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

10/25/09 - VCDL Update 10/25/09 - Part 3

August and posted the results, including video shot with hidden cameras, on a city-sponsored website. "So no background check, right?" the investigators ask. "Because I probably couldn't pass one." The response, over and over, is laughter, a shrug or even admissions from gun sellers that they couldn't pass one either. Out of 30 vendors approached, 19 sold guns to people they knew were barred from owning them. Also captured on tape were dealers selling weapons to an obvious straw buyer -- someone who buys a gun for someone else, usually because the actual buyer couldn't pass the federal background check. Sixteen of 17 vendors approached sold guns to straw buyers, which is a felony. Gun shows are thought to be a key supplier of guns used in crimes, though how big a role they play is the subject of heated debate. To understand why they're considered a problem, one first has to understand the contorted nature of federal gun laws. New-gun retailers are closely regulated, with laws forcing them to obtain licenses, keep transaction records so that guns used in crimes can be traced, and perform background checks on buyers to ensure they aren't legally barred from owning guns. Convicted felons, drug addicts, the mentally ill and illegal immigrants are among those who fall into that category. Meanwhile, nonprofessional used-gun traders are subject to none of those requirements, although even resellers are forbidden from transactions in which they know the buyer couldn't pass a background check (something Bloomberg's investigators caught on tape repeatedly). The absence of regulation of second-hand sales is often referred to as the "gun-show loophole." Any criminal can go to a gun show in most states and buy an armful of used firearms, including semiautomatic assault weapons, knowing they're untraceable and that no one will check his conviction record. Bloomberg and other activists seek to close this loophole, and they have powerful friends. During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama agreed, as did his Republican opponent, John McCain. Yet bills that have sought to close the loophole have never gone far, and there's little reason to think that current efforts, including a bill from Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D- N.J.), will be more successful. That's because the gun lobby enjoys political power that greatly exceeds the number of hard-core gun enthusiasts in the United States, and because many Democrats believe they lost their congressional majority in the mid-1990s because of their aggressive pursuit of gun-control laws -- and they're terrified of a repeat. Democrats' cowardice is distressing, particularly when it's exhibited by Obama, who has been silent on the issue since the campaign and has made no attempt to back Lautenberg's bill. But even if it were to pass, it wouldn't go far enough. In truth, the phrase "gun-show loophole" is a misnomer, because unregulated secondary sales don't just happen at gun shows. Used guns are sold at swap meets, through classified ads and even over the Internet. What's more, criminals get their guns from many sources besides gun shows, including straw buyers and licensed dealers who break the law. What's really needed is a federal law patterned on California's tough restrictions on firearm sales. Lautenberg's bill, S. 843,:S.843: regulates gun-show transactions exclusively. In California, it is illegal for anyone to sell or transfer a firearm, whether at a gun show or not, without processing the transaction through a licensed dealer, who must perform a background check. Opponents claim that this would be overly burdensome, but it has had no discernible effects on gun sales in California, which, according to a recent UC Davis study, hosted 100 gun shows in 2007 and like many other states saw a 30% year- over-year sales increase in late 2008 and early 2009. Though there's little evidence that this law has reduced gun violence in the Golden State, that's probably because it's still so easy for criminals to get guns from elsewhere, especially from anything-goes border states such as Nevada and Arizona. A federal law would change that. But it still wouldn't go far enough. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigates a gun show only when it gets a tip that illegal activity is expected; as a result, it conducts operations at less than 5% of them. If nothing else, Bloomberg's investigation proves that more attention is badly needed. The agency should be given the funding, and a mandate, to post undercover operatives at most if not all gun shows. Though the lunatic fringe that believes the ATF to be a Gestapo-like arm of a repressive government would loudly object, most legitimate merchants wouldn't, because they're tired of unfair competition from resellers who don't follow the rules. None of these measures would restrict the 2nd Amendment rights of law- abiding citizens; their intent is solely to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals. Though the gun lobby raises a hue and cry whenever such proposals arise, it has yet to explain why it wants to make it easy for murderers, armed robbers and other criminals to obtain the tools of their trade. Bloomberg's gun-show expose has the whiff of a political stunt, but if it gets politicians and the public talking about gun control again, it's a stunt we can applaud. ************************************************** 15. U.S.