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Kaine Vetoes Gun Bills

March 27, 2009 by vagunrights

Not only did Governor Tim Kaine veto SB1035 that would have allowed you and me to carry concealed in Applebees, he vetoed SB877 – a bill allowing retired law enforcement to carry concealed in restaurants like Applebees that happen to serve alcohol along with food.

This is after having signed a bill last year that allows Commonwealth Attorneys to carry concealed in restaurants. Mind you SB1053 prohibited consuming alcohol while carrying. Last year, Kaine allowed Commonwealth Attorneys to drink while carrying concealed in restaurants.

I guess this means the only people Tim Kaine trusts are lawyers while thumbing his nose at law enforcement, you, and me.

In addition to vetoing the restaurant bills, Kaine also vetoed the following:

HB1851, which would have exempted active duty service members in Virginia from the state’s limit of purchasing one handgun a month.

SB1528, which would have allowed training required for a concealed weapons permit to be completed online.

HB2528, which would placed some much needed sunshine on compensated gun confiscation schemes (gun buybacks).

More information to follow.

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Global Gun Control

March 16, 2009 by vagunrights

NRA’s Wayne LaPierre has been warning us of this for several years. 

 
Many gun owners likely considered it one more ploy to raise money.  But the Obama Administration has all but confirmed that LaPierre was right with a new focus on ending a supposedly deadly flow of “assault weapons” to Mexico.

The Washington Times is right– it hasn’t worked with drugs and gangs flowing out of Mexico and I doubt the gang bangers they migrate to do their bidding here will find this new focus on guns a deterance to what they do.

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DC Voting Rights Act on Life Support?

March 12, 2009 by vagunrights

It appears that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer may be putting the DC Voting Rights Act on the back burner to simmer – signaling that DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton’s attempt to extort pro-rights supporters to abandon basic constitutional rights for DC residents through a threat of a bad “Civil Rights” rating for not voting for “clean” bill free of a gun rights amendment, has failed. Hoyer has not signaled that he is completely giving up – saying he expects a bill to pass and be signed by the president by the end of the year – he apparently is just adjusting his timetable to later rather than sooner.

In her letter to the “Blue Dogs” Norton claims that racism is to blame for members of her own party historically opposing “Home Rule” for residents of DC. Scream racism when all else fails.

I’m not going to get in to what people I did not know were thinking 30, 50 or 150 years ago.  I think we can all agree we have some things in our nation’s history that most people today are not proud of – things that were products of the times in which they occurred.  What I do know is Norton and those pushing for a D.C .member in the House conveniently forget that Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution explicitly states:

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States…(emphasis added)

D.C. is a frigging federal district – a city – NOT A STATE!!! So is it asking too much that if we are going to violate the Constitution to give D.C. representation in the House, that we should at least recognize the right of self defense that is enshrined in the Bill of Rights?

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DC Gun Rights Amendment

March 10, 2009 by vagunrights

NPR ran this story yesterday on the DC Voting Rights Act/DC Gun Rights Amendment.  The theme of the story was how the big bad NRA injected itself into how the House does its business by making a vote on voting rights for DC without the pro-rights amendment a tabulated vote against the rights of gun owners.

 They found some Indiana representative who said he has always been an NRA supporter to say “But the NRA is wrong on this one.”  In fact, the NPR reporter actually begins the story by asking “What does all this have to do with guns?  Well nothing.”  

 They miss the whole point – that DC has to recognize the rights guaranteed by the Constitution – they can’t pick and choose what they want.  Norton has said she will not entertain a vote on the bill if it includes the pro-rights amendment

The story reports that for her part, DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton plans to use a similar tactic by getting “civil rights” organizations to count the vote negatively against any member that votes for what Norton calls a poison pill.  Norton is qouted as saying “we have to get this bill without the amendment.”

Yeah, when was the last time that so-called civil rights interest groups carried the clout of the NRA in an election.  Further, the right to self defense is a basic civil right so a vote for the DC Gun Rights Amendment should be a positve civil rights vote.

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CNN and Guns

March 5, 2009 by vagunrights

Who would have dreamed given the story CNN did on the Clinton Gun Ban in 2004 that you would see a story like this from CNN now.  Of course the new story was done on the Lou Dobbs Tonight program and Dobbs has been good on our issue.

Hat tip to Sebastian.

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Is National Parks Rule Really a Done Deal?

February 24, 2009 by vagunrights

David Codrea has a good National Gun Rights Examiner column on this subject that delves into whether the Obama Justice Department is really going to bat for the Bush Administration rule change on carrying firearms in National Parks.

