I collect guns." DeSteph's application will be evaluated mainly for zoning issues, such as land use, traffic, number of employees and signage, said Karen Lasley, the city's zoning administrator. "You can't just hang out a shingle and have people walk off the street," she said. [PVC: Oh, no - certainly not! Why, the very thought!] ************************************************** 5. VA-ALERT reader: Deeds's record on hunter rights is smoke and mirrors ************************************************** VA-ALERT reader Kirby Birch, who is head of a sportsman's political action committee, sent this email saying that the Washington Independent is wrong on Deeds's gun record. I have to agree with him. The current protection for hunting and fishing in the Constitution fails to protect them at all: Philip in your discussion about the Guberatorial candidates you credit Deeds with "One of Deeds's signature pieces of legislation was a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing Virginians the right to hunt and fish." The devil is always in the details. That amendment reads "The people have a right to hunt, fish, and harvest game, subject to such regulations and restrictions as the General Assembly may prescribe by general law. The amendment ratified November 7, 2000 and effective January 1, 2001 http://legis.state.va.us/Laws/search/Constitution.htm The General Assmbly has delegated the right to regulate our right to hunt to a state agency. If you commend Deeds for that, might then he want to interpert the 2nd Amendment Rights in the same manner? The previous wording, while vague was defensible in court, unlike what we now have! It was simply a ploy to help Mark Warner defeat Mark Early in that election. Here is what we are saying: Prior to 2000, the Virginia Constitution stated "it shall be the Commonwealth's policy to protect its atmosphere, lands and waters from pollution, impairment or destruction, for the benefit , enjoyment and general welfare of the people of the Commonwealth." Mr. Deeds co-patroned an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that stated "The people have a right to hunt, fish and harvest game, subject to such regulations and restrictions as the General Assembly may prescribe by general law." (Effective January 1, 2001). If your right to keep and bear arms in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution were subject to the whim (regulation) of Congress as your right to hunt now is under the Virginia Constitution, how long would you have your guns? Mr. Deeds would have you believe the amendment gives protection to your right to hunt, fish and harvest game! The amendment, that he co-patroned, only gives more power to the politicians! Kirby ************************************************** 6. The gubernatorial debate is now available to watch on VirginiaTalks.com ************************************************** Senator Deeds admits wanting to close the 'gun show loophole,' McDonnell stands firm against interfering with private gun sales in this video of a recent debate: http://tinyurl.com/nduka5 The question on "closing the 'gun show loophole'" starts at 55 minutes exactly into the video. Senator Deeds admits wanting to close the so called loophole based solely on emotion, to do "something" to make those who lost family members in the Virginia Tech slaughter feel better. Bob McDonnell stood strongly against legislation that would interfere with private gun sales. ************************************************** 7. LTE in RTD: Self-defense is the last defense ************************************************** LTE rebutting RTD column lamenting self-defense shooting at Golden Foot Market http://tinyurl.com/ny2f7t (fourth letter down) Thanks to Roy B. Scherer for the link. Roy noted: Philip - Another well-done letter in the second lettersection of this morning's Times-Dispatch, in rebuttal of Michael Paul Williams. ""A society," Williams wrote, "in which citizens see themselves as the last line of defense already has lost the battle." Come again? If the last sentence had been written to read " . . . first line of defense . . . " I would not have bothered writing this letter." ************************************************** 8. [FALSE] LTE: S.B. 2099 "IRS Gun Tax" [FALSE] ************************************************** I've gotten a bunch of inquiries about Senate Bill 2099 and the IRS Gun Tax. This FALSE chain email targeting gun owners is still spreading panic and misinformation. Thanks to Roy B. Scherer for pointing out the LTE http://tinyurl.com/ko2qfm in the RTD about "Senate Bill 2099 (the IRS gun tax)." FALSE!! According to snopes.com, there is no such bill in the current Congress. It is a reference to a bill introduced by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) in 2000 called "The Handgun Safety and Registration Act (S.B. 2099)." The bill would have amended the IRS code to require the registration of handguns, and also would have imposed a $50 tax per gun on firearm manufacturers, not individual gun owners, although this tax almost certainly would have been passed on to gun buyers in the form of higher gun prices. The bill never made it out of the Senate Finance Committee, where it didn't even have enough support to get a vote. You can read the full snopes.com explanation here: http://tinyurl.com/orbkw6 ************************************************** 9. Mark Baker Foundation Seeking Help ************************************************** Family of gun owner shot and paralyzed in robbery in Norfolk, VA seeking financial assistance Mark Baker, who was shot and paralyzed from the neck down because of a robbery attempt that went bad in Norfolk, has been denied aid by his medical insurance company. Turns out that his insurance (and maybe yours?) has an exclusion and it won't cover the costs involved in his care. The fundraiser is being held at: Knuckleheads Roadhouse