VCDL

Virginia Citizens Defense League Legislative Update for Feb. 2nd 2012

Friday, February 3rd, 2012 at 11:46 AM

ACTION ITEM / More good bills move forward.

Virginia Citizens Defense League

Covington VA --(Ammoland.com)- ACTION ITEM: Last night Delegate Scott Lingamfelter’s bill HB 929 passed out of subcommittee.

VCDL opposes this bill because it lets RETIRED Commonwealth Attorneys carry concealed handguns everywhere they go, including places that a concealed handgun permit holder can’t carry, such as on K-12 school grounds! Also their names, addresses and other personal information can’t be given out by a Circuit Court Clerk like it can for a CHP holder.

HB 929 creates an unacceptable double standard. Lawyers who retire from the Commonwealth, and who have no firearms training, are given extraordinary concealed carry privileges, that are denied to CHP holders who have had firearms training!

The government loves to arm itself while denying the same level of protection to the citizens it is supposed to be serving. I, for one, am tired of it.

It’s not that we want retired Commonwealth Attorneys disarmed. Quite the contrary, they absolutely should be allowed to carry a gun for self-defense and a CHP will do the job nicely. Their lives are not less valuable than your life or mine, BUT their lives are also NOT MORE valuable than your life or mine.

Delegate Lingamfelter is usually good on guns, but this bill is simply wrong.

Let’s tell our Delegates to OPPOSE HB 929. Click on the link below: http://tinyurl.com/8ykl56f

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
On Thursday morning the following bill passed out of the Militia, Police, and Public Safety subcommittee #2:

HB 237, Delegate Cosgrove, moves long gun background checks from the Virginia State Police to the federal National Instant Check System.

Also on Thursday evening the following bills passed out of the Militia, Police, and Public Safety subcommittee #1:

HB 25, Delegate Cole, protects concealed handgun permit info from dissemination by Circuit Court Clerks. VCDL strongly supports this bill
HB 754, Delegate Cline, removes fingerprinting as local option for getting a CHP. VCDL strongly supports this bill
HB 929, Delegate Lingamfelter, gives RETIRED Commonwealth Attorneys the special carry privileges of an off-duty police officer. VCDL opposes this bill

This bill was carried over until next year:

HB 592, Delegate Merricks, exempts permit holders from a state background check on the purchase of a firearm.

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

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Virginia Citizens Defense League Legislative Update 2/2/12

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 at 10:42 AM

Virginia Citizens Defense League

Covington VA --(Ammoland.com)- ACTION ITEM: We need to make sure our Senators AND Delegates understand that they MUST fix the current situation with firearm background checks.

Either take the State Police out of the loop and use the FREE federal NICS system OR fund the State Police check and require that such funding must only be used to hire people to do the background checks.

AND the State Police computer system must have redundancy so that it does NOT go down for more than a few minutes a YEAR, just like Visa, MasterCard, and American Express computers.

To send an email to your Senator, click here: http://tinyurl.com/7m2fxbj
To send an email to your Delegate, click here: http://tinyurl.com/7sx9w6q

LET’S ROLL!

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

The following gun bills passed the House today and head to the Senate:

HB 20, Delegate Wilt, protects the right to carry and transport firearms during an emergency (the matching Senate bill, SB 245, Senator Obenshain, has already passed the Senate)
HB 22, Delegate Cole, provides that a locality must have an ordinance for gun buy-ups before they and do buy-ups and that such guns should be sold to dealers if possible
HB 26, Delegate Cole, provides a civil for of $25 (instead of the current Class 1 misdemeanor) if a CHP holder does not have their permit with them while carrying concealed
HB 940, Delegate Lingamfelter, repeals One Handgun a Month

On Wednesday in the Senate Courts of Justice committee, anti-gun Senator McEachin’s SB 379, which outlaws privates sales of handguns unless they go through a dealer, was killed by an 8 to 6 vote!

Senator McEachin’s other anti-gun bill, SB 648, which adds yet another penalty on a gun owner for being in possession of a firearm while under the influence of alcohol, failed to report by a tie 7 to 7 vote. WE ARE WATCHING THIS BILL AS IT COULD BE RESURRECTED. The original vote killed the bill outright, but then there was some shenanigans behind the scenes and a few votes were changed to make the count 7 to 7 (the committee chair, Senator Norment, was one of the changed votes). The significance is that the vote could be reconsidered in the near future and the bill could potentially pass out of committee.

Also, Senator McDougle has a bill, SB 435, that our attorney does NOT like. It changes the language on the law against making a false statement on the handgun purchase forms. The bill throws a wider net and that is not a good thing. Watch for more on this bill soon.

On Thursday, February 2, the House Militia, Police and Public Safety subcommittees #2 and #1 will meet and consider gun bills.

Subcommittee #2 meets at 7:30 AM in the 4th Floor West Conference Room and will consider HB 237, Delegate Cosgrove’s HB 237, which will allow long guns background checks to be run through the federal NICS system to take the load off the Virginia State Police. SEE ACTION ITEM BELOW.

Subcommittee #1 meets at 5 PM in the 4th Floor West Conference Room and will consider the following bills:

HB 25, Delegate Cole, protects concealed handgun permit info from dissemination by Circuit Court Clerks. VCDL strongly supports this bill
HB 592, Delegate Merricks, exempts permit holders from a state background check on the purchase of a firearm. VCDL supports this bill, but considers Delegate Gilbert’s HB 859 to be a superior bill
HB 754, Delegate Cline, removes fingerprinting as local option for getting a CHP. VCDL strongly supports this bill
HB 929, Delegate Lingamfelter, gives RETIRED Commonwealth Attorneys the special carry privileges of an off-duty police officer. VCDL opposes this bill – a CHP would work just fine for retirees. If there is some concern that the retirees can’t protect themselves EVERYWHERE they go with a CHP, THEN LET’S FIX CHPs SO THAT THEY ARE GOOD EVERYWHERE!