Dirty Tricks at Richmond, VA City Council in Support of Mayors Against Illegal Guns
Richmond, VA –-(AmmoLand.com)- Very interesting and long night at the Richmond City Council meeting tonight. We had over twenty members present. The Dark Side had five.
I had signed up to speak at the meeting three weeks ago by contacting the City Clerk, who dutifully took down my name and said I was good to go for November 23rd. She also asked what I was going to be talking about.
But, tonight when City Council finally got to public comment, they called 6 names only, 3 of which were anti-gunners who praised the Mayor for joining up with Bloomberg’s anti-gun coalition.
MY NAME WAS NEVER CALLED and they moved on to other business quickly.
I got up and walked to the front of the room and proceeded over to a police officer who was stationed near a door and explained the situation, but he didn’t really know how I could get City Council a message about having skipped me. (I was told that while I was walking along the front of the room looking for the correct person to talk to, the City Council President, Kathy Graziano, and Vice-President, Ellen Robertson, were watching me and smirking. I think they figured that I was “shut out” of speaking.)
Next thing I knew, Council was calling for public input on another matter and I stepped up to the microphone and explained that they had not called me, I had signed up, and I was there to address them.
The President looked like she had just bit hard into a fresh lemon. Clearly she absolutely did not want me to speak, but spat out that I could have my 3 minutes after their current business was over. I said, “OK” and sat down.
Member Joe Lignon, who had tried to sign up to speak earlier that day and was told that only eight were allowed and all slots were filled, went to the mike after me to complain that only 6 had spoken and not 8 as he had been told. He tried to ask why he couldn’t be given a slot.
The President in a very hostile way said that Joe was out of order and demanded that he sit down. Joe gave up and sat down.
(BTW, my thanks to Joe who was set to fill in for me if I didn’t get back from Mack Elliott’s visitation in time to speak.)
Finally I got my chance to speak toward the very end of the meeting. (In fact they made me wait through several extra agenda items before recognizing me.)
Besides speaking about Bloomberg, I also spoke on City Council’s legislative agenda, of which there were copies at the meeting. I said that I objected to City Council wishing to restrict the otherwise lawful carry of guns into government buildings and recreation facilities and their wishing to close the non-existent “gun show loophole.”
City Councilman Martin Jewell called me back to the microphone to ask me why I hadn’t gone into detail about what Bloomberg was doing that wasn’t aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of criminals. I explained that I only had 3 minutes and there wasn’t time. But since he asked, I explained a little about Bloomberg.
Afterwards twelve of us went to eat and as luck would have it, about fifteen minutes after we arrived, in walks Councilman Jewell! We all saw this as an opportunity to get him to understand exactly what Bloomberg is really up to.
He engaged us in conversation and we had a polite back and forth with him for about 10 minutes. There was quite a bit he didn’t know about Bloomberg and Bloomberg’s disgraceful history here in Virginia. I think we got his curiosity up.
Unfortunately, the antis underhanded tactic of not letting me speak when I was supposed to meant that many had left the meeting, including the press, by the time I finally got my chance.
But, you know what they say about he who laughs last… Let’s see what happens when the rubber meets the road in the General Assembly in January.
Remember: VCDL Lobby Day is on Martin Luther King’s birthday – Monday, January 18th. Mark your calendars and be a part in making 2010 a truly great year for gun owners.
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