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

09/02/09 - VCDL Update 9/2/09 - Part 1

Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VCDL Update 9/2/09 - "If you have 10,000 regulations, you destroy all respect for the law." - Winston Churchill 1. VA GOP establishment denounces pro-gun Catherine Crabill 2. VA-ALERT reader comments on "Gun Guys" 3. Comments on "VA-ALERTs are excellent for maintaining situational awareness" 4. Hunt continues for man wanted in connection with home invasion 5. Lifelong resident gives his perspective on being pro-gun in NoVA 6. A woman with a gun equals vigilantism? 7. VA Tech newspaper provides campus crime database 8. Media barely noticed legal gun "brandishing" by Black Panthers in 2000 protest 9. A vote for gun control is a vote for thunderdome 10. He had a gun and nothing happened 11. U.S. Supreme Court to consider two 2nd Amendment cases 12. The 'Liberal Lion' stalked your rights 13. John Lott: The media gets it wrong, again, on guns 14. Detroit mugger in critical condition after attempted robbery 15. Could a visit to the doctor's office cost you your right to bear arms? 16. Second Richmond gun show coordinator needed ************************************************** 1. VA GOP establishment denounces pro-gun Catherine Crabill ************************************************** I don't see anything wrong in what Ms. Crabhill, Republican candidate for Delegate from the 99th District, said at a "Tea Party" event earlier this year. Certainly nothing that would justify the Republicans running from her, if the blog below is accurate. After reading from the Founding Fathers, she said at around 13:20 into = this video: http://www.dailykostv.com/w/001942/ "We have the chance to fight this battle at the ballot box, before we have to resort to the bullet box. But that's the beauty of the Second = Amendment right. I am glad for all of us that we can enjoy the use of = firearms for hunting, but make no mistake. That was NOT the intent of = the Founding Fathers. Our Second Amendment rights was to guard against tyranny." Fighting tyranny IS a key reason for the Second Amendment. Period. She didn't say the government we have now is tyrannical. She didn't say to not have civil discourse. She is saying that if the government = ever becomes tyrannical, we have a method to take back the country and = restore our rights. This sounds like candidates are being cowed by political correctness and that's not good. Political correctness is a means to control speech and thought - no thanks: http://tinyurl.com/m2ec7z progungop.wordpress.com Jim Whimpey Folks, What did this lady, Catherine Crabill, say that is wrong? Here is what the "leaders" said according to the WaPo: To the statements: From Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Pat Mullins: "We do not condone or support the comments Catherine Crabill has made. = That kind of talk has no place in civil political discourse. She has received no assistance from the state party, nor will she in the future." From Tucker Martin, spokesman for McDonnell: "It's absolutely wrong for any candidate of any party to refer to the actions of the President of the United States and members of the United States Congress as 'domestic terrorism,' and to threaten to resort to violence if one fails to prevail in elections," Martin said, = in what he said was his first public comment on the issue. "We disavow = Catherine Crabill's comments and know that they do not reflect the sentiments of Republicans across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Republicans, Democrats and Independents in Virginia have a history of civil discourse and we will not campaign for or with Catherine Crabill." From Matt Wells of the Bolling camp: "Lieutenant Governor Bolling disagrees strongly with Ms. Crabill's comments and he rejects those comments in the strongest possible terms. Comments like these have no place in a political campaign. Ms. Crabill was clearly speaking for herself, not for Lieutenant Governor Bolling, any of our other statewide candidates, or the Republican Party of Virginia. We have no plans to campaign for or with Ms. Crabill." And, rounding out the denunciations, from Chris LaCivita of Cuccinelli's campaign: "Our campaign has no intention of campaigning with Catherine Crabill," = he said. "Our campaign does not believe in using violence or threats of violence in a manner to entice people to vote." Crabill's response is that the video was selectively edited before finally being posted in its entirety. She stands by her statements in dfenese of the Second Amendment and the original intent of the drafters of the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution. Ken Cuccinelli is the guy running around talking about the Gadsden flag! Why did he let loose Chris LaCivita to attack her? This lady