-Mexico group urges new U.S. assault weapons ban ************************************************** Mexican drug cartel violence fueled by U.S. gun sales, group says. Sure, Mexico can't control their criminals so it only makes sense that law-abiding American citizens, who having nothing to do with Mexico's woes, should be restricted from buying semi-automatic firearms. Yeah, makes a whole lot of sense. Do they really think Americans are going to fall for this baloney? http://tinyurl.com/yz8g8y4 www.wtop.com US-Mexico groups urges new US assault weapons ban October 14, 2009 By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET Associated Press Writer MEXICO CITY (AP) - The United States should reinstate a Clinton-era ban on assault weapons to prevent such guns from reaching Mexican drug cartels, former officials from both countries said in a report released Tuesday. The group, which includes two former U.S. ambassadors to Mexico, also said the U.S. should do more to stop the smuggling of firearms and ammunition into Mexico by stepping up investigations of gun dealers and more strictly regulating gun shows. The Binational Task Force on the United States-Mexico Border listed the assault weapons ban as a step the U.S. should take immediately to improve security in both countries. The 10-year ban expired in 2004. "Improving our efforts ... will weaken the drug cartels and disrupt their illegal activities, and make it easier ultimately to dismantle and destroy them," said Robert Bonner, co-chairman of the group and former head of both the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Customs and Border Protection agency. U.S. and Mexican officials say drug cartels frequently use assault rifles, which are banned in Mexico but easily purchased in the United States. Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched a nationwide crackdown on drug cartels when he took office in December 2006. The offensive has been met with unprecedented violence, leaving more than 13,800 people dead. During his run for office, President Barack Obama promised to push to reinstate the ban. He has since said he would rather enforce existing laws that make it illegal to send assault weapons across the border. Other recommendations related to border security included restructuring Mexico's law enforcement operations to create a counterpart to the U.S. Border Patrol, increasing U.S. assistance to Mexico to build up law enforcement and reducing demand for drugs in the United States through more treatment programs. ************************************************** 16. Editorial: Get rid of the guns ************************************************** Notice how they slip that guns should be kept out of the hands of children into the article below. They just drop that statement in like it is a given and isn't up for debate. Well, that is a not a fact. Kids do just fine around guns and have been doing so for as long as there have been guns. We need to call out anyone who says differently, especially in the media. http://tinyurl.com/yfk9aop Illegal guns crackdown needed, say editors www.yournabe.com Get Rid of the Guns Thursday, October 15, 2009 We would like to think the shooting death of a 13-year-old boy near a Cambria Heights car wash would sound a wake-up call in the war against illegal guns, but it is sounded every time a young life is lost and nothing happens. It is as easy to buy an illegal gun today in southeast Queens as it was before Kevin Miller was shot. Mothers raising teen boys in this part of town who do not worry every day that their child will not come home are fooling themselves. The NYPD projects there will be about 457 murders this year, the lowest total since the department started keeping records in 1962. But that will be of little consolation for Kevin's family. We have learned Kevin was a good child who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was a good student who served as an usher and youth minister at New Jerusalem Baptist Church in Jamaica. The tragedy does not stop with Kevin. Nnonso Ekwegbalu, 16, of Springfield Gardens, and Gregory Calas, 18, of St. Albans have been arrested in the shooting, authorities said. Ekwegbalu said he was not shooting at Kevin, according to police. He was in a gang fight with three other boys. Kevin got in the way. If convicted of murder both could spend much of their lives in prison. Ekwegbalu was a student at Campus Magnet High School, the DA said. Justice demands Kevin's killer be punished, but that will not stop the next angry kid with a gun from claiming another life. The senseless killings will not stop until we stop the flow of illegal guns into our community. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has taken the fight to places like Virginia, where it is possible to buy guns from unlicensed dealers at gun shows. States must come down hard on these dealers. The war on illegal guns cannot be won until the mayor makes an ally of the National Rifle Association. Bloomberg and the NRA have seen themselves on opposite sides in the war on guns. The NRA is made up of Americans who cherish the right to bear arms and feel threatened by the anti-gun lobby. But they also do not want see guns get into the hands of children and thugs. They should work with gun manufactures to keep guns out of the hands of children and off Cambria Heights streets. ************************************************** 17. LTE: "Gun" column fails to consider 2nd Amendment ************************************************** http://tinyurl.com/yl9sbv3 www.flyernews.com Letter To The Editor Louis Schulte - Senior, Civil Engineering October 15, 2009 This article is in response to Michael Miller's recent column about the Second Amendment. His proposal was that the Second Amendment has run its course and that it is now time to adopt tighter gun control laws in the name of the safety of Americans. He cites the historical context of the law and the shootings in Columbine and Virginia Tech as reasons to adopt new gun control laws. With all do respect, one should also consider the rest of the facts before adopting this opinion. One fact that wasn't mentioned was the original intention of the Second Amendment, which he claims was meant to protect Americans from their enemies since no police or army existed to protect