Mark Baker Run & Pig Roast Witchduck Road next to Harley-Davidson Sunday, August 30, 2009 Run starts at 9:30 AM and goes until 11:30 AM Pig roast starts at 12:30 PM and goes to 6:00 PM Live music, 50/50 raffle, and more. For more information, call 757-461-3474 or visit http://www.markbakerfoundation.com The news video of the shooting is here: http://www.wvec.com/video/?z=y&nvid=315004&she=1 ************************************************** 10. LTE: Gun statistics can be misleading ************************************************** Guns used to thwart more attacks than reported http://tinyurl.com/mtpxgh Published: August 2, 2009 Gun Statistics Can Be Misleading Editor, Times-Dispatch: Michael Paul Williams, in his column, "Patron With Gun Won -- That Time," has succeeded in misrepresenting the number of instances of self-defense by citizens using a gun that occur in the U.S. He has done so by his failure to do basic research into the matter and then compounded his mistake by relying on the notorious gun-ban organization, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Its statement that no more than 100 or 200 instances of self-defense by citizens occur in the U.S. each year (its Web site and various references to that statistic in public speeches by the Brady people vary according to its audience) is incorrect. Several studies by reputable researchers have estimated that from 800,000 to more than 1 million assaults, rapes, robberies, carjackings, and other attempted violent crimes are ended by the presence of an armed citizen. While the Brady Campaign statistic refers to instances when the perpetrator is killed, what usually happens is that the intended victim of a violent predator merely lets the predator know that he or she is armed, which almost invariably ends the episode. For Williams to rely on such obvious misinformation from only one side of this issue is a violation of journalistic integrity. The Brady Campaign from its inception was incorporated as the Brady Center to Ban Handguns but changed its name to reflect the softer, more reasonable-sounding Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Make no mistake about it, though, the Brady bunch will misrepresent facts to suit its agenda. It will also use horrendous events like the Virginia Tech murders to advance its agenda. Every time there has been gun violence in this country the Brady bunch has been there with its call for draconian measures to strip citizens of their natural right to self-defense. Williams should be ashamed of himself. Even in an opinion piece the writer should be aware of the facts available to him from all sides. Matthew Shepard. Mechanicsville. ************************************************** 11. Re: Online training ************************************************** Self-defense is a right, regardless of training Timothy Chandler sent me this email: Mr. Van Cleave, I read the latest VA-Alert and noticed the section from a concerned NRA instructor.... I'm as big an advocate for training as anyone you'll find. I've spent over 700 hours in formal firearms training funded on my own dime (Done with Larry Vickers, Ken Hackathorn, Blackwater USA/US Training Center, etc) and I make it a point to attend at least 40 hours of training per year. (I generally exceed that goal) However, the notion that people absolutely MUST attend a training course before they can be allowed to carry a gun to protect themselves is absurd. What if they have a malfunction? Well....what if they encounter some scumbag during the time they are waiting to take the bloody class so they can actually get their permit? Seems to me that before a malfunction can get you killed in a gunfight you'd first need a gun. Given that the overwhelming majority of the time merely presenting a firearm is enough to ward off most scumbags it seems to me that the risks associated with being attacked while unarmed are much greater than the risk of being killed because your gun puked during the fight. What will happen if one of the online students shoots themselves or somebody else? Well....what happens if they do that when their training was in a classroom? Is the argument that the online student will be more irresponsible than the student who sits in a classroom for X hours? Many who take the online instruction won't seek out further training! Well....seems to me that most who get a permit don't seek out any more training than is absolutely necessary to get the permit anyway. I don't encounter large numbers of people who invest the time and money into training that I do...including a lot of NRA certified instructors. Does someone have less of a right to defend themselves because they don't train like I think they should? Self defense is a right. Ready access to an effective means of personal defense is a part of that right. I'm not in favor of making people jump through a bunch of hoops just to be able to defend themselves from some violent scumbag who wants to hurt them. I'm FAR more worried about leaving good people helpless against criminals than I am about the average permit holder's chances of hurting themselves or an innocent. Training is a fantastic thing and I think everybody should get as much of it as they can, but requiring it as a prerequisite to being able to defend yourself is nonsense. Those who make the choice to carry a firearm to protect themselves have a tremendous responsibility on their shoulders...and the record of permit holders in Virginia seems to indicate that the overwhelming majority of people with a permit recognize this responsibility and handle it well on a day to day basis. I don't often see stories in the press where a permit holder attempted to shoot a mugger and ended up plugging the lady ringing for the Salvation Army. This whole argument seems to me to be a slightly less objectionable form of the lowest common denominator "Think of the children!!" stuff