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

04/28/10 - VCDL Update 4/28/10 - Part 2

voting rights bill to a provision that would have effectively eliminated the District's tough gun control laws. The measure would have given the District's 600,000 residents a House vote and would have temporarily given Republican-leaning Utah a new at-large seat, expanding the size of the House from 435 to 437 members. ************************************************** 6. Impose gun rights...? ************************************************** Steve Bennett emailed me this: -- Philip, Take a gander at today's Washington 'Litterbox Liner' - (Post). Page A = 15 has a letter from Tom Davis in which he writes: 'Moreover, the National Rifle Association has the votes now and will have the votes in the next Congress to impose gun rights on the city.' (Emphasis added by me.) What has Tom been smokin? Or, did he write this letter when he was three-sheets-to-the-wind? '... impose... rights...? Perhaps it's a good thing he's no longer in Congress. [PVC: Amen to that.] http://tinyurl.com/236ctcw www.washingtonpost.com April 18, 2010 [SNIP] TOM DAVIS Former U.S. representative from Virginia; president of the Republican Main Street Partnership For voting-rights activists, the answer is clear. As distasteful as the gun amendments may be, the District should reluctantly accept them = as the compromise for a vote in Congress. I say this because the Senate's coloration will change in November, and the 60 votes needed to pass voting rights for Washington simply will not be there for several more years at best. Moreover, the National Rifle Association has the votes now and will have the votes in the next Congress to impose gun rights on the city. The compromise that gives red Utah an extra seat to offset the blue one Washington will get also expires with this Congress. The worst outcome would be to allow this opportunity to pass and have the next Congress impose gun rights anyway. Senate Democrats are likely to lose at least three seats in the upcoming election and will lose the 60 votes needed to pass this bill, which they currently have. = And the 2012 Senate election cycle has 21 Democrats facing reelection and only 12 Republicans, making further GOP (and anti-voting rights) gains probable. Voting rights for the D.C. delegate to Congress are too important to put off for another generation. Those who advocate waiting for the perfect bill do not understand the political realities and do their constituents a disservice by pretending otherwise. ************************************************** 7. Who needs a gun in Washington D.C.? ************************************************** Apparently, being a former movie star and member of the White House staff doesn't offer much protection from an armed criminal. This happened the day after the Second Amendment March in DC. http://tinyurl.com/y73pyga news-briefs.ew.com By Chris Nashawaty April 20, 2010 'Harold & Kumar' star, Kal Penn, robbed at gunpoint in D.C. As TMZ first reported, actor Kal Penn was robbed at gunpoint in Washington, D.C., early this morning, his rep confirmed. The 32-year- old star of the 2004 stoner comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and its 2008 sequel has been working in the capital for the Obama administration. The D.C. police confirmed a robbery at 1:20 A.M. on the 1500 block of S Street to EW. The actor was accosted by a gunman, who walked up to him and took a wallet and other belongings. Penn gave up his role on the TV show House last year to take the position of an associate director in the White House's Office of Public Engagement. He is scheduled to star in a third Harold & Kumar film later this year. ************************************************** 8. Firearm safety program coming to Virginia elementary schools ************************************************** The anti-gunners and many in the press are frothing at the mouth over elementary students being taught the NRA's Eddie Eagle gun safety program. They mischaracterize what the program does (like implying that the course would teach kids how to carry a gun), try to say that Governor McDonnell was somehow paid off by the NRA, and other shameful = things. But for them the ends justifies the means - the truth can be just tossed aside like so much garbage. http://tinyurl.com/289wfuw www.whsv.com By Michael Hyland April 21, 2010 In addition to budget issues, Virginia lawmakers are looking at changes to various bills during Wednesday's one-day session, including = a bill that brings gun safety programs to elementary schools. One of the bills calls for the Virginia Board of Education to 'establish a standardized program of firearm safety education for students in the elementary school grades to promote the protection and = safety of children.' Once the program is created and made available, it will be up to individual school divisions to determine if they want to incorporate it into their classrooms. Some Valley parents have concerns about the idea. 'It's not the wisest thing because, for instance, [my daughter]. She doesn't know what a gun is. But, if she sees gun safety, then now she's curious about it,' says Nery Washington, who lives in Harrisonburg. Dennis Golden runs a gun store in the Friendly City called Ashby Arms. Safety is something he says he's already stressing with his stepchildren. He supports taking the message of gun safety into schools. 'Even if they're not around them in their own home, they could come in = contact with firearms in other people's homes,' says Golden. The legislature voted overwhelmingly in favor of this move. According to the text of the bill, lawmakers require 'that the program = objectives incorporate, among other principles of firearm safety, accident prevention and the rules of the National Rifle Association's Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program.' 