Gun Owners Due Process Bill Goes to VA Governor
Virginia –-(Ammoland.com)- HB 1699, Gun Owners Due Process Bill, now moves to Governor Bob McDonnell’s desk to be signed.
Delegate Athey’s HB 1699 provides a path to restoration of gun rights to those who believe they have been wrongly denied them because of a mental health observation or an unwarranted restraining order.
HB 1699 is also a good example of what happens when there is lots of political heat.
You see, anti-gun Senate Democrat leader Richard Saslaw from Northern Virginia came up to me in the hallway to tell me that he had voted for the bill.
I had reminded him the week before that “due process” was a fundamental right and that HB 1699 should be a bi-partisan issue.
Is that why the bill passed?
It might have helped a little but the real story is all the heat that Saslaw was taking for mimicking Republican Speaker of the House, Bill Howell.
You see, Bill Howell regularly sends bills to small sub-committees of hand picked delegates to kill the bills he does not want to have full recorded votes on.
Saslaw grew tired of this abuse of power and decided to fight fire with fire by doing the same in the Senate.
There has been an outcry of rage from lobby groups all across the political spectrum about how unfair this is.
So the real story is that Saslaw has been looking for bills that he can stomach that he would like to kill but needs to pass to provide credibility to the lie that he is being fair.
Usually gun owners end up on the the short end of the stick when it comes to these issues but this is one time we came out on top.
Next year we need to fight for full restoration of gun rights for anyone convicted of a non-violent crime who has done their time.
Call Governor McDonnell at 804 786 2211 and urge him to sign HB 1699, The Gun Owners Due Process Bill.
For Liberty,Mike McHugh
President, VGOC
About:
Virginia Gun Owners Coalition is Virginia’s only no-compromise, non-partisan gun lobby patterned after Gun Owners of America on Capitol Hill. VGOC is a non-profit tax-exempt organization under 501(c)(4) of the IRS code. Because we lobby politicians to protect and defend the 2nd Amendment, contributions are not tax deductible for IRS purposes. Visit: www.vgoc.org