According to the anti-gun rights group Brady Campaign, Virginia's gun laws are more restrictive than 34 other states. And now a fiesty gun rights group wants to do somthing about it.
The Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) will rally at Virginia's Capitol Square in Richmond on Monday 16 January, 2012 (Martin Luther King Day). The purpose of the event is to lobby legislators to pass key gun rights reforms this legislative session.
VCDL is inviting gun owners and from all over the Old Dominion to report at 8:45 AM on Monday outside the General Assembly Building where they will be organized into teams to go to legislators' offices, meet with their elected officials and staffs, and hand out VCDL's Gun Bill Analysis white paper. "Gun bus" transportation is available from Harrisonburg, Staunton, and Waynesboro; gun carry is welcome at the event, including inside the Virginia General Assembly Building and Capitol (see VCDL's Alert below).
In addition to the opportunity to tour the historic Capitol Square and associated buildings, attend legislative meetings, and participate in an outdoor rally with speakers, VCDL will also be holding a gun give-away where a lucky winner will receive a .50 caliber rifle.
Two of the key bills VCDL seeks to pass have already been introduced. One would repeal Virginia's one handgun a month rationing law, and the other would, for long guns only, transition gun dealer background checks from the Virginia Instant Check System (VICS) to the federal National Instant Check System (NICS).
Gun owners have long lamented that VICS is obsolete now that the NICS system has matured and become more reliable than VICS. VCDL President Philip Van Cleave explains that in practice VICS fails to perform as intended and provide instant decisions on gun sales. "Worse," he says, VICS costs gun buyers two to four dollars per transaction, while "NICS is free."
Handguns would still be processed through VICS, and care has been taken to ensure proper data sharing to enable the NICS system to perform as designed by the Brady Act and enforce not just federal but Virginia gun purchase disqualifers as well. Gun dealers in most states use NICS to process gun sales.
Legislative insiders say that both bills have a good chance at passing, in part because the bills bring Virginia into line with the gun laws of most states, and also becuase the bills enjoy the support of Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (R) and Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R). However the the prospects of bills that would limit state colleges' power to ban gun carry in buildings, or would generally de-criminalize concealed carry without permits, are less clear.
Van Cleave expects a large turnout of families with children as in past events. "This is a great annual event. The General Assembly knows who we are, and that we're coming."
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Not yet a VCDL member? Join VCDL at: http://www.vcdl.org/join.html
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VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings.html
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Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html
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1. Lobby Day details / pre-Lobby Day dinner
2. Gun bill analysis - a look at this year's gun bills
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1. Lobby Day details / pre-Lobby Day dinner (Sunday)
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For those who are attending Lobby Day on Monday (I can't wait!), plan on arriving around 8:45 AM. The General Assembly Building (GAB) is at the southeast corner of 9th and Broad streets in Richmond (directly across Broad street from Richmond City Hall). We will be meeting in the courtyard on the south side of the GAB, which is where the main entrance to the GAB is located.
You will be organized into teams, given a copy of the VCDL 2012 Gun Bill Analysis document and will enter the GAB.
Please note that we will NOT be assembling teams based on who your legislators are, as we'd never be able to quickly dispatch teams of similar size to ALL of the delegates and senators we need to have visited. We DO ask that you visit your own legislators, with others on your team if possible, AFTER your VCDL team assignments are complete.
The teams will present the Gun Bill Analysis documents to their assigned legislators (or their aides) and discuss key bills. **If you happen to be a constituent of an assigned legislator, be sure to let the legislator know!**
ONLY CHP HOLDERS CAN CARRY INSIDE THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY BUILDING - BE READY TO SHOW YOUR CHP AND ID WHEN YOU ENTER THE BUILDING. For non-CHP holders, you can carry outside the buildings only.
Note that if you don't have any briefcases, purses, or other containers, there is an express lane for CHP holders on the west side of the GAB (the side along 9th street). Look for the "CHP" sign. Otherwise you must use the main entrance on the south side of the GAB and go through the metal detectors.
