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

04/06/10 - VCDL Update 4/6/10 - Part 2

slaying. Court documents say Howe was killed over a missing gold- colored bracelet that apparently belonged to Sanquan Carter. A witness said Orlando Carter was with his brother and was seen shooting a gun at the time of Howe's death, according to court documents. 'The wrong place, the wrong time' In Tuesday's shooting, police said they arrested the three after officers chased the silver van into Prince George's County in Maryland and back into Washington and saw an AK-47 type weapon thrown from the van. Other weapons were found inside. Ross Rauls, 26, said he had been to Howe's funeral and went with a group of friends to a wooded area afterward where they shared memories of their friend. He said he headed to the gym, while the others went to Cheek's building. 'It's sad when the last thing you say to them is 'I'll see you later,'' he said. He said the young men shot were not gang members. 'They weren't that type of people. It wasn't gang-related,' Rauls said. 'It's a classic case of the wrong place, the wrong time.' Rico Scott said one of those killed, DeVaughn Boyd, was his cousin. Boyd was a high school senior who liked to go to the mall and the movies with friends, as well as parties that featured go-go music, a mix of soul, funk and Latin styles, Scott said. It was at least the worst shooting in D.C. since 1994, when four men fired into a crowd at the O Street Market, killing a teenager and wounding eight other people. A man was convicted of orchestrating the shooting to retaliate against people who had shot him in the stomach and robbed him several weeks earlier. ************************************************** 13. EDITORIAL: Federal judge goes after gun owners ************************************************** Judge dismisses 'Heller 2', goes after gun owners Jay Britt emailed me this: -- http://tinyurl.com/yeosw8s www.washingtontimes.com Originally published 12:00 a.m., March 30, 2010, updated 05:30 a.m., March 30, 2010 EDITORIAL: Federal judge goes after gun owners THE WASHINGTON TIMES The gun grabbers in Washington are celebrating a federal ruling handed down Friday that upheld the tangle of rules that effectively prohibit District residents from owning firearms for the purpose of home defense. While the Supreme Court in its landmark 2008 Heller decision recognized the individual's right to own a gun, it also conceded that reasonable regulations on gun ownership might be acceptable. U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina took this concession as a green light to approve D.C. rules designed to create a gun ownership ban in everything but name. The District outlawed semiautomatic pistols, instantly removing the vast majority of handguns sold in the United States from the reach of law-abiding residents. Guns that can hold more than 10 bullets are also prohibited. What few remain must be stored unloaded, disabled and unusable for any reasonable form of self- defense. Judge Urbina ruled that all of these onerous restrictions were justified by 'public safety concerns.' The decision will almost certainly be appealed, but that, too, may place gun ownership rights in further jeopardy as the case record appears flawed in one critical respect. Stephen P. Halbrook, the attorney who filed this suit against the District, correctly argued that gun ownership for the purpose of self- defense is a fundamental right. Such rights compel the courts to apply a 'strict scrutiny' to restrictive laws to ensure that they are narrowly tailored to serve a significant governmental interest. Gun control advocates insist that public safety is just such an interest, but Mr. Halbrook declined to cite the direct empirical evidence needed to establish a record for higher courts on whether gun control reduces crime. Under strict scrutiny, such laws must be struck down unless the District can show that gun control is essential to reducing crime rates. Mr. Halbrook's reluctance to cite the empirical evidence explicitly linking guns and crime is unfortunate because gun control laws have demonstrably failed to yield any of the benefits promised. Take the regulations on which Judge Urbina ruled. The evidence shows that rules increasing the cost and burdens of handgun ownership make crime more likely. Books such as 'The Bias Against Guns' and 'More Guns, Less Crime' show that gunlocks, assault-weapon bans and registration rules do not lower crime rates and might instead increase them. This result is not surprising. Requiring homeowners to keep guns locked and unloaded prevents the law-abiding from having accessible self-defense measures. This merely emboldens criminals to go after people in their homes with an increased chance of success. Criminologists and other researchers have found no evidence in the vast academic literature that assault-weapon