is being targeted by the Republican establishment and the Democrats for nothing more than quoting Patrick Henry and accurately stating the purpose of the 2nd Amendment. Oh, and she defends Ron Paul. McDonnell and the establishment are attacking her and disavowing her because they are scared of the Democrat's attacks on them. Well duh! It's the cringing dog that gets kicked. So they want her to drop out of the race against Pollard? They are refusing to provide her with any support in her legislative race. .... What she said is no more radical than Suzzana Gratia Hupp telling Schumer at a House hearing on TV back in the nineties that "we" need our guns to protect our selves from people like you. She went on to be = elected a Texas State Rep. This is no more radical than U.S. Senator Steve Symms (R-ID) saying we = had the ballot box, the jury box and the catridge box. This is no more radical than our founders who not only espoused the idea of armed resistance to tyrants ... Sic Semper Tyrannis ... but acted on it. It is the Commonwealth's motto for crying out loud!... ************************************************** 2. VA-ALERT reader comments on "Gun Guys" ************************************************** VCDL member "AJ" emailed this to me. He is referring to an anti-gun blog named (incredibly) "The Gun Guys," which was mentioned in a prior = Update: -- You know, calling themselves the "Gun Guys" would be like having a bunch of Amish gentlemen calling themselves the "Electricity Guys." ************************************************** 3. Comments on "VA-Alerts are excellent for maintaining situational awareness" ************************************************** John Pessagno emailed this to me: -- Regarding subject VA-Alert, some VA-ALERT readers may not be familiar with the various types of firearms (small arms) and their availability = to the general public. 1. For the record, emotionally charged, "politically correct" misinformation/imprecise technical terminology should always be challenged and corrected by footnote(s) or "marginal note". Apparently the authors of several posted commentaries (perhaps editors = who released news reports and/or officials who contributed statistics) = are not familiar with the difference between assault rifles vs. civilian "military-style" firearms, and perhaps they unduly rely on an = inaccurate dictionary definition, or the misnomers in the expired 1994 = Federal Assault Weapons Ban. Semiautomatic only firearms, incapable of automatic fire, available to = civilians such as the M1 carbine, M1A, Civilian FN-FAL, Mini14, AK 47 look-a-like derivative, AR-10, AR-15, Ruger-SR556, SKS Carbine (7.62x39), are not "Assault Rifles" regardless of their military-style = look and magazine capacity. Unless obtained through non-commercial illegal sources, bonafide military "assault rifles" are not routinely available to the general public. Selective fire "civilian firearms" such as the Mini14's and AR-15's are available to LE & Military only (strict exceptions allowed to individual citizens under the National Firearms Act of 1934 and various State's laws). Under the Firearms Owners' Protection Act of 1986 ownership of newly manufactured automatic weapons was prohibited to civilians Continuing careless use of language and terminology, if left uncorrected, will surely support the on going gun ban disinformation campaigns to designate shotguns such as the Benelli M4/M1014, Remington 870 & 1100 "tactical", and Mossberg 930SPX, designated as "assault weapons", and various rifles such as the bolt-action Remington 700 series and Semi-auto Armalite AR-10[T] and KMC SR-25 designated as "sniper weapons", useful only to "active shooters" and other criminal elements. 2. A military assault rifle/weapon is selective fire (have both semiautomatic and fully automatic operation/multiple shot burst mode), = or fully automatic only. Submachine guns (SMGs) and machine pistols are not classified as "assault rifles". According to The Institute for Research on Small Arms in International = Security: "Two key characteristics that identify "assault rifles" are = full automatic fire and detachable magazines with a capacity of 20 or more cartridges. These weapons were designed to produce roughly aimed bursts of full automatic fire. While some assault rifles offer an option of semiautomatic fire (i.e., single-shot), all true assault rifles fire at least fully automatic." The U.S. Army defines an assault rifle as: "Assault rifles are short, = compact, selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between submachinegun and rifle cartridges." Part one of the AT&F pub "Identification of Firearms within the Purview of the National Firearms Act" provides some terminology clarification. Examples of contemporary selective fire/automatic only shoulder fired military "Assault