Gun ownership in the United States is on the rise and that trend has been particularly steep in the past 18 months or so. A large component of that rise consists of women who recognize that the right to self defense requires the knowledge and proper equipment to actually do so when required. Our friends at G3Security Group, Inc. understand that and they want to help make that effort straightforward, focused – and fun! So coming up on Sunday, April 11th they’re offering a Ladies Only Basic Gun Class, as noted over at Ask Miss A.com:
More and more women want to protect themselves. G3Security Group in Sterling, Virginia is having a Ladies Only Basic Gun Class on Sunday, April 11th from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. ”The Basics” are classes for beginners, people who have shot before but never received any training, and others who just need a refresher. These classes have around 4-8 people and have alot of personal time with student and instructor. The courses cost $160.00, but mention “Miss A” and only pay $135. Range time and fees are extra and booked at a later date.
Candace Strother is a strong supporter of Virginians’ 2nd Amendment rights. You likely knew that if you know her at all. But did you know she was a competition pistol marksman and appeared in an ad for local gun range Blue Ridge Arsenal?
Come out and cast your vote for Candace Strother for LCRC Chairman on 6 March 2010 at Belmont Ridge Middle School from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm!
It’s from 2007 but this 20/20 segment by John Stossel on the link between more stringent gun control laws and higher crime rates is just as timely today.
Pursuant to Duncan the Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms from state interference through the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This right is necessary to an Anglo-American regime of ordered liberty and fundamental to the American scheme of justice.
While this is a state-level finding (a case before the Supreme Court of the United States is asking the SCOTUS to make a similar ruling at a national level, something supported by a majority of the states’ governments) it is significant for a couple of reasons. First, it is relying on many of the arguments that are being made to the Supreme Court and it views those arguments through the lens of analysis and conclusions made by SCOTUS in the past. It is certainly indicative of the logical assessment of the arguments being advanced there. Second, and probably even more compelling, the WA Supreme Court concluded there was no reason whatsoever that state courts were required to wait for a SCOTUS decision on the matter to make such a determination:
Although the Heller Court did not expressly consider incorporation of the right to bear arms, “that need not stop the rest of us.” Sanford Levinson, Comment, The Embarrassing Second Amendment, 99 Yale L.J. 637, 653-54 (1989). Lower courts need not wait for the Supreme Court to apply Duncan; the Constitution is the rule of all courts — both state and federal judiciaries wield power to strike down unconstitutional government acts. 7 U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2; Nelson Lund, Anticipating Second Amendment Incorporation: The Role of Inferior Courts, 59 Syracuse L. Rev. 185 (2008). We must ourselves determine whether the Second Amendment is incorporated.
Emphasis mine. There is certainly no rule that says that a State may not consider provisions of the US Constitution to be incorporated against its own actions unless SCOTUS says it is. It may not disregard such a finding by SCOTUS and consider a provision held incorporated as not being incorporated, of course. But there’s nothing that says it can’t hold itself to the federal-level standard if it finds such to be lawful and compelling. This is what WA did in this case. I applaud their actions and analysis and I look forward to seeing this play out in the Supreme Court case later this year.
As hoped for, the Virginia Senate has repeated its actions from the past 2 years and voted to pass a law permitting those with a valid concealed handgun permit to continue their concealed carry into restaurants that serve alcohol. The House passed their version of the bill, HB505, last Friday. The Senate bill, SB334, was passed 22-18 and now heads over to the House. The House’s bill was referred to the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice today.
The bills are pretty much identical so I don’t see that either bill will have trouble. And, even if one of them did, only 1 of these bills needs to be passed to change the law and send it to Gov. McDonnell’s desk. Bob McDonnell will sign the bill and will finally put this inconsistency to rest. I’m looking forward to seeing this pass.
HB505, the House bill permitting those holders of a concealed handgun permit to continue their legal concealed carry into a restaurant that serves alcohol on premise, was passed on the House Floor by a vote of 67-27 today. That is excellent news and, combined with the progress of SB334 over in the Senate (reported out of committee for a full Senate vote 8-7 by the Courts of Justice Committee), this represents an excellent chance that the law will finally be changed to provide consistency for legal concealed carry in the Commmonwealth.