bans and magazine limitations at either the state or federal level have had any effect on reducing violent crime. Despite portrayals on TV crime shows, gun registration in reality fails to help solve crimes. In theory, if a registered gun were left at the scene, it could be traced back to its owner. However, crime guns are rarely left at the scene. When they are, they are not registered to the criminals who committed the crime. Failing to take advantage of this powerful evidentiary record weakens the gun rights case in the event that a higher court uses a 'balancing test' to weigh the arguments. The situation is even more precarious as the Obama administration continues to pack the appellate courts with anti-gun judges who think like Judge Urbina, a Clinton appointee. In many ways, the upcoming Senate elections could be just as important to preserving the Second Amendment as they will be about health care. ************************************************** 14. More about the 7 states banning open carry ************************************************** After a recent VA-ALERT which included an article about the open carry movement growing across the United States, one of our members emailed me the following: 'in a recent vcdl article it mentioned that 7 states prohibit open carry. Could you mention which states those are in a future update? Thanks!' According to OpenCarry.org's map at http://www.opencarry.org/opencarry.html , the 7 states banning the open carry of properly holstered handguns are: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, Illinois, and New York. This map also labels California a 'rural only open carry state' apparently because openly carried guns in incorporated areas (i.e., cities) must generally be unloaded. VCDL members might also be interested in OpenCarry.org's 'Unlicensed travelers' map' at http://www.opencarry.org/travel.html which attempts to highlight states which allow unlicensed handgun carry in vehicles. Combining these states with the states which accept your Virginia and/ or other state concealed handgun permit(s) often results in the startling realization that you can carry a loaded handgun while driving a vehicle in most of the United States and on federal land in those states managed by the National Park Service, National Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. I don't need to tell VCDL members this but, as always, remember that Internet sources should only be your **starting point** when researching state gun laws before you travel outside of Virginia. ************************************************** 15. Op-Ed: Concealed Handguns Won't Make Bars Shooting Galleries ************************************************** Hal Macklin emailed me this: -- http://tinyurl.com/yglc8ev www.timesdispatch.com This is a well-written Op-Ed published Sunday in the RTD. The author, David Rittgers of the Cato Institute, gives his opinion, supported by the facts, of Chief Jake Jacocks Jr. stereotypical remark that only law enforcement officers can handle that awesome responsibility of carrying a concealed handgun in a restaurant that serves alcohol: [SNIP] If Chief Jacocks is so concerned about the prospect of intoxicated arguments turning into gunfights, he should have submitted language to the legislature that applies a 'no drinking' rule to law enforcement officers and commonwealth's attorneys. They are currently allowed to carry a concealed handgun in a bar and to consume alcohol while doing it. The proposed legislation would not change this fact. The majority of the states allow concealed handguns in establishments that serve alcohol. The Commonwealth of Virginia can treat its citizens like adults and do the same. ************************************************** 16. Alan Gura to speak at the GRNC Annual Dinner May 14th in Charlotte, NC ************************************************** Bill Lawry emailed me this: -- Hi Philip - Paul Vallone (President of Grassroots North Carolina) asked me to send along our flyer and his request that you each arrange to publish it as an Alert. May 14th was chosen to sync up with the NRA's Annual convention and meeting in Charlotte and we would like you to make your members aware that there's an alternative to their 'Friends' dinner on Friday night - and only 4 blocks away. We've stuck our necks out to get Gura and now we need to sell all the tickets at $50 ea just to break even. The price is right and I've been told by Alan Korwin that Gura will deliver a good presentation. We promise to keep the politicians reined in to 'remarks'. :D The room is small - only about 250 seats - so this will be a good time to get on the inside of the arguments and have all of your questions answered. Gura isn't doing any NRA events. Flyer: http://grnc.org/symposium.htm ************************************************** 17. Jimmy Kimmel goes to Starbucks ************************************************** Carla and Dave Hicks emailed me this: -- I am really SHOCKED that Starbucks let him use a store for this, since they 'want to be left alone and kept out of the debate.' So far those on an ProRKBA site see it as: Pro-gun / Satire on how the antis think we act = 11.11% Anti-gun / Attempts to portray gun owners as dangerous = 22.22% Neutral / It's just comedy = 52.78% Can't tell / Too ambiguous = 13.89% http://tinyurl.com/yjp2bzr ************************************************** 18. Starbucks can't stay out of gun debate, NYT says ************************************************** I would also remind the press that Virginia gun owners have honored Starbucks' request to not be in the middle of a gun debate. It's the Brady's that have, as usual, been disrespectful towards Starbucks. -- http://tinyurl.com/y8d7som www.seattletimes.com Starbucks can't stay out of gun debate, NYT says Posted by Melissa Allison 'Starbucks' combination of a somewhat-pious corporate persona and its massive growth has made it an apparently irresistible jumping-off point for all kinds of debates and meditations,' Rob Walker wrote in a New York Times Sunday magazine item on Starbucks and the gun debate. In what appears to be a gratuitous swipe, the piece says that when sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term 'third place,' that place between work and home that Starbucks wants to be, 'It seems fair to say that Starbucks is not what he had in mind.' (Maybe the Times is upset that Starbucks is now carrying The Wall Street Journal in 450 New York stores?) He also points out that civil rights protests often focused on restaurants and hotels and says, 'Starbucks, in more ways than one, is shorthand for 'everywhere.'' That makes it a target for both sides in the gun debate, he wrote. If that's true, I wonder why open carry advocates hung out first at Peet's Coffee? OpenCarry.org co-founder Mike Stollenwerk of Virginia said they switched to Starbucks only after Peet's banned their openly carried guns. In fresher political news, French president Nicolas Sarkozy insisted that 'his choice of espresso machine be provided' at a visit to Columbia University yesterday, the New York Post reports. Unfortunately, it does not report which machine that is. ************************************************** 19. U.N. arms trade treaty would impose strict controls on firearms ************************************************** Stephen Wenger emailed me this: -- http://tinyurl.com/yku9cvx http://works.bepress.com UN Lies: Currently, the United Nations is drafting an Arms Trade Treaty to impose strict controls on firearms and other weapons. In support of hasty adoption of the Treaty, a UN-related organization of Treaty supporters is has produced a report claiming that armed violence is responsible for 740,000 deaths annually. This Article carefully examines the claim. We find that the claim is based on dubious assumptions, cherry-picking data, and mathematical legerdemain which is inexplicably being withheld from the public. The refusal to disclose the mathematical calculations used to create the 740,000 factoid is itself cause for serious suspicion; our own calculations indicate that the 740,000 figure is far too high. Further, while the report claims that 60% of homicides are perpetrated with firearms, our review of the data on which report claimed to rely yields a 22% rate. The persons responsible for the report have refused to release their homicide calculations, or any other calculations. This Article also shows how a narrow focus on restricting firearms ownership continues to distract international attention from life-saving, viable solutions. We propose some practical alternatives which have already saved lives in war-ravaged areas. (This is the abstract for a recent article by David Kopel, Paul Gallant and Joanne Eisen.) ************************************************** 20. Who is more likely to kill? ************************************************** Violence Policy Center report wrongly paints concealed handgun permit holders as killers Stephen Wenger emailed me this: -- http://tinyurl.com/ygy7dcl www.examiner.com Who Is More Likely to Kill?: Josh Sugarmann of the Violence Policy Center is at it again. Regular readers will recall this is the character who counts on ignorance about firearms to spread the misconception that semiautomatic firearms are machine guns in order to help gin up support for banning them as 'assault weapons.' Sugarmann's new shtick is representing concealed carry permit holders as violent criminals, and he's employing his trademark sleight of mind to do it... To prove their case, VPC cites 151 people killed by permit holders since 2007. Note they do not cite how many shooters have been convicted, but for the sake of argument, let's stipulate they're all bad to the bone. A. Barton