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NRA-ILA Grassroots Minute

February 20, 2009 by vagunrights

NRA-ILA is really making use of the “New Media” to communicate their message.  One of the new features added not long ago to their weekly Grassroots Alert was a video feature known as the Grassroots Minute.

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More on Gun Sales

February 19, 2009 by vagunrights

A co-worker attended the Nation’s Gun Show in Dulles this past weekend.  He said it was packed like most all of the shows held since mid fall last year.  The networks and news outlets continue to carry this story.

This from CBS “Weekend Journal” on January 27th.

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Light Load of Gun Bills but Good Bills Moving

February 18, 2009 by vagunrights

The Virginia General Assembly had a light load of gun bills introduced this year compared to the last couple of years but there are some good bills moving through the legislature.  There is also one bad bill still lingering that I hope will die in the House.  Let’s talk about the good bills first.

HB 1655, Delegate Carrico’s bill requiring a court to award reasonable attorney fees, expenses, and court costs to anyone that prevails in an action challenging an ordinance that violates the Commonwealth’s pre-emption statute.  Passed House 82 – 16 and is now in the full Senate.  It should be noted the bill was amended in the State Senate and removed the requirement that reasonable attorney fees be awarded, changing it to the ability (may) to award attorney fees to the winner.

HB 1851, Delegate Lingamfelter’s bill exempting active duty military from handgun rationing (one gun-a-month). Passed House 83 – 13  and is on the docket in Senate Courts today.

HB 2144, Delegate Nutter’s bill to codify the AG’s opinion that prohibits the State Police from disseminating CHP holder information. (The information would still be available from individual circuit courts).  Passed House 98-0 and on the docket in Senate Courts today.

HB 2528, Delegate Cole’s bill that would require localities that operate compensated confiscation schemes (gun buy backs) to sell the guns they take in to an FFL.  Passed House 64 – 33 and reported from Senate Local Government yesterday on an 8-7 vote.  It will be on the floor today for Second Reading and likely final vote Thursday.

SB 1035, Senator Hanger’s bill repealing the ban on carrying concealed handguns in restaurants that serve alcohol. Passed Senate 24-16 but Senator Marsh noted in the vote that he voted yes but intended to vote no, so there are actually only 23 affirmative votes – leaving it four short of a veto proof margin should Governor Kaine veto it as he did last year.  The bill is now awaiting action in the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee.

SB 1513, Senator Smiths’ bill requiring a court to award reasonable attorney fees, expenses, and court costs to anyone that prevails in an action challenging an ordinance that violates the Commonwealth’s pre-emption statute.  Passed Senate 30 – 10 and is awaiting action in House Militia, Police, and Public Safety Committee.

 The bad news is that Senator Watkins’ SB 1166 – the gun purchase tax increase bill – passed the Senate.   This bill increases the tax paid by gun owners for background checks from $2 to $5.  The bill has been assigned to the House Militia, Police, and Public Safety Committee.  Gun owners are urged to contact members of the Committee and urge them to oppose SB 1166.

The Virginia Shooting Sports Association has up-to-date information on their blog and often has vote information posted shortly after the vote.

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Governor Kaine and “Gun Show Loophole”

February 5, 2009 by vagunrights

Governor Kaine demonstrated again yesterday demonstrated that he will say anything to promote his agenda.  Take this for instance:

There isn’t any reason why someone who is dangerously mentally ill or a felon should be able to get a gun under any circumstances and I continue to be surprised that people feel like that is OK.

That was Governor Kaine talking to reporters just before the vote yesterday on SB1257 – Senator Marsh’s “Gun Show Loophole” bill.

I don’t know a single gun owner who thinks it it “ok” for felons or mentally ill individuals to get their hands on firearms.  We simply don’t think the government should be involved in transfers of privately owned firearms when the vast majority of those sales are between family and friends.  When you look at the number of firearm sales that occur at a gun show, private sales make up a small percentage of the total sales.  And no less than three federal studies have shown that gun shows are not a source of firearms for criminals.

If keeping felons and mentally ill people from getting firearms was the goal of Kaine and others pushing this legislation, then voluntary checks and providing an FFL at the show to conduct those checks (since only FFLs have access to the State Police for running such checks) should be sufficient.  But both Kaine and some of the families of Virginia Tech shooting victims said yesterday that they were not interested in such amendments.  So, something else is their real goal and that something is ending all private sales.  You have to believe shutting down gun shows is also an ultimate goal because every bill that has been introduced goes well beyond simply requiring background checks.  They all require some form creating a registration list of everyone that walks into a gun show.

So, the next time you hear Tim Kaine say he can’t understand why someone thinks it is okay for felons and mentally ill people to buy firearms, ask yourself why Kaine had not interest in at least getting voluntary checks at gun shows for private sales.

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