Crossover day – the day when bills passed by each house of the General Assembly are forwarded to the other house for their consideration – is Tuesday, 16 Feb 2010. At that point, the Senate will take up the House bills and vice versa. As it has in the past 2 years, the GA is looking ready to pass these bills and send them on to the Governor. Unlike in those years, however, we have a Governor in Richmond prepared to see the Commonwealth citizenry’s clear desire turned into law. Governor McDonnell will sign the bill this time and lay this matter to rest.
Courtesy of our friends at the NRA-ILA, there are several bills being heard by the VA House Militia, Police, and Public Safety Subcommittee #1 today. From their legislative alert:
The following bills will be heard before the House Militia Sub-Committee #1 tomorrow Thursday, February 4, at 5pm in the 4th Floor West Conference Room in the GeneralAssemblyBuilding.
Please contact the Sub-Committee members listed below and respectfully encourage them to SUPPORT the following bills:
House Bill 109, sponsored by Delegate Mark Cole (R-88), would repeal the statute which allows the governing body of any county to require the sellers of pistols and revolvers to furnish the Clerk of the Circuit Court with the name, address of the purchaser, date of purchase and the serial number, make and caliber of the weapon.
House Bill 171, sponsored by Delegate Brenda Pogge (R-96), would prohibit property owners, employers, or a business entity from establishing or enforcing any policy or rule restricting a person who may lawfully possess a firearm from storing a firearm locked in a motor vehicle in a parking lot or parking space.
House Bill 490, sponsored by Delegate ScottLingamfelter (R-31), would direct the Department of State Police, in cooperation with the Secretary of Public Safety, to develop a plan to allow the State Police to issue lifetime concealed handgun permits to Virginia residents. The Department and the Secretary shall submit the plan, and any recommended legislative changes to implement the plan, to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Militia, Police, and Public Safety and the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice by October 15, 2010.
House Bill 871, sponsored by Delegate Ben Cline (R-24), would clarify that a person who is applying for a concealed handgun permit for the first time, has the same right to an ore tenus (verbal or oral statements) hearing if the permit is denied as a person who has previously held a concealed handgun permit.
House Bill 995, sponsored by Delegate David Nutter (R-7), would add a valid concealed handgun permit and a current or retired military identification card as documentation needed to establish citizenship or permanent residence in order to purchase an “assault” firearm in Virginia.
House Bill 1070, sponsored by Delegate Clay Athey (R-18), would provide that a person who has a valid concealed handgun permit may not be barred from carrying a concealed handgun in any place or facility designated or used by the Governor, any political subdivision of the Commonwealth, or any other governmental entity as an emergency shelter or for the purpose of sheltering persons.
House Bill 1191, authored by Delegate H. Morgan Griffith (R-8), would allow a circuit court judge to authorize the Clerk of Court to issue concealed handgun permits in instances where the application is complete, the background check does not indicate that the applicant is disqualified, and after consulting with the local sheriff or police department, there are no other questions or issues surrounding the application.
House Bill 1217, sponsored by Delegate Lynwood Lewis (D-100), would allow local school boards to offer firearm safety education programs in the elementary grades. To assist local school boards opting to provide such instruction, the Board of Education must establish a standardized program of firearm safety education for students in the elementary school grades to promote the protection and safety of children. The bill requires 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. Local school boards offering the program must comply with Board curriculum guidelines and integrate the instruction in appropriate subject areas, if feasible, to ensure that every elementary school student receives instruction in firearm safety education.
Please contact the Sub-Committee and respectfully urge them to OPPOSE the following measures:
House Bill 520, sponsored by Delegate Joseph Morrissey (D-74), would require anyone who exhibits, sells or offers to sell three or more firearms per year at a gun show to register as a Virginia dealer. The intent of this bill is to ban the private transfer and sales of firearms at Virginia gun shows and ultimately to ban any private transfer or sale within the Commonwealth.
House Bill 1209, sponsored by Delegate Jeion Ward (D-92), would require owners of machine guns to notify the State Police of a change in the address of the owner.
House Bill 1379, sponsored by Delegate Mark Sickles (D-43), would provide that certain Northern Virginia localities may adopt local ordinances regulating the possession and storage of firearms, ammunition or components or combination thereof at child-care facilities, so long as such regulation is not more extensive in scope than comparable state regulations applicable to family day-care homes.
