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Governor Younkin Ends Talk of Gun Bans, For Now

April 1, 2024 by vagunrights

Last week, Governor Glenn Youngkin ended the gun ban lobby’s dream of a gun ban mecca in Virginia, at least for now. The Democrats in the General Assembly and the gun ban lobby introduced a flurry of gun control bills from waiting periods to buy a gun to outright bans of the most popular firearms in the nation. Last Tuesday, Younkin vetoed 30 of the bills and amended six. The Democrats did not react well to the news. House Majority Leader Charniele Herring (D.) said she is “ashamed of the Governor’s vetoes.” House Democratic Caucus Chair Kathy Tran said the vetoes “threaten the safety and prosperity of our communities across the commonwealth.” And not to be out done House Speaker Don Scott turned to what has become basic talking points when talking about Republicans by referenceing “MAGA Republicans” and claimed they “refused to act and protect our children, and Virginians will hold them accountable in November.”

The Reload talked to Bearingarms.com‘s Cam Edwards for this week’s Reload Podcast. Among the things that Cam noted:

He argued the dynamics at play during this year’s legislative session were pretty surprising.

Not only did we not know what Youngkin would do with the dozens of gun bills that made it to his desk before he formally announced his vetoes, but the way those proposals got through the legislature was surprising too. Every Democrat in the state house held together to vote for every single proposal, even the more aggressive bans and restrictions.

Cam said that was a fascinating development given the large grassroots backlash the party faced after its last attempt to enact sweeping gun reforms in 2020. He also argued the dynamic that has developed in the state’s gun politics should be very concerning for gun-rights advocates.

I totally agree with Cam on that last point. I was in committee meetings in 2020 where the hearing rooms were packed to overflowing with gun owners. This year it was the NRA lobbist, a couple of VCDL folks, and the Virginia Shooting Sports Association (VSSA) representative who testified virtually by ZOOM. Every now and then there would be less than a handful of gun owners but nothing like 2020. Gun owners in Virginia need to wake up because Democrats have circled the wagons around Abigail Spanberger for Governor in 2025 and she is not going to be easy to beat.

Take a listen to the full podcast and if you aren’t a subscriber to The Reload, I highly recommend it because there is a lot of member only content.

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2024 General Assembly a Preview of 2026 if Democrats Take Total Control of Government

March 12, 2024 by vagunrights

This year’s Virginia General Assembly was a preview of what will happen in 2026 if Democrats take total control of Virginia Govenrment by winning the House and the Governor’s Office in 2025. The Democrats and the gun ban lobby emptied their entire wish list this year knowing there was little chance that Governor Youngkin would sign any of the bills. They introduced bans on so-called “assault weapons”. They introduced bills implementing a waiting period of anywhere from three to five days after the completion of the background check paperwork before taking possession of a firearm. They introduced a bill to prohibit carrying a concealed firearm in a restuarant like Applebees or Olive Garden – restuarants that serve alcohol as well as food. They even introduced a bill to place an additional tax on firearms and ammunition to fund gun control grants. In all, the Democratically controlled legislature sent 37 gun ban bills to Governor Younkin. Some are duplicate/companion bills so the actual policy actions are somewhat shorter but still many none-the-less. That list includes:

  • HB2/SB2: bans so-called “assault firearms” and magazines holding more than 10 rounds made after July 1, 2024. The definition of “assault firearm” is expanded to capture more types of firearms. It also prohibits ownership of “assault firearms” by young adults.
  • HB46/SB47: requires someone holding firearms for a prohibited person to be 21 or older and to live at a different address.
  • SB57: prohibits a concealed handgun permit (CHP) holder from carrying a concealed handgun on the premises of a restaurant like Applebees or Olive Garde which serves alcoholic in addition to food.
  • SB99: prohibits the carry of semi-automatic firearms with certain cosmetic features in public areas.
  • HB 173/SB100: requires serialization of so-called “ghost-guns made after 1968.
  • HB175: prohibits the carrying of “assault firearms” in public areas, regardless of whether they are loaded.
  • HB183: requires all firearms in a home, that are not being carried by the owner, to be locked up if there is a minor present.
  • SB225: requires schools to text or email subjective information on guns to parents at the start of a school year.
  • SB258: expands the things a judge can consider and must consider when issuing an Red Flag Order (also known as an Extreme Risk Protection Order).
  • HB1195/SB273: requires a five-day waiting period for firearm sales.
  • HB318/SB491: allows for frivolous lawsuits against the gun industry with the purpose to litigate the firearms industry out of business.
  • HB1174/SB327: makes it illegal for young adults to purchase an “assault firearm.” The definition of “assault firearm” is expanded to capture most commonly sold firearms.
  • HB351: requires a person purchasing a firearm to sign certification that no minor lives in the home or a locking device must be included with the firearm.
  • HB362: adds “dating relationship” to the definition of a “domestic relationship” for purposes of prohibiting guns for misdemeanor domestic violence.
  • SB363: makes it unlawful to possess, sell, or distribute a firearm with an altered serial number.
  • SB368: requires all firearms in a home, that are not being carried by the owner, to be locked up if there is a minor present.
  • SB383: prohibits firearms in higher education buildings unless part of an authorized program or activity in that building.
  • SB447: creates a $500 fine and makes a vehicle subject to towing if there is a visible handgun inside an unattended vehicle.
  • HB454: prohibits firearms in higher education buildings unless part of an authorized program or activity in that building.
  • HB466: severely restricts recognition of out-of-state carry permits.
  • HB498: requires schools to text subjective information on guns to parents at the start of a school year.
  • HB861/SB515: prohibits firearms in hospitals.
  • HB797/SB522: removes NRA and USCCA training courses from the list of qualified training courses to qualify for a CHP.
  • HB585: prohibits home-based Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) from operating within 1.5 miles of any elementary or middle school.
  • HB637: creates a training program to make more frequent use of Red Flag Order (also known as an Extreme Risk Protection Order).
  • SB642: adds “dating relationship” to the definition of a “domestic relationship” for purposes of prohibiting guns for misdemeanor domestic violence.
  • HB798: takes away a person’s right to own a firearm for several misdemeanor convictions, including simple assault.
  • HB799: requires a person be fingerprinted when applying for a new or renewed CHP.
  • HB939: prohibits firearms within 100 feet of an electoral board, voter registration, voter satellite building, or a drop-off location or absentee voter precinct.

Ahead of last Saturday’s end of the session, Governor Youngkin vetoed two of the bills, and amended another. The House and Senate carried those bills over to the reconvened session, which will take up all of the Governor’s vetoes and amendements.

I was present in the various committees and subcommittees that took up these bills and what struck me the most was there were very few gun owners in the meetings compared to 2020 when the committee meetings were packed. It’s possible that a number of gun owners decided to let emails to their delegates and senators as well as to the committees do their talking but there just did not seem to be the individual activism this time. The Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL), Virginia Shooting Sports Association (VSSA) and the NRA all had representatives speaking to the bills but in 2020, committee rooms were overflowing with individual gun owners. Not so much this time. The Governor’s election is going to be very tough in 2025. Gun owners will need to either elect a pro-rights House or elect a pro-rights Governor to prevent any of the above policy changes from becoming law.

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Abigail Spanberger Running for Governor

November 14, 2023 by vagunrights

On Monday, 7th District Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger announced she is running for Governor in 2025. She also released a slick ad to go with the announcement:

As Cam Edwards mentioned over on Bearingarms.com, she didn’t mention guns in the ad, going instead to what looked like a tried and true recipe for success when she made abortion the top issue in the ad. As someone who has lived in her district most of the time she has been in congress, she is no friend of gun owners as Cam pointed out:

Spanberger and her colleagues laid out a list of policy proposals the Biden Administration could undertake as part of its push to address gun violence through executive action. The proposed policies include:

  • Instructing DoD and other federal agencies that purchase firearms to implement standards for procuring taxpayer-funded firearms only from manufacturers that agree to adopt a code of conduct. The code of conduct could include declining to sell military-grade weapons to civilians and only selling to responsible dealers who refuse to proceed with a sale without a completed background check — even when they are legally authorized to do so.
  • Reevaluating the list of guns eligible for import under the “sporting purposes” exception, which could significantly reduce the import of dangerous assault weapons.
  • Transferring authority over assault rifle exports back to the State Department from the Commerce Department, reversing the Trump Administration’s shift of authority to Commerce — which allowed a surge in exports of these deadly weapons.
  • Encouraging the Federal Trade Commission to issue a policy statement on “unfair or deceptive” gun ads that falsely assert that firearm ownership increases household residents’ physical safety from gun violence.
  • Directing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review its interpretation of the Tiahrt Amendment to expand the types of firearm trace data that can be released to the public — including to researchers, litigants, and journalists.

It’s possible that the issue of guns will come up in the Democrat primary as other candidates, including Richmond Mayor Lavar Stoney are expected to jump in to this race but based on the 2023 election, it is likely we are going to hear a lot about abortion until the GOP figures our how to respond to the claims the GOP want to ban all proceedures while the Democrats only want to go back to the Roe standard.  It will be up to gun owners to make sure Spanberger and other candidates tell voters whether they will go for far reaching gun bans like they did in 2020, or if they will be satisfied with the gun control that passed already.

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Bearing Arms: Concealed Carry Applications Soar Across Country

April 20, 2023 by vagunrights

Cam Edwards writes over at bearingarms.com that applications for concealed carry permits are rising across the country despite the fact that over half of the states allow concealed carry without a permit:

The trend is most visible in those states where concealed carry was off-limits to most residents until last year, when the Supreme Court struck down “may-issue” systems requiring applicants to demonstrate good cause or a justifiable need to carry a firearm for self-protection. Communities across California, for instance, are seeing a huge influx of applications despite the fact that some localities are charging more than $1,000 in fees and associated costs in order to obtain a permit to carry.

Cam notes that it’s not just states like California and Maryland, places that had restrictive or non-existent requirements to obtain a permit pre-Bruen, but it is also states like Florida and Pennsylvania.

It could be that folks still want permits in states that have Constitutional Carry because states like Virginia require non-residents to have a permit in their state of residence to carry in Virginia. Regardless of the reason millions of Americans have the ability to carry concealed post Bruen and they are taking their right to self-defense seriously and taking the necessary steps to exercise that right.

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This is what Democrats have in store for gun owners if they retake complete control of Virginia Government

January 24, 2023 by vagunrights

In yesterday’s Senate Judiciary meeting, Senator Creigh Deeds’ SB1382 was reported out of committee and rereferred to Senate Finance and Appropriations. This is the new version of a so-called “assault weapons” ban. It has absolutely no chance of getting out of the House of Delegates, which currently has a slight pro-rights majority, but it gives us a glance of what is in store for gun owners if the Democrats regain complete control of Virginia government after the 2025 statewide elections. What do they consider an “assault weapon”? The below is from the bill:

“Assault firearm” means any:

  1. A semi-automatic center-fire rifle or pistol which that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material and is equipped at the time of the offense with a magazine which will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition or designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer or equipped with a folding stock with a fixed magazine capacity in excess of 10 rounds;
  2. A semi-automatic center-fire rifle that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine and has one of the following characteristics: (i) a folding, telescoping, or collapsible stock; (ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the rifle; (iii) a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand; (iv) a grenade launcher; (v) a flare launcher; (vi) a sound suppressor; (vii) a flash suppressor; (viii) a muzzle brake; (ix) a muzzle compensator; (x) a threaded barrel capable of accepting (a) a sound suppressor, (b) a flash suppressor, (c) a muzzle brake, or (d) a muzzle compensator; or (xi) any characteristic of like kind as enumerated in clauses (i) through (x);
  3. A semi-automatic center-fire pistol that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine and has one of the following characteristics: (i) a folding, telescoping, or collapsible stock; (ii) a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand; (iii) the capacity to accept a magazine that attaches to the pistol outside of the pistol grip; (iv) a shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel and that permits the shooter to hold the pistol with the non-trigger hand without being burned; (v) a threaded barrel capable of accepting (a) a sound suppressor, (b) a flash suppressor, (c) a barrel extender, or (d) a forward handgrip; or (vi) any characteristic of like kind as enumerated in clauses (i) through (v);
  4. A semi-automatic shotgun that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material that has one of the following characteristics: (i) a folding, telescoping, or collapsible stock, (ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the shotgun, (iii) the ability to accept a detachable magazine, (iv) a fixed magazine capacity in excess of seven rounds, or (v) any characteristic of like kind as enumerated in clauses (i) through (iv); or
  5. A shotgun with a magazine that will hold more than seven rounds of the shortest ammunition for which it is chambered. An “assault firearm” does not include any firearm that is an antique firearm, has been rendered permanently inoperable, is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action, or was manufactured before July 1, 2023.