'Nothing about this program should make children curious about firearms, and we don't encourage children to own a gun. So, as to any of those kind of fears, I would say they're totally unwarranted,' says = Alexa Fritts, a spokeswoman for the NRA. The NRA program teaches kids if they see a gun, not to touch it, leave = the area and to tell an adult about it. 'For something that [my daughter] doesn't know, you're actually opening it out there for her to be curious about it. And so, now she is going to look for the gun,' says Washington. 'Video games and television are going to have more of an effect on children and wanting to see and be around firearms than a safety class,' says Golden. A spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Education says employees = haven't started putting the program together yet since lawmakers were still debating language of the bill Wednesday. The spokesperson says it's unlikely the board will have a program approved in time for next school year. ----- Va. to use NRA measures in new gun-safety program http://tinyurl.com/3ag3zgu www.wtkr.com By Zinie Chen Sampson April 22, 2010 RICHMOND, Va. - A new law will require Virginia's education department = to come up with a gun-safety program for public elementary schools that incorporates guidelines from the National Rifle Association. The law allows local school divisions to offer gun-safety education to = pupils in kindergarten through fifth grade. While each school board can decide whether to offer it, those that do must use the state curriculum guidelines--which will include rules used by the NRA's Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program. Legislation passed in March by the General Assembly had included an amendment that allowed the guidelines to include materials from the National Crime Prevention Center. Gov. Bob McDonnell proposed removing = the amendment because there is no group by that name, and the legislature on Wednesday approved his change. While the legislation meant to refer to the National Crime Prevention Council, McDonnell spokeswoman Stacey Johnson says that rather than fixing the group's name, the governor deleted it because the council doesn't have a current standalone gun-safety program. The law requires that curriculum guidelines 'shall incorporate, among other principles of firearm safety, accident prevention and the rules upon which the Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program offered by the National Rifle Association is based.' The program uses the Eddie Eagle mascot to advise children: 'If you see a gun: STOP! Don't Touch. Leave the Area. Tell an Adult.' NRA's Eddie Eagle website says that the program's goal 'isn't to teach = whether guns are good or bad, but rather to promote the protection and = safety of children.' Opponents of the NRA's prominence in the law include a group called Virginians for Public Safety, affiliated with a number of Virginia Tech massacre victims' families who have advocated for stricter gun- control measures, including federal legislation to require private firearms sellers to conduct background checks on prospective buyers. 'It's frustrating,' Lori Haas, the mother of injured student Emily Haas, said Thursday. 'The General Assembly has no business mandating new programs that school systems have not asked for, while simultaneously cutting funding to school systems.' Haas said that while the Eddie Eagle program may be considered an industry standard-bearer, the gun lobby shouldn't be shaping school curriculums, and decisions about teaching gun safety to children should be left to their parents. The National Rifle Association spent more than $620,000 towards McDonnell's election efforts in 2009, including more than $537,000 on television and radio advertising, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Virginia Department of Education spokesman Charles Pyle said Thursday that agency staff will create draft guidelines, and the public will be = given chances to review and comment on the proposed measures before they're presented to the state Board of Education for final adoption. The legislation's fiscal impact statement says that it's likely that the department will have to 'contract out for assistance in developing = curriculum guidelines,' but had no estimate of the potential cost. Pyle said that it was too early to address whether the education department would meet with NRA staff to shape the guidelines, but such = a process 'often does involve bringing in parties with expertise in the areas. That only makes sense.' He also said that the department also would look at other safety programs if they fit the law's requirements. The Eddie Eagle program already is offered in schools across the country and in Virginia. The Department of Education doesn't track which local schools currently offer such firearms-safety lessons, Pyle = said. ************************************************** 9. Anti-gunner strongly opposes 'Gun Safety' Education ************************************************** VCDL EM Hal Macklin emailed me this: -- Note Lori's Mission Creep -- she is now way beyond the Cho massacre and works against any pro-gun program, bill, or anything else our side = might want. Thus, it appears she has always been a gun rights hater. Meanwhile, there has been a somewhat measured, somewhat hysterical reaction to the 'Eddie Eagle' Bill and the elimination of Saslaw's amendment to the bill. Depends on the news outlet. A sampling: Should public schools teach gun safety? http://tinyurl.com/2bnlbl7 NRA gun-safety program for Va. grade schools criticized http://tinyurl.com/y4qtsbs Va. to use NRA measures in new gun-safety program http://tinyurl.com/3ag3zgu Gun Safety Courses in Elementary School? [VIDEO] http://tinyurl.com/26q5sgd Firearm Safety Program Coming to Virginia Elementary Schools http://tinyurl.com/289wfuw Va. Public Safety Group Tagets(sic) Proposed