For your convenience, you can access the e-mails of all members of the subcommittee here. Bear in mind the alert was written yesterday, the subcommittee meets today.
(Edited after posting to correct cosmetic issues that appeared after copying the NRA-ILA’s text.)
It’s the House’s turn down in Richmond to start considering legislation in committee. I wanted to pass along some Delegate e-mail addresses and encourage you to write them letting them know your position on these. I’ve just re-ported an earlier write up of the bills dealing with firearms matters this evening, so look here if you’d like to get up to speed.
Several of these bills are to be discussed in the House Committee on Militia, Police, and Public Safety, subcommittee #1 tomorrow. There are also several bills to be considered that apparently didn’t make it onto the list I already prepared so I’ll briefly describe the new ones below.
House Bills 8, 26, 52, 79, 108, 109, 152, 171, 637, 870, and 885 from my previous post are all being heard tomorrow. Additionally, we have:
House Bill 871, sponsored by Delegate Ben Cline (R-24), would clarify that a person who is applying for a concealed handgun permit for the first time has the same right to an ore tenus (verbal or oral statements) hearing if the permit is denied as a person who has previously held a concealed handgun permit.
House Bill 995, sponsored by Delegate David Nutter (R-7), would add a valid concealed handgun permit and a current or retired military identification card as documentation needed to establish citizenship or permanent residence in order to purchase an “assault” firearm in Virginia.
House Bill 1092, sponsored by Delegate Anne B. Crockett-Stark (R-6), would give retired law-enforcement the ability to carry a concealed handgun without a permit.
House Bill 1191, sponsored by Delegate H. Morgan Griffith (R-8), would allow a circuit court judge to authorize the Clerk of Court to issue concealed handgun permits in instances where the application is complete, the background check does not indicate that the applicant is disqualified, and, after consulting with the local sheriff or police department, there are no other questions or issues surrounding the application.
House Bill 1210, sponsored by Delegate G. Manoli Loupassi (R-68), would give judges the ability to carry a concealed handgun without a permit.
House Bill 1256, sponsored by Delegate Paula Miller (D-87), would provide that certain law-enforcement officers who resign from their position in good standing to accept a position covered by the Virginia Retirement System, shall be eligible to carry a concealed handgun if he or she has received written proof of consultation with and favorable review of the need to carry a concealed handgun, issued by the chief law-enforcement officer of the agency from which the officer resigned.
These are all bills that seek to clarify or extend protections for Virginians’ 2nd Amendment rights and, therefore, I recommend you ask the Delegates to support these bills. (In case you need a complete list to paste into your e-mail, it’s 8, 26, 52, 79, 108, 109, 152, 171, 637, 870, 871, 995, 995, 1092, 1191, 1210, and 1256.)
There are also 2 bills up in the same meeting that I recommend you urge the Delegates to oppose. They are:
House Bill 879, sponsored by Delegate Mamye BaCote (D-95), would allow localities to pass ordinances banning the possession of firearms and ammunition in libraries they own or operate.
House Bill 1234, sponsored by Delegate Jennifer McClellan (D-71), would require all sales at a gun show to go through a federally licensed dealer. This bill is overly vague and broadly defines a vendor as someone who “exhibits, sells, offers for sale, transfers or exchanges any firearms at a firearm show.” This bill is nothing more than an attempt by anti-gun advocates to ultimately ban the private sale of firearms in Virginia.
Update: The House Militia, Police, and Public Safety subcommittee #1 is to meet tomorrow, 28 Jan 2010, to consider several of the following bills. Since there’s starting to be a lot of action on these matters, I wanted to refresh this post so everyone could be reminded of what legislation on firearms matters is pending.
The General Assembly has reconvened in Richmond and they do have a full agenda this year. (I’ll take a moment, with hometown pride, to call out a special welcome to the GA Delegate Thomas A. “Tag” Greason of the 32nd District. Damn that sounds good!) With the budget mess, transportation issues, and the upcoming census and redistricting the General Assembly will be busy every day they’re in session.
Today, however, I’d like to focus on the Bills being submitted that relate to firearms law and the free exercise of Virginians’ 2nd Amendment rights. My thanks to the folks at the NRA-ILA for doing the heavy lifting and gathering this data into 1 place. The following information is combined from 2 NRA-ILA alerts I received in e-mail:
House Bill 8, sponsored by Delegate Bill Carrico (R-5), and Senate Bill 3, sponsored by State Senator Ralph Smith (R-22), would allow concealed carry permit holders to renew their permits by mail.