that the anti-gunners try to use to strip us of our right to self defense. "Someone might....!!!" is a damnably poor reason to treat everyone as if they will, in my opinion. My 2 cents. No refunds. ************************************************** 12. Gun prohibitionists' new strategy: Demonize CCW holders ************************************************** Antis paint CCW holders as threat to community. Gun prohibitionists are practicing a new form of social bigotry. From VA-ALERT reader Dave Workman: http://tinyurl.com/me38vf New anti-gun strategy: Demonize CCW holders August 7, 12:07 PM . Dave Workman - Seattle Gun Rights Examiner Bigotry assumes many forms, hides behind many facades, but always it is the same; the social demonization of entire groups, classes or races of people in an effort to make them appear inferior and detrimental by their very existence. In the wake of a nasty multiple shooting at a Pittsburgh, PA-area fitness club by a not-so-clearly psychotic man identified as George Sodini, America's gun prohibitionists - led by the Violence Policy Center and Freedom States Alliance - are clamoring for restrictions or repeal of concealed carry statutes. In the case against legally-armed citizens, the VPC has even manufactured an innuendo-riddled "study" to support their prejudices. My colleague, Cleveland Gun Rights Examiner Daniel White, writes about the shooting here. Their hardly subliminal argument appears to be that citizens licensed to carry concealed handguns for personal protection are a threat to the community. This contention is based on six shooting incidents over the past couple of years in which the gunman had, or apparently had, a carry permit. A 39-year-old Ypsilanti man used his concealed weapon and his experience in the Lebanese army to stop an alleged bank robber. Meanwhile, proponents of public disarmament haven't said a thing about the estimated five million other citizens who are licensed to carry, and haven't harmed anybody. There hasn't been a peep from the gun prohibition lobby about the armed citizen who shot a convenience store robber in Virginia recently, heading off a bloodbath. Nor have the gun grabbers mentioned the incident a week ago in Topeka, KS in which a legally-armed store clerk fended off two robbers at closing time. Self-defense Examiner Eric Puryear wrote about that incident here. And you never heard applause from the hoplophobes - about whom I wrote the other day - after an Ypsilanti, MI man named Nabil Fawzi last year intervened in a bank robbery, did you? An employee with a concealed carry license used his handgun to defend himself and stop a pair of criminals who tried to rob his shop. Instead, what we get from the gun prohibitionists is a steady diet of fear mongering with but one purpose: The stripping of a fundamental civil right to keep and bear arms so that we lose our ability to exercise that most basic of human rights, that of self-preservation. Nowadays, about the only form of acceptable overt social bigotry is against gun owners. The gun bigots argue that when one person with a gun does something heinous, all gun owners are expected to bear responsibility, and surrender their rights as though it would undo the crime. Before the armed citizen, it was the owners of .50-caliber rifles who were likened to terrorists and cop-killers. Next week or next month, who will the prohibitionists smear in their effort to promote public hatred of fellow citizens whose only "crime" is that they exercise a constitutionally-protected civil right? The VPC and Freedom States crowd would have us all believe that every armed citizen is just like George Sodini, and that he is like all of us; a killer waiting to strike. While they are loathe to admit it, there is really no difference between gun bigots and racial or religious bigots. One form of class hatred is no less divisive than another. ************************************************** 13. Switchblades and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) ************************************************** Spring-assisted knives no longer classified as 'switchblades' Thanks to VA-ALERT reader Clark Welsh for forwarding this letter he received from U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.). According to the letter, an amendment offered by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act on July 9, 2009, redefined the definition of 'switchblade' knife to *exclude* spring-assisted knives. All, FYI, here is an update on the CBP / Assisted Opening Knife situation. It seems common sense has for once prevailed. But really, even switchblades shouldn't be illegal to import or carry, either. There's nothing magical about them that makes them any more deadly than any other knife when used as a weapon. The switchblade got its bad rep from stuff like West Side Story, Rebel Without a Cause, and Night of the Hunter; whereupon legislators knee-jerked over something they saw in the movies or on stage. There's fact-based research for you! Never mind Rebel Without a Cause, this was Solution Without a Problem! Feh! - C. "Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.." - Mark Twain From: donotreply*warner.senate.gov Subject: Responding to your message Dear Mr. Welsh, Thank you for contacting me regarding the importation of knives with spring-assisted opening mechanisms. I appreciate the benefit of your views on this issue. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a component within the Department of Homeland Security, recently ruled that knives with spring- and release-assisted opening mechanisms are considered switchblades as defined by the Switchblade Knife Act, and therefore prohibited from importation. Following a comment period that ended on June 22, 2009, CBP planned to issue a final determination regarding the importation of spring-assisted knives within 30 days. On July 9, 2009, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) offered an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2010 that clarified the definition of switchblade knives to exclude spring-assisted knives. CBP did not oppose the clarification and the amendment passed the Senate by unanimous consent, supplanting the need for further CBP action. CBP will continue to enforce the Switchblade Knife Act with this new exception. Again, thank you for writing. As we move forward in the 111th Congress, please continue to be in touch with your opinions and concerns. Sincerely, MARK R. WARNER United States Senator ************************************************** 14. ATF firearms trace data 2008 ************************************************** Most guns in NY come from NY, not VA, NC, etc. http://tinyurl.com/kk49y7 VA-ALERT reader Pat writes: Does anyone besides me find it rather interesting that the predominant place that guns traced in NY came from is NY and not VA, NC, etc. like Bloomberg would have us believe? As a matter of fact, the total traced guns recovered in NY (over 1660) that came from VA, NC, SC, and WV is still almost 25% less (1283 combined from the 4 states) than the guns traced that originated in NY itself! So maybe the dear mayor needs to clean his own house before he talks about us! Pat ************************************************** 15. Lawsuit seeks right to carry guns in public ************************************************** Heller lawyer files new lawsuit to allow open and concealed carry in D.C. http://tinyurl.com/m74xvd Washington Times Friday, August 7, 2009 Lawsuit seeks right to carry guns in public Matthew Cella (Contact) The man whose Supreme Court challenge secured the right of D.C. residents to keep guns in their homes is back in court, this time filing a lawsuit on behalf of a group seeking the right of registered gun owners to carry their guns in public. Four individuals and a gun-rights advocacy group joined lawyer Alan Gura on Thursday in filing the lawsuit in U.S. District Court. It was an earlier lawsuit by Mr. Gura that forced the District to end its 30-year-old gun ban, the strictest in the United States. The lawsuit argues that the District's "laws, customs, practices and policies generally banning the carrying of handguns in public violate the Second Amendment" of the U.S. Constitution. It asks that the District issue licenses to carry guns in public to legal gun owners in the city and to people with valid carry permits from outside the city. "This lawsuit was inevitable in many ways," Mr. Gura said Thursday, adding that most jurisdictions in the country have carry laws. "This is not the end of all gun control." Mr. Gura said the lawsuit does not take a position on whether the District should allow legal gun owners to carry weapons openly or in a concealed manner. That issue, he said, should be left to city officials to regulate. The D.C. residents who brought the case are Tom G. Palmer, George Lyon and Amy McVey. The nonprofit Washington state-based Second Amendment Foundation is also named as a plaintiff. The three D.C. residents, who are licensed gun owners in the District, had gun-registration applications rejected by the Metropolitan Police Department because they stated their intention was to carry the loaded guns on their person outside their homes. "My right to self-defense shouldn't stop at my front door," said Mrs. McVey, 46, of Northwest Washington. Mrs. McVey in July became the first person to register a handgun in the District after the ban was lifted. Asked where she might carry her gun, Mrs. McVey responded: "Everywhere it's legal." Edward Raymond, a Navy veteran enrolled in law school in New Hampshire, is also listed as a plaintiff. Mr. Raymond, who is not a D.C. resident, was stopped for speeding in the District in April 2007 while he was transporting a gun for which he had permits in Maryland and Florida. He was charged with carrying a pistol without a license and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor unregistered gun and unregistered ammunition charges. He sought a license that would allow him to transport his gun through the District but was refused. D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson, chairman of the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, had not seen the lawsuit but said he disagrees with the basic premise. "Mr. Gura is treading uncharted ground claiming that the Second Amendment offers the right to carry," he said. Mr. Mendelson said the District's role as home to the president, Congress and the diplomatic corps should be reason enough not to allow carrying. "In the nation's capital, carrying is perhaps the greatest concern to law enforcement because it makes it very hard for law enforcement to distinguish between a person who is carrying a firearm legally and a potential assassin," he said. The Supreme Court ruled in June 2008 that the city's near-total ban on handguns was unconstitutional and that residents should be allowed to keep guns in their homes for personal protection. City officials began rewriting the laws immediately after the decision. The new laws still forbid semiautomatic and other high-powered weapons. Mr. Gura filed another lawsuit in March, arguing that a roster of handguns deemed acceptable for registration was restrictive. The lawsuit was dropped when the D.C. government in June expanded its list of guns that residents could seek to register. ************************************************** 16. Who needs a gun in a gym? ************************************************** Gunman kills 3, injures 9 at Pennsylvania health club This is supposedly not a "gun-free zone." However, if you are somewhere where you can carry a gun and aren't, then you are only slightly better than being in a gun-free zone. (I say you are still better off because a criminal is more likely to strike in gun-free zones, where he feels Continued ...