Gun-Safety Education http://tinyurl.com/276ehms Va. to use NRA measures in new safety program http://tinyurl.com/2b3sg6u ************************************************** 10. NRA gun-safety program for Va. grade schools criticized ************************************************** Deborah Jane Anderson emailed me this: -- So, Dick Saslaw amended a bill to include an 'anti-gun' measure, but his legislation contained the wrong name for a group ('National Crime Prevention Center'). Making matters even worse for Saslaw is that the = group he intended to include ('National Crime Prevention Council') doesn't even produce gun safety materials anymore. Bob McDonnell decided to proposed stripping the Saslaw amendment from the bill before signing it, because the group Saslaw tried to include along with the NRA doesn't exist, nor does a similarly named group produce gun safety materials anymore. When Saslaw was asked about McDonnell stripping the amendment from the version of the bill that the governor intends to sign, the article says that Saslaw 'has no opposition to McDonnell's change given that the group he intended to refer to has not recently been distributing material about gun safety.' Well, duh! Perhaps, Saslaw and/or his staff ought to do more research before they try to push their anti-gun agenda by trying to amend, impede or kill any good, pro-gun legislation in the future. Nonetheless, the anti group 'Virginians for Public Safety' is calling for the legislature to reject McDonnell's proposed amendment stripping = measure. They call the NRA 'narrow minded.' But, it's the 'antis' who are the real narrow minded crowd -- not those who support the 2nd Amendment. I like what the NRA spokesman said about the Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program. He says that 'Education is a very powerful tool,' and then goes on to say, '...you have some really narrow-minded and politically motivated people trying to jeopardize a good program.' http://tinyurl.com/y4qtsbs www.washingtonpost.com By Rosalind S Helderman April 21, 2010 RICHMOND -- The Virginia General Assembly has directed the state's Board of Education to develop course materials for teaching gun safety = to elementary school children that incorporate the guidelines of a National Rifle Association program. The measure, approved during the legislature's recently concluded annual session, allows local school boards to choose whether to implement the program. A leading Democrat in the state Senate had amended the bill to allow the state board to also incorporate materials from a second group, the = National Crime Prevention Center. But Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) has = proposed stripping the amendment from the bill, leaving the reference only to NRA material. A McDonnell spokeswoman said there is no such group as the National Crime Prevention Center. The similarly named National Crime Prevention = Council, best known for its McGruff the Crime Dog programs, did develop a gun safety curriculum several years ago, but a spokesman for = the group said it has not been updated in several years. Advocates for an alternative to the NRA program acknowledged the error = in the crime-prevention organization's name, but said McDonnell could have proposed correcting the group's name rather than removing it entirely. In Virginia, the governor has a line-item veto that allows him to rewrite bills passed by the General Assembly. The legislature will gather in Richmond on Wednesday for a one-day session to consider whether to accept McDonnell's amendments. Legislators will weigh his change to the school gun program bill, along with amendments to 121 other bills. They will also vote on 96 amendments McDonnell has requested to the state's two-year state budget. A group called Virginians for Public Safety, which works closely with pro-gun-control family members of victims of the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech, is calling on the legislature to reject McDonnell's change in the gun education bill. 'If a school division elects to have this program, it should not be the exclusive domain of the gun lobby to supply the material,' said Alice Mountjoy, a founding member of the group. 'It's very narrow and, = to my mind, narrow-minded.' According to the legislation, the state's curriculum must 'incorporate, among other principles of firearm safety, accident prevention and the rules upon which the Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program offered by the National Rifle Association' is based. Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association, said the Eddie Eagle program is geared to younger children and uses a jingle to teach that if a child sees a gun, he or she should stop, not = touch the weapon, leave the area and tell an adult. 'Education is a very powerful tool,' he said. 'Yet, you have some really narrow-minded and politically motivated people trying to jeopardize a good program.' The bill was sponsored by Del. Lynwood W. Lewis Jr., a Democrat who represents rural Accomack County and part of the city of Norfolk. He said that he does not expect Fairfax County to offer gun safety courses but that some school divisions in rural parts of the state where hunting is common would probably choose the option. Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), who proposed the = amendment to allow the use of materials from the National Crime Prevention Center as well as the NRA, said he has no opposition to McDonnell's change given that the group he intended to refer to has not recently been distributing material about gun safety. Andrew Fois, a managing director of the National Crime Prevention Council, said that his group would be 'thrilled to be included' in the = program but that it does not have the resources to revise its gun safety material. 'We weren't consulted before we were put in,' Fois said. 'And we weren't consulted now that we've been taken out.' Stacey Johnson, a spokeswoman for McDonnell, said the governor supported the measure, which received overwhelming bipartisan support in the legislature, as 'a good way to prevent accidents.' She said his = amendment aimed to remove a reference to the nonexistent center. ************************************************** 11. Video: When seconds count ************************************************** Kevin McKinley emailed me this: -- http://tinyurl.com/27l53ag www.pjtv.com April 21, 2010 Oftentimes, when the police are minutes away, seconds count. Self- defense isn't a privilege. It's a right. ************************************************** 12. Gun shows, Bloomberg and Thomas Jefferson ************************************************** If Thomas Jefferson were alive today, I wonder what he would have to say about Mayor Bloomberg's attack on private gun sales? Paul Dysart emailed me this: -- Philip, Here is a quote by Thomas Jefferson that I put into my response to both of our Senators. 'Our citizens have been always free to make, vend and export arms..... = the benefits of them will be left equally free and open to all.' by Thomas Jefferson Thought you might like it. http://tinyurl.com/354sl8r ************************************************** 13. Families of Va. Tech massacre press Webb, Warner on gun shows ************************************************** http://tinyurl.com/yyqlxc2 ww2.timesdispatch.com By David Ress April 20, 2010 Families of those who died in the Virginia Tech massacre as well as survivors are asking Virginia's two U.S. senators to support a bill requiring background checks of firearms buyers at gun shows. Their aim is to ensure that felons or people who are barred from owning guns because they have severe mental illness are not getting firearms, families and survivors said in a full-page advertisement in yesterday's Richmond Times-Dispatch. 'We've waited too long,' said Lori Haas, whose daughter was injured in = the April 16, 2007, massacre, when Tech senior Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 = students and teachers in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Cho had been ordered by a judge to get mental-health treatment 16 months before the massacre -- the kind of involuntary commitment that now is supposed to bar people from owning guns. Though he did not buy his guns at a gun show, 'closing the 'gun-show loophole' is the one recommendation the governor's panel made in August 2007 that hasn't been enacted. It's been 21/2 years,' Haas said. 'It's been three years since . . . ' she said, before a long pause. 'Since so many lives were altered beyond description by an act of gun violence too large to even describe.' A total of 76 survivors and relatives of those who died signed letters = supporting the advertisement's request that Democratic Sens. Jim Webb and Mark R. Warner vote for legislation requiring background checks of = all buyers at gun shows. One, Omar Samaha, whose younger sister Reema was killed in the massacre, said he was able to buy 10 guns in less than an hour at a Richmond gun show last spring. 'No background check. No identification. No questions asked. It was as = easy as buying a bag of chips at a grocery store; simple cash and carry,' he said. In a private meeting last year, Webb told survivors and families of Tech victims that he supports background checks. Warner has not taken a position on the issue. 'I know the value of honoring your word and your commitments. It is time for Senator Webb to honor his,' said Peter Read, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel whose daughter Mary was killed in the massacre. [PVC: Senator Webb's aide told me last week that the Senator does not = support any of the 'gun show loophole' bills in Congress.] 'I also know that guns have no place in the hands of criminals or the mentally ill.' ************************************************** 14. Opinion: VT families: Three years and waiting ************************************************** http://tinyurl.com/35rskdw www2.newsadvance.com April 22, 2010 Three years after the shooting massacre at Virginia Tech that snuffed out the lives of 32 victims, the Virginia General Assembly has done nothing to close the gun show loophole. That loophole allows anyone - even convicted felons and those with a history of mental illness - to buy weapons from a private dealer without a background check. Many of the families of students killed and wounded in the mass shooting on April 16, 2007, have given up on Virginia lawmakers and are turning to Congress for federal legislation that would close the loophole. They are tired of waiting. 'It's been three years since so many lives were altered beyond description by an act of gun violence too large to = even describe,' said Lori Haas, whose daughter was injured in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. Haas concedes that the assailant, Tech senior Seung-Hui Cho, who turned one of his guns on himself, did not buy his guns at a gun show. = But, she points out that 'closing the 'gun show loophole' is the one recommendation the governor's panel made in August 2007 that hasn't been enacted.' That's because a committee in the House of Delegates has consistently killed legislative proposals to subject gun sellers at open-air gun shows to the same background checks required of sellers at federally licensed gun shops. So the families are turning to Congress for help. In a full-page advertisement in the Richmond Times-Dispatch earlier this week, they asked Democratic U.S. Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner to support a bill = that would require private sellers to run a background check on buyers = at gun shows. The 'open letter,' which also ran the day before the 11th anniversary of the Columbine (Colorado) High School shootings that claimed the lives of 12 students and a teacher, says Webb had told some of the families that he would support requiring such checks. 'Now is the time = to deliver on your promise to the Virginia Tech families and endorse legislation to close this dangerous gap,' the letter continues. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., introduced legislation to close the gun = show loophole about a year ago, but it has yet to be heard in committee. The measure would require background checks on all sales at = gun shows that have at least 50 weapons for sale. The bill would also require gun show promoters to register with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and maintain a list of vendors at all = gun shows. Last week, three Virginia congressmen urged their colleagues to reconsider closing the loophole. Democrats Jim Moran, Bobby Scott and Gerald Conolly sent a letter to members of the House of Representatives urging them to support a bill requiring private sellers to perform background checks on buyers at gun shows. The open letter from Virginia Tech families imploring Congress to take = action adds, 'We have seen firsthand the incredible toll that gaps in the federal background check system have on public safety, and we live = with the personal toll every single day of our lives.' The Virginia General Assembly has consistently failed the families of the Virginia Tech victims. A majority in Congress must summon the courage to close the gun show loophole and succeed where Virginia lawmakers haven't. That legislation would apply the same checks on private gun sellers at = shows that exist for federally licensed gun sellers. What's so onerous about that? [PVC: Well for one thing, it won't lower the crime rate, will create a de facto gun registration scheme, and will put people in jail for innocent mistakes.] ************************************************** 15. Who needs a gun in Richmond in broad daylight? ************************************************** Bill Hine emailed me this: -- http://tinyurl.com/2bjlc3s www.nbc12.com By Nicole Bell RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) A crime alert out of Richmond where police are investigating a cluster of armed robberies that happened in broad daylight. The incidents unfolded in the same general area and within a = thirty minute time period. Two victims were pistol whipped another shot. Edward Martin says he witnessed one of the armed robberies. It was around 12:30 Wednesday afternoon. Martin says he was working a job site on East German School Road when he saw a man walk up to four workers at a construction site next door. 'It looked like they were just talking to them. We went back to work and next thing you know I see all the police. Come to find out he robbed them,' said Martin. Police say the criminal displayed a handgun and demanded money from the four men. The victims didn't return to the site today. 'It's ridiculous. You can't even come out here to make a living anymore without getting robbed,' said Martin. Thirty minutes later, and less than 4 miles away on Lamberts Avenue, an attempted robbery. Police say in this incident a man with a gun walked up to two people. The man tried to rob them but couldn't. The man shot one of the victims in the shoulder; pistol whipped the other and took off. A few minutes later and about two miles away police say, a customer was pumping gas at a commercial fuel station on Commerce Road -- when a man with a gun approached demanded money then hit the customer in the head with a gun. Bruce Supermarket is next door to the fuel station. Employees saw the police activity. 'It's scary you know because it's so close to home for a lot of people,' said employee, Imani Poke. Investigators say at this point, it's unclear if the incidents are related. They call the daylight crimes odd. As for Marti, he plans on being more aware of his surroundings at night and during the day. The victim who was shot is recovering at VCU Medical Center. If you have any information on these crimes you're asked to contact crime stoppers at 780-1000. ************************************************** 16. History shows gun-free zones are not the solution ************************************************** A member emailed me this: -- Here's a URL for the Oregon Daily Barometer - Oregon State University - article written to headline their 'Second Amendment Week' on campus. = Well written and documented - he references VA a couple of times. Hope you can use it. Daily Barometer Article: History shows gun-free zones are not the solution http://tinyurl.com/y6uxayf media.barometer.orst.edu By RJ Friedman April 16, 2010 Three years ago this week, there was a shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Three years ago next week, = I started my first fundraiser in order to raise money for the victims of that shooting. In the years since, I have scheduled the Oregon State University College Republican's annual Second Amendment Week during the same week, not because of Tax Day, as Ben Price suggests, but because nothing has changed: There is still nothing stopping a 'Virginia Tech'' from happening here at Oregon State University. Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin and Rita Mae Brown are all commonly = quoted as defining insanity as 'doing the same thing over and over and = expecting different results.' While there are arguments as to who actually said this first, the lesson of the quote remains the same: If = one solution does not work, try another. Recently at the University of Alabama-Huntsville, we saw a common solution used to curb mass murders on college campuses - making the school a 'gun-free zone' - fail. This is not the first time. Virginia Tech, Columbine High School, Appalachian School of Law, and, unfortunately, many other schools all had the same policy of 'no guns on campus,' yet all of them saw despicable acts of violence committed