U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- Virginia House Bill no. 567, prefiled on 6 January, 2020, and offered on 8 January, 2020, seems aimed particularly at the NRA headquarters range at 11250 Waples Mill Rd. in Fairfax, Virginia. HB 567 contains a number of provisions that single out the NRA HQ range from nearly all others. Here are the provisions of the bill:
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Article 3 of Chapter 12 of Title 18.2 a section numbered 18.2-511.2 as follows:
§ 18.2-511.2. Indoor shooting ranges; prohibited in private buildings; exceptions; penalty.
A. As used in this section, “indoor shooting range” means any fully enclosed or indoor area or facility designed for the use of rifles, shotguns, pistols, silhouettes, skeet, trap, or black powder or any other similar sport shooting.
B. It is unlawful to operate an indoor shooting range in any building not owned or leased by the Commonwealth or the federal government unless (i) fewer than 50 employees work in the building or (ii) (a) at least 90 percent of the users of the indoor shooting range are law-enforcement officers, as defined in § 9.1-101, or federal law-enforcement officers, (b) the indoor shooting range maintains a log of each user’s name, phone number, address, and the law-enforcement agency where such user is employed, and (c) the indoor shooting range verifies each user’s identity and address by requiring all users to present a government-issued photo-identification card.
C. Any person that violates the provisions of this section is subject to a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 nor more than $100,000 for the initial violation and $5,000 per day for each day of violation thereafter.
The NRA HQ range is located in the NRA HQ building in Fairfax, Virginia.
- It is indoors.
- It is privately owned.
- More than 50 employees work in the building.
- It is open to the public.
Only one of the other indoor ranges found, in a quick survey of Virginia indoor ranges, were in buildings over two stories tall. The Colonial Shooting Acadamy, in Richmond, Virginia, is a three-story facility. It has a few more than 50 employees working in its building. It is the biggest indoor range in Virginia. The owners would like to expand and hire more employees. This bill would make expansion impossible. Large indoor urban ranges have been expanding across the country. The trend was arguably started with the Scottsdale Gun Club in Arizona.
Full disclosure, Terry Schmidt is my second cousin. He and his wife Nadine conceived of the Scottsdale gun club and now own majority interests and manage the concern. Terry credits me with planting the seed of his lifelong fascination and career with firearms.
Many small businesses have less than 50 employees to avoid burdensome federal regulations that apply to businesses that have over 50 employees. It is a large range, indeed, which would employ over 50 people in one building.
The bill would likely face challenges under both the Virginia State Constitution and the federal Constitution under the Second Amendment.
The Seventh Circuit has ruled the availability of gun ranges, to serve the public, is protected to some extent, by the Second Amendment.
It seems unlikely the proposed Virginia law would meet the requirements to pass muster under the Second Amendment. What rationale would require the limitation of gun ranges to buildings that employ less than 50 people?
Governments have deep pockets to defend against lawsuits. They are spending other people’s money.
The lawsuits required to defend against the host of laws infringing on the Second Amendment in Virginia will be costly. They will not be funded by tax dollars, but by private individuals.
The individuals may band together into groups or organizations to fund the lawsuits, but the money will not be taken from other people by force, as is tax money.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
This is, and continues to be, the grand plan of the communist democrats to disarm the American people so the democrats can enact the communist America they have wet dreams over.
An armed person is free citizen. An unarmed person is a slave.
TRUE!!!!!!!!!
What authority or justification does the government think they have to do such a thing? Clearly, anti-gun oppressors think government power should be unlimited. Good luck retaining the consent of the governed.
So will abortion clinics also be required to be .gov owned? How about churches? These gov hacks may learn firsthand what the 2A is really intended to protect.
@sage419 – I think that is part of the point. They are trying to instigate armed revolution so that they can justify militarized law enforcement and cement their power. Isn’t there anything in federal law under which Northam can be charged as he is attempting to instigate armed insurrection.
Some posters seem all to eager to satisfy Northam.
The Dumbocrats in Virginia have already cemented their power. And how, exactly, does armed revolution benefit the government since there are way, way more armed ‘us’ than ‘them’? Time for a re-think, amigo.
Superman, You’re thinking small. Act locally, think globally.
This was a coup engineered by a megalomaniac with national pretensions. If he can use his puppet in VA to create a situation where governmental force is needed, it can be used as an argument for its use in other states, and eventually nationally. It won’t be just for gun control, he’ll use it to get rid of Big Gulps everywhere.
Do you prefer shiny or dull tinfoil for your hat?
Superman, I’d hoped, for a moment, that you were ready to engage in meaningful discussion rather than your usual idiocy. OK, it was a mistake, I kind of figured that it would be, but I gave you the chance. It won’t happen again. There is no tinfoil involved. Bloomberg put a huge amount of money into the elections in VA and got what he paid for. The politicians are merely upholding their part of the deal. Apparently they stay bought, at least for a while. You asked how armed, you called it revolution, helps them. I gave you the strategy… Read more »
@SM – personally I’d prefer you use Saran Wrap. Be sure to get a good seal over entire head and body lest kryptonite gain entry through any orifice.