Hinckle of The Richmond Times-Dispatch puts things in perspective: '[T]he percentage of concealed-carry permit holders who have killed someone with a firearm comes to two one- thousandths of 1 percent. Yet to listen to the VPC's Kristen Brand [sic] - who says 'concealed handgun permit holders are killing people over parking spaces, football games, and family arguments' - you'd think the cohort of permit holders was as dangerous as the gang at Rikers Island.' From MSNBC, hardly noted for sympathy to gun rights: 'From its beginnings in the 1980s, the 'right-to-carry' movement has succeeded in boosting the number of licensed concealed-gun carriers from fewer than 1 million to a record 6 million today, according to estimates from gun-rights groups that are supported by msnbc.com's research.' From the Bureau of Labor Statistics: 'Police and detectives held about 883,600 jobs in 2008.' Shall we compare populations? ************************************************** 21. Going for their guns ************************************************** Interactive map shows state concealed handgun permit laws And Iowa is about to become gold colored, too. (Iowa should be honoring VA CHPs by the first day of next year). Charles DeKeyser emailed me this: -- This map shows the states with 'shall issue' concealed-weapons permits (meaning most adults qualify to get one); 'may issue' and 'no issue' states also are shown. Click on the 'Play' arrow next to the timeline for a graphic view of how many states have become 'shall issue' since 1986. Charles DeKeyser Reston http://tinyurl.com/yczqbov www.msnbc.msn.com ************************************************** 22. 10 rules for dealing with the police [VIDEO] ************************************************** Video uses lawyer and actors to demonstrate the ten rules people should follow to stay out of trouble during police encounters James Durso emailed me this: -- http://tinyurl.com/yz3ceyw www.cato.org ************************************************** 23. Mayor Blomberg slams White House on gun control: report ************************************************** Another temper tantrum from Mayor 'I bought the election' Bloomberg. Carla and Dave Hicks emailed me this: -- http://tinyurl.com/y9psnxh www.nypost.com Mayor Blomberg slams White House on gun control: report POST WIRE SERVICES Last Updated: 4:23 PM, March 30, 2010 Posted: 3:38 PM, March 30, 2010 President Obama is under the gun when it comes to Mayor Bloomberg and his crusade against illegal weapons. Bloomberg, generally considered a White House ally, put Obama on notice after he fired off a letter to the White House this month where he reportedly accused the president of dragging his feet when it comes to gun control, according to a report today. In the March 3 letter sent from Bloomberg's coalition, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the mayor points to a separate report the group sent the Obama administration last August, which laid out 40 recommendations to 'improve enforcement of existing gun laws,' according to The Huffington Post. The letter was co-signed by Boston Mayor Tom Menino. 'We appreciate the ... consideration of the report, but this is an urgent matter: further delay will almost certainly result in the needless loss of innocent lives, including many children. Mr. President, the time has come for action,' the mayors wrote, according to the letter obtained by The Huffington Post. The White House did not immediately have a comment in regards to the letter. Bloomberg has been an ardent fighter for gun control, blaming illegal handguns smuggled into New York State for shootings that take place in the city. He has also taken on the National Rifle Association in the past. 'Over the past six months, approximately 6,000 Americans have been gunned down in intentional acts of violence. The 40 recommendations in our Blueprint, many of which could be enacted immediately, offer the best hope we have for making our country safer over the next six months -- and the years ahead.' The Huffington Post report comes after the city conducted a sting operation last year where it caught unlicensed gun dealers selling weapons to undercover investigators who admitted they couldn't pass background checks. The stings were conducted at seven gun shows in Tennessee, Ohio and Nevada. Those states are among the many that permit private unlicensed dealers, known as 'occasional sellers,' to sell weapons at gun shows without conducting background checks. Nine states, including New York, have passed laws to close the loophole, requiring background checks on at least all handgun purchases at gun shows. ************************************************** 24. Jail time for gun owner who got laid over in Newark, NJ ************************************************** This tragedy bears careful reading by those of you who travel. Ben Piper emailed