them. This may be true, but the main reason Americans were given the right to bear arms was to protect themselves from what the Founding Fathers would call the real enemy: an out of control government. Thomas Jefferson and company knew that America's birth came out of the failure of the British to protect the individual rights of the colonists, and they didn't want their newly created government to do the same. The right to bear arms was born out of the notion that people are granted by their Creator with the right to protect themselves should their government come after their individual rights. This notion holds as much truth today as it did 250 years ago. The government may now provide protection from foreign armies and domestic criminals, but the one thing government cannot guarantee Americans is protection from itself. If a government were to attempt to take away the individual right to own a gun, wouldn't it essentially be taking away the right to protect oneself from the government taking away his or her individual rights? That would be the real end of the safety of Americans. Benjamin Franklin said it best by saying, "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." ************************************************** 18. Violent crime data ************************************************** Dale Welch emailed me this: -- http://tinyurl.com/yhzfn2c Great statistical data - worth bookmarking if you don't already have it. 28% of violent crimes happen within the home. 76% happen within 5 miles of the home. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics ----Dale www.ojp.usdoj.gov ************************************************** 19. Gun facts ************************************************** A reference for countering anti-gun arguments David R. Neal emailed me this: -- Something for a future newsletter? You may have covered this before, but the free PDF download of "Gun Facts" is available at the above website. Lots of footnotes/references to use to counter anti-gun arguments etc. Gun Facts - Your Guide to Debunking Gun Control Myths INTRODUCTION: Gun Facts is a free e-book that debunks common myths about gun control. It is intended as a reference guide for journalists, activists, politicians, and other people interested in restoring honesty to the debate about guns, crime, and the 2nd Amendment. Gun Facts has 98 pages of information. Divided into chapters based on gun control topics (assault weapons, ballistic finger printing, firearm availability, etc.), finding information is quick and easy. Each chapter lists common gun control myths, then lists a number of documented and cited facts (with nearly 500 detailed footnotes). Thus when a neighbor, editor or politician repeats some sound bite about firearm control policy, you can quickly find that myth then rebuke with real information. David Neal http://tinyurl.com/6c44yo www.gunfacts.info/ ************************************************** 20. Ohio town to Bloomberg: Butt out ************************************************** Sharonville, Ohio blasts Bloomberg's gun show sting operation in their state. Or, how to make friends and influence the governments of other states: http://tinyurl.com/ylhe2b6 http://gothamist.com Ohio Town To Bloomberg: Butt Out On Wednesday, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled the latest efforts in his crusade against illegal guns coming in NYC by allegedly showing how easy it would be to buy a gun--without a background check or with a straw purchaser--at gun shows in Nevada, Ohio and Tennessee. Of course, one town wasn't too pleased with our big city mayor sending in investigators for the sting operation at a local gun show. Based on NYC's "Gun Show Undercover" report, 75% of the time guns were "sold to people who said either they probably could not pass a background check or to apparent 'straw purchasers.'" The town of Sharonville, Ohio issued a statement: "It is nice that Mayor Bloomberg has spent New York money hiring private investigators to identify alleged crimes of federal law in other states. However, proper arrests cannot be made without informing the Sharonville Police Department. Customarily, we are informed of these types of investigations so that we can coordinate with the appropriate federal agency... It should be noted that federal agencies are actively involved in monitoring and enforcing these gun shows including the one represented in the investigation. The violations referred to are federal and not state. The City of Sharonville does not have jurisdiction over federal laws, but does take any violation very seriously. To our knowledge no federal agency was informed of this private investigation and, therefore, makes enforcement of these particular incidents impossible. The town did add that it was working with the gun show organizer to make sure all laws are being followed. Private unlicensed gun sellers are not required to perform background checks, though it's still a felony to sell guns to people they have reason to believe are prohibited purchasers, like felons. Mayor Bloomberg said, "The gun show loophole is a deadly serious problem." Earlier this week, the NRA offered up a pro-Bloomberg mobster-type in a video to rally support for a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Virginia. ************************************************** 21. Awesome video from the National Shooting Sports Foundation ************************************************** Video chronicles how most hunting rifles evolved from service weapons http://tinyurl.com/njsvdd http://nssf.org ************************************************** 22. Kentucky pastor drops flock for his Glock ************************************************** Pastor quits to focus on church security full-time Deborah Jane Anderson emailed me this: -- Now, here's the original article from the Washington Times. I especially like the pastor's statement about