Rifles" include the FN-SCAR, H&K 416, M4 Carbine/ CAR-15, AK-74, AK-47, Galil, M2 Carbine, SA80 A2, and FAMAS. Assault rifles are normally chambered for intermediate power cartridges, e.g.: = 7.62x39mm, 5.56x45mm, and 5.45x39mm. SMGs use handgun cartridges,e.g., 9x19mm, .45 ACP, and 38 Super ACP. 3. Lastly, its appropriate to periodically remind people, that within = our current system of government, the coercion of law is (supposed to be) a coercion that acts only upon delinquent individuals. This is realized when individuals convicted of various felony crimes or, I recollect, misdemeanors involving domestic violence/abuse are prohibited from possessing firearms of any kind. Take care, v/r John ************************************************** 4. Hunt continues for man wanted in connection with home invasion ************************************************** http://tinyurl.com/nwj2cr Nate Delesline III, ndelesline*starexponent.com (540) 825-0771 ext. 110 Published: August 25, 2009 BRANDY STATION -- One man is in custody, and the hunt continues for a second suspect after a violent home invasion Monday afternoon in the 21000 block of Mount Pony Road. Authorities are seeking Gregory Lee Wallace, 27, whose last known address is in the 7000 block of Third Street in Remington. He is described as a black male, 6 feet, 3 inches tall and about 215 pounds. Sgt. Jim Fox of the Culpeper County Sheriff's Office said Wallace, who = also goes by the name Michael Lee Ketterman, may be armed. Fox advised = area residents to "use normal precautions and make sure their houses are locked." Wallace was last seen wearing a dark jacket or tan shirt, blue jeans and white shoes. According to the Sheriff's Office, Monday's home invasion occurred around 1:40 p.m.; an unidentified male victim was treated and released = at an area hospital for unspecified injuries. About 10 minutes later, the two suspects were involved in a car crash with a Culpeper sheriff's deputy on Brandy Road, just east of the U.S. = 29 intersection with Alanthus Road. Fox said Darryl Wallace, 18, of Washington, D.C., was detained at the scene and taken to headquarters for questioning; charges are pending against him. Police and witnesses say Gregory Wallace fled on foot across the highway. Fox said the suspects are related but was unsure of their exact relationship. Around the time of the crash, emergency dispatches indicated "shots fired" in the area of Bentley Lane off Auburn Road in Brandy Station. However, Fox clarified earlier news reports by saying the shots were not connected to this incident and were not of a criminal nature. Meanwhile, northbound traffic on U.S. 29 near Brandy Station was at a standstill for several miles as Culpeper and Fauquier county sheriff's = deputies, along with state troopers, tracking dogs, a Fairfax police helicopter and a police airplane circled overhead. By Monday night, authorities were still searching west of U.S. 29 in fields surrounding the Brandy Station carnival area. "They have shut down the perimeter search, but we are continuing to do = saturation patrols," Fox said, adding that the search would likely continue overnight and into today. Fox said the motive for the home invasion is still under investigation. Witness reaction Jimmy Howell, owner of Jimmy's Auto Repair & Trailer supply, and employee Charlie Gochenour were working when they saw the crash, just down the street on Brandy Road. "I was in the trailer welding and I saw them," Gochenour said. "Cop cars were everywhere." The men said none of the vehicles appeared to be travelling faster than 25 mph before the crash occurred. Daryl Wallace was taken into custody after the white Cadillac sedan he = was in collided with a Dodge Magnum driven by Culpeper Deputy Christopher Tash. After the crash, as both men watched, Gochenour said it appeared one of the suspects pulled a television and a sawed-off shotgun from the sedan. He said one of the men fled just a few feet from the shop, running between the business and a home. "We had an eye on him the whole time," Howell said, adding that he grabbed two large wrenches from the shop for protection in case the suspect approached. The home invasion, chase, traffic backup, aerial search and investigation on the ground caused at least two other traffic accidents. Star-Exponent correspondent Greg VanNostrand reports that a state trooper was involved in a three-vehicle crash while investigating the incident. The trooper's unmarked sedan was rear-ended on U.S. 29, causing his vehicle to hit a third car. And a Dominion Virginia bucket truck had to be pulled out of the median on U.S. 29 after the vehicle left the road for unknown reasons. Criminal record Records show Monday was not Gregory Wallace's first run-in with law. Last month, town police charged him with burglary and malicious wounding following