House Bill 26, introduced by Delegate Thomas Wright, Jr. (R-61), would prohibit the Clerk of the Court from requiring an applicant for a concealed carry permit to provide any documentation or information not authorized by the law or prescribed by Virginia State Police.
House Bill 49, sponsored by Delegate L. Scott Lingamfelter (R-31), would repeal Virginia’s “one-gun-a-month” gun rationing law enacted by the Wilder Administration in 1993.This law has only restricted the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens.
House Bill 52, authored by Delegate Mark Cole (R-88), would allow a court to waive a $25 dollar fine upon presentation of the permit to the court, if a person fails to display his concealed carry permit when requested by a law-enforcement officer.
House Bill 72, also introduced by Delegate Carrico, would amend the state penalties for possessing a firearm on school grounds. HB72 would reduce the penalty to a Class 1 misdemeanor from a Class 6 felony for those who inadvertently carry on school grounds.
House Bill 79, sponsored by Delegate R. Lee Ware, Jr. (R-65), prohibits the Clerk of Court from publicly disclosing concealed carry permit application information unless the permittee has provided written consent for the release of the application or information. The information will still be available to law-enforcement acting in performance of their duties.
House Bill 106, also sponsored by Delegate Cole, would allow concealed carry permit holders to carry in restaurants that serve alcohol, provided they do not consume, and would allow permit holders to carry during a religious meeting with the permission of the leader of the meeting.
House Bill 108, also introduced by Delegate Cole, would prohibit agents of localities or localities themselves from participating in “gun buy-backs” unless the governing body of such a locality authorizes such a program. The locality would then have the option of selling the firearms by auction to a federally licensed dealer (FFL) or disposing of the firearm in any other appropriate manner.
House Bill 109, also authored by Delegate Cole, would repeal the statute which allows the governing body of any county to require the sellers of pistols and revolvers to furnish the Clerk of the Circuit Court with the name and address of the purchaser, date of purchase and the number, make, and caliber of the gun.
House Bill 152, sponsored by Delegate John O’Bannon (R-73), would allow an electronic security employee who possesses a CCW permit to carry while on the job so long as he does not represent that he is carrying in the course of employment.
House Bill 171, introduced by Delegate Brenda Pogge (R-96), would prohibit property owners, employers, or a business entity from establishing or enforcing any policy prohibiting a person who may lawfully possess a firearm from storing a firearm in a locked motor vehicle in a publicly accessible parking lot.
House Bill 236, sponsored by Delegate Bill Janis (R-56), would remove the prohibition imposed by localities on hunting within a half-mile of subdivisions.
House Bill 251, introduced by Delegates Donald Merricks (R-16) and D.W. Marshall (R-14), would provide immunity from civil prosecution if a citizen uses force, including deadly force, to defend themselves and their loved ones if attacked in their home.
House Bill 475, authored by Delegate Charles Carrico (R-5), would allow concealed carry permit holders to carry their firearms concealed in school parking lots and into areas of the school, provided the school is not being used for official educational use or extracurricular activities.
House Bill 489, sponsored by Delegate L. Scott Lingamfelter (R-31), would organize the current concealed carry statute into a more readable format, thereby making it easier and clearer for the average citizen to understand their rights.
House Bill 505, sponsored by Delegate Todd Gilbert (R-15), would allow concealed carry permit holders to carry a concealed handgun for self-defense in restaurants that serve alcohol, provided that they do not consume alcohol.
House Bill 520, introduced by Delegate Joseph Morrissey (D-74), would require anyone who exhibits, sells or offers to sell three or more firearms per year at a gun show to register as a Virginia firearms dealer. The intent of this bill is twofold: to outlaw the private transfer and sales of firearms at Virginia gun shows and to open the door to a future ban of any private transfer or sale of firearms within the Commonwealth.
House Bill 637, authored by Delegate Ward Armstrong (D-10), would exempt a boarding team member or boarding team officer in the United States Coast Guard from the concealed handgun permit issuance fee, provided they have completed 15 years of service or reached the age of 55.