This bill bans the most popular firearms, both pistols and rifles, that are currently made in America. While you would be able to keep the firearms you currently own, you would not be able to purchase one manufactured after July 1, 2023. As I said, this bill is going nowhere beyond the Senate. But if gun owners don’t vote their rights in future elections, this is our future in Virginia, and we can’t guarantee that the Supreme Court will bail us out of the mess we create.

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Biden Wants to Ban Modern Sporting Rifles But Avoids Facts

December 14, 2022 by vagunrights

Joe Biden said the quiet part out loud on Thanksgiving when he said “The idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick. Just sick. It has no socially redeeming value. Zero. None. Not a single solitary rationale for it except profit for the gun manufacturers.” The White House later walked back the comment to say Biden meant so-called “assault weapons”. This focus on the most popular rifle in America avoids a very important fact. Rifles of all kinds are rarely used in crime, and especially modern sporting rifles. Sure, when they are used in a mass shooting the media focuses like a laser beam on the firearm, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are still used rarely.

But as an op-ed in the New York Post said over the weekend, “Biden’s focus on semiautomatic weapons is ignorance manifest“.

Hat tip to Gun Facts for the graphic.

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Will Biden Take Executive Action on Modern Sporting Rifles?

November 29, 2022 by vagunrights

Last week, President Joe Biden called for banning all semi-automatic firearms.

Number two, the idea — the idea we still allow semiautomatic weapons to be purchased is sick.  It’s just sick.  It has no, no social redeeming value.  Zero.  None.  Not a single, solitary rationale for it except profit for the gun manufacturers.

Biden seems to think that the polls have shifted in his direction with the recent spate of shootings:

But with an eye toward positioning himself and his party for 2024, Biden believes public opinion has shifted in Democrats’ favor on certain key social issues, said the aides, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe internal strategy.

Today, Cam Edwards over at Bearingarms.com writes about how the White House won’t say if Biden will accede to the wishes of the gun ban lobby and ban modern sporting rifles:

Most of those guns purchased by responsible Americans are precisely the semi-automatic firearms that Biden believes should be illegal for the average citizen to own and possess, but if Congress won’t provide him with the votes needed to impose his ban his friends in the anti-gun movement are already suggesting another idea; banning them through an administrative order. 

I’m not really sure why Biden thinks the public is on his side on this one. Last week, a Gallup poll released shows a nine-point drop in support for stricter gun laws since the same survey was taken in June. It also showed a three-point increase in the number of Americans reporting they have a gun in the home. While a majority of respondents report supporting stricter gun laws and having no gun in their home, the gap none-the-less has shrunk significantly. Stephen Gutowski at The Reload wrote of the poll results that the rising trend of gun ownership combined with weakened support for more gun control could make passing new restrictions more difficult at the national and state levels.

Virginia’s General Assembly convenes in January. We will see what if any new legislative proposals come from the Democrats, which still control the State Senate. 2023 is also an election year with the entire assembly up for re-election.

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Gun Control Low on List of Voter Priorities According to New Poll

March 10, 2021 by vagunrights

Cam Edwards at Bearingarms.com shares a new poll that supposedly shows “wide support” for requiring background checks on all gun sales.  It’s part of this article where he asks a simple question related to so-called “universal” background checks.   These polls never seem to dig down beyond the surface and the generic “should all gun purchases require a background check”.  They never ask the question that Cam asked.