an incident in the 300 block of Duke Street. He was = also charged in a 2008 incident where police say he fired a gun near Culpeper Head Start school. ************************************************** 5. Lifelong resident gives his perspective on being pro-gun in NoVA ************************************************** Michael Amos emailed this to me: -- I would like to offer the Loudoun County perspective. Being a lifelong = resident of Loudoun and working in Fairfax I agree with some, but not all of the comments made by Senator Petersen (http://tinyurl.com/ nrnl4h). It appears that recent voting trends in Loudoun are also slowly following those of Fairfax in that more newcomers and recent immigrants are voting "D". I would have to take issue and argue that NOVA by and large has a massive transient population in that we have people from all over the country and the world who seek jobs in and around the "metro" area, Fairfax in particular and being that these people for the most part are not Virginians, they do not see things as = we do. I feel that this hurts us greatly as it dilutes our native ethos with the politics and views of outsiders. I for one believe that = we gun owners are viewed as not "progressive" enough for the growing number of residents who see us as "the locals" and have seen first hand how our more liberal newcomers are taken aback by anything to do with shooting, hunting or gun culture in general. I am a Virginian and I feel like an outsider in my community of families from somewhere else and this has made me more fiercly Virginian than before. We real Northern Virginians need to let it be known that we stand in solidarity with Richmond, Lynchburg, Hampton Roads, etc and we will not let our local culture wither and die on the = vine and have it slowly replaced with a more "progressive" less "Virginian" way of life. Mike Amos, Sterling ************************************************** 6. A woman with a gun equals vigilantism? ************************************************** WTVR reporter Bill Fitzgerald's off the cuff remark at the end of this = story might have been just that. A parting shot with no regard for how = it would be interpreted by viewers. Or it could be just another example of how the media likes to paint legally armed citizens as vigilantes. Patricia Webb took exception to Fitzgerald's comment and sent the station an email to express her concerns. http://tinyurl.com/m4l5ov -- Patricia Webb writes in her email to WTVR: I watched a story tonight about an armed robbery of a Real Estate Agent and was concerned by a comment that your reporter, Bill Fitzgerald, made at the end of the segment. The agent, who was robbed = at gunpoint, had said that she will take measures to protect herself in the future by arming herself. Bill Fitzgerald made the comment that it "sounds like she is taking measures into her own hands." That = statement is very offensive. The *criminal* took matters into his own = hands by robbing a law abiding citizen. In addition, it appears from the description of his actions by the brave real estate agent that he intended to do more than just rob her. I sincerely hope that Mr. Fitzgerald never has to see a gun pointed at his face; I have experienced this first hand and it is not a pleasant feeling. Self defense is not taking matters into your own hands, nor is it vigilantism. It is simply a natural instinct and a God given right. = How dare Mr. Fitzgerald portray it as anything else. Patricia Webb Beaverdam, VA ************************************************** 7. VA Tech newspaper provides campus crime database ************************************************** http://tinyurl.com/npsucl The Collegiate Times has created a searchable database of crimes committed on the campus of Virginia Tech. ************************************************** 8. Media barely noticed legal gun "brandishing" by Black Panthers in 2000 protest ************************************************** In the past week, the media has responded to images of law-abiding citizens carrying firearms in the vicinity of a presidential town hall = meeting with cries of racism. But where was their fear and hysteria back in June 2000 when a group of militant Black Panthers carried weapons at the Texas Republican Party's state convention? Michael Geoghegan emailed me this question and link to the article below: -- http://tinyurl.com/pdybwh newsbusters.org Ken Shepherd August 18,2009 According to the mainstream media, carrying a gun to a protest is just = plain crazy, even if perfectly legal. What's more, it's indicative of the toxic, hate-filled atmosphere filling conservative protests of President Obama and his plans for health care reform. "Hardball" host Chris Matthews and his daytime colleagues at MSNBC, for example, have their used air time to marvel at what