self-defense. "People have this idea that Christians have to turn the other cheek," Mr. Pagano said. "That's true, but I don't think there's anything in the Old or New Testament that requires them to roll over and die if someone attacks them or their family." Blessings, Deborah Jane Anderson http://tinyurl.com/yz76z4z www.washingtontimes.com Kentucky pastor drops flock for his Glock By Valerie Richardson The Kentucky pastor who drew notice earlier this year for hosting a God-and-guns event at his church is giving up his flock for his Glock. Pastor Ken Pagano resigned his post last month at the New Bethel Church in Louisville, Ky., after nearly 30 years in the ministry, saying he wants to focus on Second Amendment and church-security issues. "Thirty years was a good, long run, but it's time for a change," Mr. Pagano said in an interview with The Washington Times. "If I can write my own ticket, I want to get involved more in Second Amendment issues as they affect the church, and I can do more from outside the pulpit than from behind it." Mr. Pagano gained national attention when his congregation hosted an Open Carry Celebration a week before Independence Day to commemorate the roles of religion and gun ownership in the nation's founding. About 200 people attended the event, which featured a handgun raffle and firearm-safety information. Some of them wore their own guns in holsters. Kentucky law allows residents to carry guns openly in public with some restrictions, although gun owners who carry concealed weapons must have permits. The event wasn't supposed to be a big deal, Mr. Pagano said, but "it really struck a nerve." "I would say 90 to 95 percent of all the correspondence we received was positive, saying, 'We're glad somebody's standing up for this,' " Mr. Pagano said. "There were some who said, 'Oh, it's a bunch of rednecks.' " Mr. Pagano said he was considering a career change even before the event, but the ripple effect led him to Rabbi Gary Moskowitz of New York, who has long worked with synagogues on protection from terrorist threats. Mr. Pagano and Mr. Moskowitz have since teamed up to form the International Security Coalition of Clergy, an organization dedicated to "making the vulnerable less vulnerable," according to their mission statement. "Churches are very soft targets and very vulnerable to attack from terrorists and other homegrown, disgruntled individuals," Mr. Pagano said. "Unfortunately, most religious leaders are living in denial." The number of high-profile attacks on churches has spiraled in the past decade. This year's church violence includes the deadly shooting of a late-term abortion provider in Wichita, Kan., a fatal attack on a pastor shot midsermon in Maryville, Ill., and the killing of a female parishioner by her estranged husband in a church parking lot in Silver Spring, Md. A handful of companies specializing in church security have sprung up in response. Glen Evans, who runs the Church Security Alliance in Dayton, Ohio, said many churches are eager to improve on basic security, such as locking doors and checking perimeters regularly, but wrestle with the idea of having an armed guard or parishioner within the church during services. "When you have a church, you have people with the belief that you shouldn't have a gun in church," said Mr. Evans, a police officer with a SWAT background. "But sometimes a firearm is the only thing that's going to stop someone from shooting people." Mr. Pagano advocates a security team of five church members who have at least 40 hours of training in firearms and other tactics. The advantage of using church members instead of a hired guard is that they're better able to separate the regular attendees from the first- time visitors. The idea is self-defense, not aggression, Mr. Moskowitz said. "I'm not taking the position that everyone should have a gun. I'm taking the position that every house of worship or any other high- visibility target should have a person or persons trained in the use of firearms," the rabbi said. Such talk exasperates gun-control advocates, who say that firearms in a crowded environment such as a house of worship has the potential for disaster. "I've got no problems with any institution, whether it's a business or a church, hiring professional, trained security people who know the risks," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "What I do have serious concerns about is the idea that a private individual, just because they're a gun owner, can be a security guard just by carrying a gun to church." As for Mr. Pagano, Mr. Helmke said, "Maybe he should be more concerned about the Fifth Commandment than the Second Amendment." What some people don't realize is that a pastor isn't a "sanctified sheep," Mr. Pagano said, but a shepherd, the protector of the flock. That includes the physical safety of the parishioners within the church building. "People have this idea that Christians have to turn the other cheek," Mr. Pagano said. "That's true, but I don't think there's anything in the Old or New Testament that requires them to roll over and die if someone attacks them or their family." ************************************************** 23. Norfolk Gun show 11/7 - 11/8 CANCELLED ************************************************** The Norfolk Gun show on November 7 and 8 has been cancelled. Thanks to those who had volunteered. ************************************************** 24. Help needed at new Richmond gun show ************************************************** Paul Henick, who is one of the Richmond Gun Show Coordinators, says he needs one or two more people for Sunday morning, November 1, at the Meadow Event Park gun show. I don't have Paul's VCDL email address yet, so please respond to me (president*vcdl.org ) and I will forward to Paul. ------------------------------------------- ***************************************************************************