Covington VA –-(Ammoland.com)- Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Board member Bruce Jackson, Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) now has confirmation that the Stafford County Sheriff, Charles E. Jett, betrayed those he serves by underhandedly coercing Target to ban guns at a recent National Night Out event in Stafford County.
Jett also got the Target store to deny VCDL a table at the event.
Bruce’s FOIA request produced emails between the Sheriff and some of his employees on the National Night Out event. In one of those email exchanges between Jett and his staff, the Sheriff says he wants only law-enforcement officers (LEO) to be able to carry at the National Night Out event. He also says says that Target would have to be brought on board, which clearly indicates that Target was following their corporate policy and was NOT planning on banning guns.
The email from Sheriff Jett to 1st Sgt. Darrell E. English, Major David P. Decatur, and one other person, whose name was redacted, says this:
“I would like to restrict guns to LEO only. As you know we will need to get target on board with that. Darrell and DP will work on that.”
Jett then directs his next comment to Darrell English, writing:
“Please respond to [redacted] and let her know our intentions are to restrict weapons to LEO only. We are working through the legal aspects.”
The legal aspects are simple: the Sheriff has NO authority to ban guns on private property. So to get around that legal problem, Jett had to pressure Target to create a gun ban on their property so the Sheriff could hide behind them to enforce his own bigotry against gun owners through trespass laws.
The emails in the FOIA confirm what a representative from Target corporate told me previously (and was documented in a prior alert): that law enforcement had asked for the gun ban and Target corporate allowed their Stafford store to create the gun ban for that one event.
While the email exchange doesn’t confirm this directly, it is clear to me that when Target initially approved VCDL to have a table at the event and then, at the last minute, withdrew that approval, they were also doing the Sheriff’s bidding.
I’m more than a little surprised that a sheriff, of all people, is subverting the rights of gun owners like this. Just as bad, based on Officer English telling me initially that the ban was Target’s idea, VCDL was about to start a boycott campaign against the Stafford Target! Sheriff Jett appeared willing to let Target take all the heat over what was HIS idea.
Here is a link to the emails from the FOIA request. The smoking gun is at the top of page 10:
From vcdl.org: https://tinyurl.com/kja7u9r
Virgina Sheriff Jett Betrays Gun Owners
ACTION ITEM: Email Sheriff Jett and *politely* let him know that pushing Target to both prohibit the lawful carry of handguns and to deny VCDL a booth at National Night Out is unacceptable.
Email: [email protected]
Suggested subject: Banning both guns and VCDL from National Night Out
Suggested message:
Dear Sheriff Jett,
I saw a copy of some of your email exchanges on this year’s National Night Out, which were obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request. In one of those emails you direct 1st Sgt. English to contact Target to get them to ban the carry of guns on their property for National Night Out. 1st Sgt. English then told the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) that the ban was Target’s idea!
Target corporate has confirmed that the ban was your idea.
On top of that, you also pressured Target to reverse their previous approval for the Virginia Citizens Defense League to have a booth and to hand out literature.
Your actions to deny Virginians the rights guaranteed them under the 1st and 2d amendments make a mockery of your oath to uphold the U.S. and Virginia Constitution, and the laws of the Commonwealth. Furthermore, your willingness to let Target take the blame for such tyranny is cowardly and reprehensible.
You owe VCDL, Target, and gun owners in Stafford County a public apology. Something like this should never happen again in Stafford County.
Let me know what you are going to do to correct this situation for any future events.
Sincerely,
xxx
About:
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. Visit: www.vcdl.org