would possess an average American citizen to go to a rally near where President Obama is speaking with a gun. But the media reaction was markedly different nine years ago when a group of Black Panthers marched on the Texas Republican Party's state convention on June 2000 brandishing AK-47s. Indeed, that incident itself was chalked up as then-Gov. Bush's fault by none other than then-MSNBC "Equal Time" co-host Paul Begala. A search of Nexis and the Media Research Center's News Tracking System = found no stories on that evening's broadcast network newscasts about the Black Panthers brandishing "assault weapons" to protest then- presumptive GOP presidential nominee ... and Secret Service protectee ... Gov. George W. Bush's refusal to intervene in the pending execution of convicted murderer Gary Graham. The June 16, 2000 "Fox Report" noted the incident, featuring an on- scene report from reporter Mike Rosen of Fox News Austin, Texas, affiliate KTBC. Three days later, the June 19, 2000 "Nightline" was devoted to the Black Panther protests of Graham's innocence, a review of the Nexis transcript shows at no point did reporter Mike Von Fremd mention the Panthers brandishing weapons at the June 16 protest in Houston. Another curiosity from my Nexis search, is how rabid left-wing pundit Paul Begala on the June 16 "Equal Time" on MSNBC blamed the legality of the Black Panther demonstration on protest target Gov. George W. Bush, all while forecasting that Bush's conservative stances on the Second Amendment and the death penalty would hurt him and benefit Al Gore: PAUL BEGALA, co-host: David Axelrod, I think, of course, as a Democrat, I think that you're right. And one of the things that's going to move things in Gore's favor is our next topic, which is the gun laws in Texas. I'm from Texas, and I own a gun. It turns out, Farai Chideya, that George W. Bush signed a law in Texas that allows Texans to carry guns in church. And today, we saw at the Texas Republican Convention members of a group called the New Black Panther Party carrying guns on the streets of Houston, protesting the Republican Convention. And you know what? It's perfectly legal. Welcome to George Bush's America, right, Farai? FARAI CHIDEYA, editor, Popandpolitics.com: Oh, yes, absolutely. I mean, I think that a lot of things are going to come back to haunt George W. Bush. And you're right, most people have not plugged in yet. = His gun laws, his -- the fact that he is in fact sort of a hanging judge or presiding over a state which has been at the forefront of the = execution movement, and when you look at some of the statistics on how = flawed America's death penalty is, he's going to be held to task for that. And we also have to remember as we lead up to the convention that the fight over the Republican plank over abortion is still going to be = messy. And no matter what, when people look towards the conventions, when people look at the fact that Supreme Court justices are going to be nominated, all of this is going to play into it. But yes, the gun, the gun issue is huge. After the Million Mom March, huge. BEGALA: And Roy Fletcher, as a Republican and as a Southerner, even you can't say it's a good idea that Bush signed a law to carry guns in church. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition, Fletcher. ROY FLETCHER, Republican strategist: I want -- I got -- I got to say this, Paul. I mean, to blame George Bush for the Black Panther Party running around in Houston, Texas, is like blaming me for making heroin. I mean, that's ridiculous. I mean, good God Almighty. ************************************************** 9. A vote for gun control is a vote for thunderdome ************************************************** The first rule in a fair fight is that both parties are equally matched. An unarmed citizen facing down an armed attacker is a bad guy's dream come true. Now arm that same citizen, and they become a bad guy's worst nightmare. http://tinyurl.com/l39c6o munckinwrangler.wordpress.com August 25, 2009 Every martial art that involves direct unarmed hand-to-hand fighting has weight classes. This is done because a bantamweight boxer will get his clock cleaned by a heavyweight ninety-nine out of a hundred times. Sending a 115-pound fighter up against a 220-pound fighter is simply not an even contest, because the heavyweight can deal (and absorb) much more powerful punches. Let me repeat that little factoid: even a trained fighter in prime shape has no realistic chance of winning an unarmed fight against a heavier opponent. Now, would you consider it fair if we took the bantamweight out of the = ring, and replaced him with a 60-year-old grandmother with diabetes? = How about a 110-pound college student who's never punched anything or anyone in her life? Or maybe a 50-year-old, near-sighted convenience store