me this: -- http://tinyurl.com/yg42cx4 www.volokh.com Unexpected Flight Delay => Hotel Stay => Criminal Prosecution for Gun Possession Eugene Volokh * March 30, 2010 5:18 pm An unfortunate story, detailed in Revell v. Port Authority (3d Cir. 2010): Gregg C. Revell was flying from Salt Lake City to Allentown, Pennsylvania, via Minneapolis and Newark. He had an unloaded gun legally checked in his luggage, which was supposed to meet him at Allentown. Supposed to. In fact, the flight to Newark was late, so Revell missed his connection. He booked himself on the next flight, but the airline changed those plans. He was supposed to get on a bus, but his luggage didn't get on the bus with him. He found the luggage, but the bus had left, so he had to stay overnight at the hotel, with his luggage. Aha! That's where the crime came in. The Firearms Owners' Protection Act protected Revell on the plane, and would have protected him on the bus. But the moment the luggage came into his hands or otherwise became 'readily accessible' to him outside a car -- here, when he got the luggage to go to the hotel, but it would have also happened if he had gotten the luggage to put it into the trunk of a rental car -- he violated New Jersey law, which requires a permit to possess a handgun (and which bans the hollow-point ammunition that Revell also had in a separate locked container in his luggage). Revell was arrested when he checked in with the luggage at Newark Airport, and said (as he was supposed to) that he had an unloaded gun in a locked case in his luggage; he then spent four days in jail until he was released on bail. Eventually the New Jersey prosecutor dropped the charges against him, but Revell didn't get the gun and his other property back until almost three years later. Revell sued, and lost; the Third Circuit concluded that once he took the luggage in hand in New Jersey, it became 'readily accessible,' and the FOPA immunity was lost. And this is indeed a sensible reading of the statutory text: Notwithstanding any other provision of any law or any rule or regulation of a State or any political subdivision thereof, any person who is not otherwise prohibited by this chapter from transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm shall be entitled to transport a firearm for any lawful purpose from any place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm to any other place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm if, during such transportation the firearm is unloaded, and neither the firearm nor any ammunition being transported is readily accessible or is directly accessible from the passenger compartment of such transporting vehicle: Provided, That in the case of a vehicle without a compartment separate from the driver's compartment the firearm or ammunition shall be contained in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console. So what do you if this happens to you? Stranded gun owners like Revell have the option of going to law enforcement representatives at an airport or to airport personnel before they retrieve their luggage. The careful owner will do so and explain his situation, requesting that his firearm and ammunition be held for him overnight.[18] [Footnote 18:] Of course, this suggestion leaves unanswered the question of what the gun owner should do if the law enforcement officers decline to assist him. It may be hoped, however, that officers will not compound a blameless owner's problems in that way. Hope does spring eternal, but I suspect that airport police and airport staff aren't going to be willing to hold people's luggage for them overnight, especially when it contains a gun. And of course the airport police or staff would then have to personally check in the luggage for the owner, since the owner can't take it in hand without losing the FOPA immunity. So watch out when you travel with your gun in checked luggage. If your flight gets routed to a different city, or you have to stay overnight at one of the stops, you could be arrested. Or if you drive across country but your car breaks down, and you need to move the luggage to another car, you could likewise be violating the law (though you'd be less likely to be caught, since you have no obligation declare your gun when you switch cars the way you do when you get on a plane). FOPA gives you a good deal of protection on your travels -- but, as Mr. Revell learned, not complete protection. ************************************************** 25. Report from liberal cable outlet shows that more guns equals fewer firearms deaths ************************************************** John Sabol emailed me this: -- http://tinyurl.com/y9vy9aa www.cnsnews.com Report From Liberal Cable Outlet Shows That More Guns Equals Fewer Firearms Deaths Monday, March 29, 2010 By Joe Schoffstall (CNSNews.com) - A new report published by MSNBC.com shows that more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens results in fewer deaths from the use of firearms. 'Firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens prevent 1 million robberies, murders and rapes every year,' John Pierce, a Virginia- based gun-rights activist with opencarry.org, told MSNBC.com. Alan M. Gottlieb, vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), called the finding 'further evidence that everything the gun prohibitionists have been claiming and predicted over the past two decades has been fundamentally fraudulent.' However, not everyone shares the sentiment of those pushing for laws that allow open carry and concealed carry. Kristen Rand, legislative director for the Violence Policy Center, a gun-control group, said the movement for more open-carry and concealed-carry gun laws 'has to do with selling more guns.' While it was pushed by groups like the National Rifle Association, it also 'dovetailed with the gun industry's desperate need to find a new market,' she said. The MSNBC.com report, Record numbers now licensed to pack heat, says that in the 1980s and 1990s, Americans were killed by guns at a rate of about 5.66 per 100,000 population, at the time the concealed-carry movement (carrying a handgun or other weapon in public in a concealed manner, either on one's person or close proximity) began gaining momentum. In this decade, the gun-homicide rate has fallen to 4.07 per 100,000, which equates to a 28 percent reduction in homicides with the use of firearms. This decline in homicides follows a five-fold increase in a 'shall-issue' (requirement of a permit to carry a concealed handgun, but where the granting of the permit is subject only to meeting certain criteria laid out in the law) and unrestricted concealed-carry laws in states from 1986 to 2006, reported MSNBC.com. According to federal background checks conducted on the sale of most firearms, the decline in homicides comes as U.S. firearm sales are skyrocketing. While the number of gun sales held stable between 8.5 million and 9 million from 1999-2005, the FBI reported a rise in sales to 10 million in 2006. In 2007 the number jumped to 11 million; in 2008, up to 13 million; and more than 14 million in 2009 -- an increase of 55 percent in four years. The nation's highest gun homicide rates are in Washington, D.C., with 20.50 deaths per 100,000 people, five times the general rate. Yet the District of Columbia has the strictest gun-control laws in the nation. The lowest rate of gun-related homicides is in Utah: 1.12 deaths per 100,000 people. Utah's gun-control policy is very unrestricted. According to SAF's Gottlieb, gun control advocates 'repeatedly argued that more guns will equate to more crime and more firearm deaths, and MSNBC.com just let the air out of their sails with this exhaustive and well-balanced report. 'This is why,' said Gottleib, 'anti-gun groups have lost their momentum and their credibility. They failed to gain traction even with a Democrat-controlled Congress and anti-gun White House. They are so desperate for attention that they have now declared war on private businesses just to generate publicity. Their high-profile campaign of hysteria against Starbucks for complying with state laws that allow concealed and open carry in their coffee shops is based on an issue they fabricated just to grab headlines and television face time, and the public knows it.' Gottlieb concluded, 'Every restrictive gun law, every ban, every gun- free-zone they have advocated and defended have one thing in common: they gave us a body count. The MSNBC.com report suggests America has had enough.' ************************************************** 26. Gun shows and events! ************************************************** The Virginia Citizens Defense League thanks the following member-activists who generously gave of their time to advance and help defend the rights of their fellow gun owners by working our recruiting and information booths at gun shows around the state. Dale City, March 13-14 Terrell Purde', Jeff Morrow, Vin Miragliotta, Tom Pietras, Russell Krull, Mark Jones, Kieth & Tori Dingwall, Clairia Jackson, Dexter Guptill, and Dr. Jerry Coffey Roanoke, March 20-21 Sherrill Smith, Kathy Smith, Ken Modica, John Everett, Bruce Powers, Chris Sturgill, Greg Bellamy, and Bill Brown As an all volunteer organization, VCDL depends on YOU to volunteer your time at our area events, where we recruit new activists and keep gun owners informed. No experience necessary; if it's your first time we'll pair you with a veteran volunteer. To find out more about helping at our gun show tables, go to: http://www2.vcdl.org/cgi-bin/wspd_cgi.sh/vcdl/gs.html and click on any of the blue links, or contact the coordinator for the show/event listed below with which you are interested in helping. Here are the upcoming events with which we need YOUR help: