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

03/16/08 - Attorneys, guns, alcohol (corrected)

In VCDL's response to Governor Kaine's bizarre actions on gun bills, I need to clarify a few things from VCDL's point of view. I want to make sure that any newcomers out there fully understand VCDL's position on some important items. VCDL has been hammering Governor Kaine over signing a bill that allows Commonwealth Attorneys to drink alcoholic beverages while carrying a concealed handgun in a restaurant (SB 776), while vetoing a bill that would have allowed concealed handgun permit holders to carry a concealed handgun in such restaurants as long is they did NOT drink alcoholic beverages (SB 476). VCDL is not blaming Commonwealth Attorneys for Kaine's elitist condescension towards the "little people." VCDL has no concerns about Commonwealth Attorneys carrying guns for self-defense, even in restaurants that serve alcohol, as Commonwealth Attorneys have the right to defend themselves on-duty or off-duty duty, 24-hours a day, just like the rest of us. They may have enemies that wish to do them harm, just like many permit holders have. VCDL does NOT feel that if a person has a glass of wine with a meal that they become some kind of danger to the community. Alcoholic beverages can be enjoyed responsibly and in moderation without any kind of negative effects, whether carrying a gun, driving a vehicle, or both. People do it all the time, day in and day out, and it is legal. So the fact that a Commonwealth Attorney or his deputies can drink alcoholic beverages is not a big deal to us. And it is important to note that Commonwealth Attorneys are NOT exempt from penalties for being DRUNK and carrying a concealed handgun. ***It is the Governor and other gun haters who use the mantra "guns and alcohol don't mix."*** VCDL has been using the anti-freedom lobby's own mantra to show that they and Kaine are a bunch of elitist hypocrites. Not ONE single anti-gun organization ever spoke about the dangers of Commonwealth Attorneys being able to "mix guns and alcohol." Not one. But, boy, they were all over you and I for wanting to carry in restaurants and NOT drink alcoholic beverages! The restaurant lobby spoke out of both sides of its mouth. They wanted government, and not restaurant owners, to control the lawful carry of concealed handguns in restaurants that serve alcohol, but they wanted restaurant owners, and not government, to control smoking! You either want government micromanaging your business or you don't. The Virginia Restaurant Association wants to hide behind the skirts of government when it comes to guns, but wants to kick government out of the room when it comes to smoking. The restaurant lobby's inconsistency will do damage to the rights of restaurants to control their own policies down the road. Restaurants have already lost a lot of sympathy on the smoking issue because of what their lobbyists have been doing to gun owners for years. All of this speaks volumes about gun control not being about guns, but about those people who are obsessed with controlling the lives of others. What VCDL does vociferously object to is that Kaine has given **off- duty** Commonwealth Attorneys special privileges over the citizens of Virginia. Kaine supports having two classes of citizens: those who happen to get their paychecks from a government agency and those who don't. On this our view is simple: OFF-DUTY government employees, such as Commonwealth Attorneys and police, are just citizens, like the rest of us. They should be allowed to protect themselves exactly as regular citizens with concealed handgun permits are allowed to protect themselves. If CHP holders have to carry openly in restaurants that serve alcoholic beverages, so should off-duty government employees. Or, better, if off-duty government employees can carry concealed in a restaurant and be trusted to drink alcoholic beverages, so should CHP holders! If off-duty Commonwealth Attorneys and off-duty police can carry on K-12 property (and they can), so should CHP holders. The lives of Commonwealth Attorneys and their families are no more precious or any less precious than the families of other Virginia citizens. VCDL wants this dual level of citizenry to stop and is working to right this wrong. Governor Kaine owes gun owners an apology and, if he is the man of character and principle that he claims to be, to promise to sign a bill to eliminate the restaurant ban next year. -- EM John Pierce had the following LTE printed in TriCities.com. He has a great deal of fun at the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association's(VHTA) expense! :-) (VHTA is the parent organization of the anti-gun owner Virginia Restaurant Association mentioned above.) Enjoy: http://tinyurl.com/2bpkot Applying A Gun-Control Argument To Alcohol Sunday, Mar 16, 2008 - 12:01 AM By John Pierce As both a gun-rights activist and a concerned citizen, I have watched with great interest the drama that has been created by Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine's veto of Senate Bill 476. This bill would have allowed concealed-carry permit holders to carry firearms into restaurants that serve alcohol so long as they refrained from drinking. The Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association, which represents Virginia's restaurant industry, was vociferous in its opposition to this bill. It repeatedly pointed out the dangers of alcohol and how it feared that adding guns to the mix could exacerbate these dangers. I am surprised, but encouraged, to see that Virginia's restaurant owners clearly understand the threat posed by the easy availability of alcohol in restaurants. EVEN THOSE who are prohibited by law from purchasing alcohol (minors) are easily able to procure it by simply having an older friend order it for them in what I am told is called a "straw purchase." Consumption of alcohol is a threat that costs hundreds of innocent lives every year in Virginia, many of them children. We must stop giving in to the alcohol lobby and enact reasonable restrictions on the sale of alcohol for outside the home consumption! As you are no doubt aware, Virginia does not have "bars" in the traditional sense of the word. They have restaurants that are also licensed to serve alcohol. Although, there are establishments which are truly "bars" that are very thinly disguised as restaurants. This circumvention of the law is known as the deadly "restaurant loophole." In data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a full 36 percent of all traffic crashes in Fairfax County were alcohol-related. And in Richmond, this number climbs to a whopping 55 percent. And yet, at restaurants all over the state, with parking lots full of automatic assault weapons (also known as cars), waiters and waitresses are allowed to serve alcohol to the operators of these vehicles while they are in possession of "concealed car keys." NOW, I am not suggesting twe ban alcohol. I support the sporting use of alcohol in the home where a person is no danger to the innocents on our roads and highways (so long as alcohol is stored in such a way as to be inaccessible to children). But reasonable people can agree that to allow a person to consume alcohol, knowing that they have to drive home, is irresponsible in the extreme. Seeing these numbers and the very real impact their businesses have on the lives of innocent Virginians and knowing how the owners of these restaurants feel about their duty to our communities, I have no doubt that they will be glad to support legislation banning alcohol sales in restaurants. After all, this is not the Wild West. We do not need saloons on every corner. As a survivor of "alcohol violence," I ask this of Gov. Kaine and of the owners of Virginia's many fine restaurants. If only one life can be saved, then will it not be worth it? Do this for Virginia's families! Do this for the children! John Pierce, of Bristol Virginia, is an NRA instructor and president of a software development firm. He may be reached at jpierce*speedscape.com ------------------------------------------- ***************************************************************************