Simultaneously you will be demonstrating inability of red flag laws to protect you from yourself.
OF COURSE, why not? We seem to try to think these left wing Democrats don’t know or understand what they are doing. They do! They are dangerous! They will succeed in killing this country because they through the media for one are attacking every element of our lives. We are witnessing the death of our republic by a thousand cuts. This republic will NOT survive unless we adopt the more action related tactics of the left and hit them even harder! I fear a tipping point is near and VA is a good place to see what is going to… Read more »
Unfortunately, far too Americans are willing to endure ANY oppression by the government as long as they keep their beer, Cheetos and bassetball on TV.
The American people will allow the Constitution to burn and will not even notice.
At the 2016 DNC Convention, the Revolutionary Communist Party, who demands a public burning of the U.S. Constitution, was greeted as honored guests and declared THE democratic party.
Makes me think of the fat, immobile blobs in Wall-E. Virginia is a test case. They are going for broke just to see how far they get. It’s definitely coming to other states soon.
The only “deep pockets” the Government has are ours…zero moneys of their own…
There is no level of pettiness to which the totalitarian left will not sink.
It is not ‘pettiness’. It is their desire for a totalitarian government.
They will not allow their slaves to remain armed.
Good job Dean. This is tyranny. As bad as Obama bin ladin was, he was the very best firearm salesman. The real problem came to light when he had the E P A shut down the last lead smelting plant in the U.S. This caused a 4X+ price increase in ammo prices/lead bullet prices that the ammo makers were all too happy to pass along to the shooting public. With ammo prices so high who can afford to put down 500 rounds a weekend anymore? I used to do 2K per firearm. The next step is to limit access to… Read more »
True. When I was competing, dropping 2K rounds in a weekend was natural. My wife, on the Sheriff’s Department Gold Pistol Team, shot that nearly every weekend.
My Dillon 650 made a LOT of 38 wadcutters, 223 target rounds and 308 target rounds. MY wife, on the 650, could make rounds faster than I could load primer tubes.
Yup, a 650 is a good, fast machine. If you have the ability to stock pile, it may be a good idea.
Arm up, carry on
Why exactly is our side setting on the sidelines? We are always setting around waiting for the next anti freedom shoe to drop. Where are the pro rights people in the VA elected offices? Why are they not filling the legislative hopper with pro freedom bills, dismantling every infringement piece by piece. Offense wins games defense very seldom- you have to try and score points !
The VCDL has lead the effort in creating 124 Second Amendment Sanctuary counties, towns, and cities in Virginia and is organizing a huge attendance at the VCDL Lobby Day on January 20: https://vcdl.org. I would not call that sitting on the sidelines. In states like, VA, WA, CA, NJ, CA, HI and many others, we do not have a pro-gun majority to pass anything. We also do not have a pro-gun majority at the federal level. Instead, real gun rights organizations, like the Firearms Policy Coalition, Gun Owners of America, the Second Amendment Foundation and state organizations have filed one… Read more »
True on sanctuaries, but we also need legislative action. WE supposedly have all these pro gun legislators and they are doing virtually nothing. We need a barrage of bills. The NRA has been a money pit for decades, I joined in 1979 as a lifer and have been continuously disappointed in their actions, inaction and compromise. They do not want to kill off this gun control idea as their crisis a month money calls would have to end. That is why we are where we are at – constantly fighting to hold on.
Introducing bills that have no chance of passing is grand standing. It has no impact whatsoever. Legislative action can only work when the legislative body is ready for it, meaning when there is a possibility of a majority to pass a bill, AND when people/organizations push the legislators. Talk to or even work with a legislator to understand how this works! A perfect example is what T.REX ARMS did in TN: https://youtu.be/8enTHRDq9r8. The moment legislators start their session, they get inundated from the various lobbying groups about bills they should support. A legislators rarely writes a bill on their own… Read more »
Declaring “Second Amendment Sanctuary Counties” that have no chance of actually protecting your rights is also grandstanding.
Sure, they *could,* but as we saw in the Montana Firearms Freedoms Act case, when the challenge finally comes, the politicians buck, shuffle, and kneel to their “masters” (who aren’t us).
Have you actually read any of the Second Amendment Sanctuary resolutions? Do you know what they are for? NO they are not grandstanding. They are actually quite practical in nature. Second Amendment Sanctuary resolutions prohibit the enforcement of unconstitutional state law by LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT!!! These resolutions only affect LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT based on the JURISDICTION that passed the resolution. These resolutions have ZERO application to STATE or FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT. The Montana Firearms Freedoms Act is something completely different. It basically said that federal law does not apply in the way the federal government thinks it does, therefore Montana… Read more »
Maybe you should read more slowly! Option31 was not talking about PRIVATE/PUBLIC organizations, he specifically mentioned pro rights people in the VA elected offices! It’s the same question I ask here in North Carolina, where we have a “GOP” majority congress, yet they ignore all of the unconstitutional laws that are on the books, including unconstitutional/illegal gun permits/licenses. Our rights are being taken away by BOTH SIDES.