House Bill 870, sponsored by Delegate Benjamin Cline (R-24), would repeal the language that allows localities to fingerprintapplicants for a concealed handgun permit.
House Bill 879, sponsored by Delegates MamyeBaCote (D-95), Robin Abbott (D-93), Jennifer McClellan (D-71) and Jeion Ward (D-92) along with State Senator Mamie Locke (D-2), would allow localities to pass ordinances banning the possession of firearms and ammunition in libraries they own or operate.
House Bill 885, sponsored by Delegate Cliff Athey (R-18), would allow any person who may lawfully posses a firearm and is carrying a handgun while in a personal, private vehicle or vessel to keep the firearm secured in a container or compartment in the vehicle or vessel.
Senate Bill 79, authored by State Senator William Roscoe Reynolds (D-20), would repeal the language that allows localities to require concealed handgun permit applicants to produce fingerprints before issuance of a permit.
Senate Bill 268, sponsored by State Senator Mary Margaret Whipple (D-31), would gut Virginia’s firearm preemption law by allowing localities to ban the carrying of firearms by law-abiding citizens in buildings owned or leased by local government. This bill would only create a confusing patchwork of local laws throughout the state.
That’s a lot of bills! As you can see, there are bills both in favor of supporting the free exercise of those rights and those trying to restrict such exercise. There are also bills that duplicate and overlap in their language. Over the course of the next several days, I will have things to say about specific bills listed here but I wanted to get them all out on the table for everyone to see the work that needs doing in this area. As I write about specific bills I’ll link back to this page. Those linkages will appear in the comments listed on this post so check there every so often if you want to see the related posts as they come up.
The first item I’d like to address is HB106 and HB505. Both bills have been offered to clear up the situation regarding valid holders of a concealed handgun permit (CHP) being unable to continue that carriage into a restaurant. In both of the past 2 years, measures have been passed in the GA that would remove that restriction and allow persons holding a valid CHP to carry concealed past the threshold of a restaurant or other establishment with a liquor license. As I’ve mentioned in the past, it is completely legal to carry openly into a restaurant. The laws in the past 2 years were intended to clear up the inconsistency of considering someone legal to carry concealed on the street outside the restaurant but not once they pass the door. In both cases where the law was passed, soon-to-be-former Gov. Tim Kaine vetoed the bill. While the veto override carried majorities in both cases, they narrowly failed to get the 2/3rds required to override. After last year’s attempt, I and other supporters of the measure put our efforts into electing a Governor who would put our rights in the priority position they should hold and would sign the bill if presented to him. We know how that effort panned out and Bob McDonnell will be inaugurated as Governor tomorrow.
Both HB106 and HB505 seek to provide the same end result: that a person holding a valid CHP be allowed to carry concealed into restaurants. The difference between the 2 bills is primarily in their approach. HB505 makes pretty massive changed to Section J3 of Code of Virginia 18.2-308 with the goal of literally reversing the meaning of the section. A cleaner, more direct approach is in HB106 which simply removes that section all together. HB106 also specifically permits CHP holders to legally carry concealed at a “religious meeting” so long as the leader of that meeting permits it. (Current law is vague on that matter.)
I look very much forward to the GA repeating its passage of this law this year for the same reasons that it saw fit and proper to do so in the past 2 years. Given the Assembly’s stance on the matter, as demonstrated in 2008 and 2009, this is business that could be completed quickly allowing the GA to move on to more complex matters that will require more time. They should deal with this matter swiftly and move forward with the rest of their agenda.
More on these matters will follow in the days to come.
Earlier today I wrote about SB268 in the Virginia Senate and how it was going to a committee hearing this afternoon. After writing to the Senators myself, I wrote to suggest that anyone concerned about 2nd Amendment issues in the Commonwealth do the same to tell the Senators not to support this bill. Well, I’m pleased to report that your comments had great effect. The bill was reported out of committee with a negative recommendation by a vote of 6 yeas, 9 nays. This effectively kills the bill.
I want to extend my thanks to Senator Mark Herring for his nay vote on this bill. Senator Herring is the 33rd District Senator – that’s us – and his support of strong 2nd Amendment protections has been spotty in the past. I hope this is a trend that will see the Senator move toward being a more consistent supporter of those rights as the General Assembly session continues.
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