After your team reassembles inside the GAB, you will head as a team to the elevators or the stairs to begin your team's lobbying assignments.
At 11 AM all lobbying will cease and everyone will head to the Bell Tower, which is south of the GAB and down the hill. The Bell Tower sits on the south west side of the Capitol grounds.
The VCDL rally will run from 11 AM to 12 noon. We will have several speakers and will also hold the drawing to give away the Serbu .50 BMG rifle that was donated thanks to EM Ed Levine's efforts. All active VCDL members on record as if 12/1/2012 (and anybody who requested a free ticket) will automatically be in the drawing.
Dress for Lobby Day should be business casual. Families are welcome, too. A great chance for children to see their government in action.
BUS SEATS AVAILABLE FROM HARRSONBURG/STAUNTON/WAYNESBORO
Bus transportation has been arranged for those of you who can come from Harrisonburg, Staunton, and Waynesboro. Pick-ups from those locations will be at 7:00 a.m., 7:30 a.m., and 8:00 a.m. respectively. The cost is $20.00.
The bus will leave Richmond by 3:00 or 4:00 p.m.
Please contact Sue Ward at yardsalin@gmail.com for more information and to reserve your place on the bus. The bus is sponsored by Shenandoah Valley Tea Party Patriots and Valley Family Forum.
SUNDAY NIGHT PRE-LOBBY DAY DINNER
Many people from out of town arrive the night before, so we have a dinner get together at 8 PM at:
Bottoms Up Pizza
1700 Dock Street
Richmond, VA 23223
If you are going, please let me know ASAP, so I can advise the restaurant. Just send an email to president@vcdl.org and on the subject line put "RSVP 2" and I will take that to be an RSVP for two people.
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2. Gun bill analysis - a look at this year's gun bills
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Here is a link to download VCDL's 2012 Gun Bill Analysis document:
http://www.vcdl.org/pdf/VCDL_Gun_Bill_Analysis_2012.pdf
VCDL drafted six of the bills introduced so far:
SB 67 - Stanley - Removes fingerprinting as local option for getting permit
HB 139 - Cole - Constitutional carry - no permit needed, but is an option
SB 324 - Carrico - Preempts state agencies from firearms regulations/policies
HB 375 - Pogge - Locality employees can store guns in private vehicles
HB 1052 - Anderson - Removes ban on carry in non-sterile areas of airport terminals
HB 1135 - Lee Ware - Recognizes permits from all other states
VCDL also drafted three bills, but discontinued pursuing a patron to introduce them because someone else had already introduced a similar bill:
HB 25 - Cole - Protects concealed handgun permit info from disemination
HB 237 - Cosgrove - Feds would do background check for long gun sales
SB 323 - Carrico - Repeals One Handgun a Month
Also, there may still be a few more bills introduced next week, but this is the lion's share.
NOTES:
* VCDL is standing NEUTRAL on all Castle Doctrine bills and is going to suggest that a Crime Commission study be done on the issue. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE MOVE CAREFULLY. Current Virginia law on self-defense is very good - we are already a stand-your-ground state wherever you may be. Codifying common law or case law runs the risk of unintentionally removing current protections because it may be interpreted that any eventuality not covered in the new law was not intended to be protected. We are working on a comprehensive bill that we will be vetting with a large number of attorneys - prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, etc. We also would like the proposed bill vetted by the Crime Commission. That way a rock solid bill with broad protections can be introduced next year if we have a consensus that it is actually needed, and that the benefits outweigh risks.
* HB 929 is opposed because it is unnecessary. It gives RETIRED Commonwealth Attorneys the same carry privileges as off-duty police officers. VCDL feels that if a regular CHP is sufficient for citizens, it should be sufficient for retired lawyers. CHP holders should have the same carry privileges as off-duty law enforcement and hopefully one day we will.
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VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization
dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to
Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.
VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org [http://www.vcdl.org/]
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