clerk? A 28-year-old bank teller who's eight months pregnant? = Would those opponents be a more even match for our heavyweight? Would = you consider any of those pairings a fair fight? Well, if you think that law-abiding citizens shouldn't be allowed to carry guns for self-defense, you're essentially in favor of pushing all those folks into that ring with the heavyweight, because that's the power balance on the street. There are no weight classes, no referees, and no fair fights. Even if you imagine for just a moment that we could make all the guns magically disappear with the stroke of a legislative pen, you'd still have violent criminals out there, and they usually prepare the ring in = their favor ahead of time. They have no interest in fair fights, and they don't pick their marks with an eye on keeping within the proper weight class. They pick the time, they pick the place, and they pick the victim ... who gets shoved into that ring at a moment's notice. = One second you're walking into the Stop-N-Rob to pay for your gas and grab some beef jerky, the next you're in the middle of a fight for your life, with no referee around to call the low blows. The truth is that criminals who make a living threatening injury or death for the contents of a cash register or a wallet won't be greatly = handicapped by any laws that prohibit the carrying of guns. They carry them anyway, but as I've pointed out, they'd still tilt the favors in their odds even if the magic gun control fairy could make all the guns go *poof* overnight. Gun control is tossing their intended victims into the ring with them after forcibly disarming them=D6to make sure the violence doesn't escalate. Now, you let Grandma carry that .38 in her purse, and all of a sudden it's no longer a automatic loss for her, even if you don't handicap the heavyweight. Whatever he can come up with, up to and including producing his own gun, the odds are roughly even at that point. With that sixteen-ounce piece of alloy and steel in her hand, Grandma can suddenly negate the huge disparities in physical ability and fighting skill. (On a side note regarding the sufficiency of being able to summon a cop via phone instead: take that gun from Grandma, and put a cell phone in her hand. Does the fight become any more fair? Does Grandma = stand a better chance of walking away unharmed now? Or do you think that heavyweight can punch Grandma halfway into the next zip code before she has finished dialing 911?) Some gun control fans will say that everyone going armed will mean that the criminals will just pack bigger guns and shoot first every time, but they're missing the point. When you know your potential marks aren't allowed to pack heat, you have a low-risk work environment. You can pick the weakest-looking victim, and set all the = parameters for the impending confrontation the way you want them. When people aren't prevented from carrying weapons, you never know which one of them has the means to even out the odds, and every mugging or convenience store register grab becomes a potential lethal confrontation or murder conviction. It makes the job of the violent criminal a much riskier vocation, and serves to discourage rather than = encourage the use of physical force. Another school of thought (if you can grace it with that label) states = that Grandma always has the option to just turn over the contents of her purse, give the opponent what he wants, and hopefully be allowed to leave that ring without any violence taking place. Disregarding the fact that violence has already occurred (the implied threat of death or injury), just look at that course of action from a behavioral = standpoint. If you make an illegal activity low-risk and high-reward, = and you guarantee that the attacker gets what he wants every time he mugs someone, do you think you'll get a.) less, or b.) much more of that illegal activity? Disarming the law-abiding doesn't do a thing to control the lawless. = It's the legal and moral equivalent of grabbing some random person off = the street, taking away anything that could be used as an effective weapon, tossing them into the ring with a trained heavyweight boxer who has had days and weeks to prepare for the fight, and telling the surprised and unwilling opponent to "fight fair". ************************************************** 10. He had a gun and nothing happened ************************************************** No event in recent memory has stirred so much debate and discussion in = the media as a group of legally armed citizens open carrying in the vicinity of a presidential appearance. And to think it all started with something as simple as exercising a right. I can't help but wonder what all the fuss is about. http://tinyurl.com/myce8z gunowners.org Larry Pratt, Executive Director Gun Owners of America Continued ...