Do 84-percent of Americans think a person should go to federal prison if they transfer a firearm to their neighbor who’s afraid of her abusive ex showing up at her door? Do 84-percent of Americans think that it should be crime to sell a gun to your cousin without a background check, but legal for you to sell a gun to your aunt without one?

Most people support in the affirmative the generic question about background checks because they already know that most gun sales require a background check.  But, if these pollsters were to dig down into the issue and ask the question the way Cam does, you would probably get a much different answer. And, we need to remember, unlike the bill that passed the Virginia General Assembly last year that specifically said “sales”, the bills winding their way through congress use the term “transfer” which has a much broader meaning under federal law than the word “sales”.

There is other news in that poll though.

Democrats on Capitol Hill have a narrow advantage over their Republican counterparts on the topic, with 44 percent of voters trusting them over congressional GOP lawmakers on gun policy, while 38 percent trust Republicans more.

It is the narrowest split of trust on a number of issue they polled.  They break it down for us and we learn that the gun issue is way down on the list of priorities for those surveyed:

The move on Capitol Hill — which is not likely to move forward in the Senate as long as the chamber’s legislative filibuster remains intact — comes after Democrats advanced legislation to address the pandemic, a subject 2 in 3 voters believe Congress should prioritize. By comparison, just 28 percent of voters said gun policy should be a “top priority,” roughly the same share who said Congress should elevate the passage of a bill to reduce inequality or provide relief to Americans with student loan debt.

Make sure you are contacting your elected officials and let them know you oppose additional restrictions on your rights.

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Dave Workman on Why Biden’s Gun Control Won’t Work

March 9, 2021 by vagunrights

Gun rights advocate and writer Dave Workman laid out in an article posted last week at Ammoland five reasons why  Biden’s gun control proposal will fail to do what he claims they will do.

With the launch of their frontal assault on firearms rights via H.R. 8 and H.R. 127, Capitol Hill Democrats have made it clear they are not interested in facts or the “common sense” their gun control campaign perennially claims to represent, and instead provided all the justification necessary for a hard-hitting pro-rights ad campaign by a grassroots gun rights organization now heading into its second week.

Ammoland News did some homework and found five clear reasons—call them examples—why gun control fails and will always fail; the proof routinely ignored by gun prohibitionists whose ultimate goal, according to Second Amendment activists, has never been violent crime reduction but unilateral public disarmament.

The article then provides five examples of felons caught in possession of firearms, something that is illegal then says:

Each of these cases underscores why gun control is inherently and irreversibly doomed to failure, says the Second Amendment community. Criminals do not obey gun laws. They never have and never will.

We need every gun owner engaged to stop these bills.  Contact your representative today.

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We Need Every Gun Owner Involved in the Fight

March 8, 2021 by vagunrights

Millions of people became new gun owners last year.  Reports by the National Shooting Sports Foundation as well as others have reported that a large number of these new gun owners are minorities and women.  These new gun buyers need to add there voices to the over 100 million existing gun owners in the country when it comes to protecting our rights.  We need to welcome these new gun owners at our ranges and our clubs.  Last week, Bearingarms.com’s Cam Edwards spoke with National African American Gun Association Founder and president Phillip A. Smith:

As you might have guessed, Smith isn’t a big fan of the new gun control laws being proposed in Congress, including the universal background check bill that could be brought to the floor of the House as early as next week.

“I’m not excited about it,” Smith tells me. “I’ll say this, just so everyone knows who’s listening to me. In our organization and myself when I represent my organization, we don’t typically comment on politicians but we will adamantly and vigorously talk about policies like we’re doing today. And I think any time you have policies that are coming down the pipeline that, to me, are just reckless and they go after the wrong group of folks time and time again – it’s like the effort is at any turn or stop to have something there that’s going to make it difficult to get a firearm. That’s just the wrong mindset.”

You can hear the entire interview below.

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