This is so true, BOTH SIDES are doing it, not just one side, we know about the Demo-Rats and where they stand, but the G O P is doing it with no public outcry, because they are not coming out and saying anything, just doing it quietly, Red Flag Laws, come to mind????????????
The GOP has the backing of the NRA and of brain dead gun owners supporting the NRA. As long as gun control laws don’t severely impact hunters, they don’t care!
Read my reply above for the need to lobby for a bill. Watch the T.REX ARMS video about repealing the TN ammo tax: https://youtu.be/8enTHRDq9r8
If you don’t lobby your representatives for bills they should support, then why should they support them in the first place? Get organized, come up with a bill proposal and lobby a pro gun rights legislator to back it! This is easier if you have a real gun-rights organization, like the VCDL and unlike the NRA.
@o31, I believe that it has something to do with the composition of the Va. legislature.
So this is for the safety of the people of Virginia. Take away the ability to train and be proficient for protection of yourself and others. The agenda is clear, Take until there is nothing more to take. “Tyranny”
So only TWO indoor ranges in the entire State would be affected, and I bet the Legislature didn’t even know about the other one. Sounds like a law targeted at one entity and not in general. That is a Bill of Attainder and is not permitted under the Constitution. “Bill of Attainder. Definition: A legislative act that singles out an individual or group for punishment without a trial. The Constitution of the United States, Article I, Section 9, paragraph 3 provides that: “No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law will be passed.” ” P.S. Did the photographer really… Read more »
Weasel lawyers and judges will simply “interpret” the prohibition into meaninglessness, as they did with the “ex post facto” portion when they passed the Lautenberg Amendment: “The court explained that the prohibited activity is the possession of a firearm and not the domestic violence misdemeanor. In other words, the possession of the firearm is the crime that is punished under the law, not the commission of a domestic violence misdemeanor. Therefore, the Lautenberg Law is not retroactive and does not violate the Ex Post Facto Clause.” Bulls*t, all of it, but it will stand because there is no practical way… Read more »
The time is coming when these anti-gun people are going to be wishing they had a gun to defend themselves because no one else will.
They’ll hire body guards!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Even their bodyguards will have nothing to do with them.
In all of human history, there has never been a shortage of mercenaries.
If these stupid ass VA politicians keep this shit up, they are going to turn the Virginia State Capital Building into an indoor shooting range.
Nice call, there…… it COULD happen, and they’d have no one to blame but their own sorry selves.
Coming to a town near you soon!
Sounds an awful lot like a bill of attainer. WLP should be able to pay for this one out of his pocket change.
Join the discussion…I read an article a couple weeks back, about some dem posting a bill to ban fkn NERF GUNS because they encourage children to use guns . Yah, give them enough time and those will be banned .
@OV, Yep, the national shotgunners association thought that they could compromise every other shooters’ interests and that it would never get to them. Well, now it has got to them.
This is just a conspiracy theory I’ve been thinking about for the last year or so, wondering what some of you think. The democrats have been after our second amendment rights for endless years but never like we’ve seen since trump was elected. I’m sure this is not the only reason but they know that the reason trump was elected is that second amendment supporters came out in tremendous numbers to make sure Hillary couldn’t destroy our rights. Does anyone think the intense attacks on firearms is in their eyes punishing us for stopping Hillary? Obama had eight years to… Read more »
What the totalitarian democrats know is that Americans will tolerate any reduction or even elimination of their Rights with little complaint and zero action. The totalitarian democrats have: Flooded America with muslims and illegal aliens who rape & murder Americans. Restricted and denied Second Amendment Rights. Restricted Fourth Amendment Rights. Restricted and denied First Amendment Rights. Yet, the American people sit, quietly, as their country becomes a totalitarian third world. In a REPUBLIC, the PEOPLE are the ultimate power & authority. THAT is why we have a Second Amendment. To control government by force of arms if necessary. There are… Read more »
Tete, you ain’t hangin with the right crowd. Folks I know are ready to boogaloo.
Join the discussion…Stuck – Yup buddy, I have thought the same thing since before the Nov 18 election . People say it’s about people control, however, I think now it has become more of a revenge thing . I believe that running up to 2016, all the dems talking gun bans and “commonsense gun safety regulations” with hillary at a 90%+ poll lead, brought out firearms owners in droves . They think Trump supporters = gun toting hicks . It shows in all the new terms they use to describe common firearms . “Military style” = any gun used by… Read more »
I think its all about gun control cause they (demorats) want all people disarmed so they can fulfill there agenda.
The government has very few ideas on how to protect our rights. They are at a loss here …… wishy washy at best and often representing both side of the question ….. BUT the one thing they surely know how to do is crush an insurrection and have all the money in the world to do that and a compliant media that will gladly cover up any abuses.
Those who have always been against state rights will surely see it different on this issue
The East German government spied on its citizens, had a total monopoly in violence, imprisoned dissidents, shot people that wanted to leave the country, and controlled the media. East German government and the Berlin Wall fell 30 years ago. If the East German government was all so powerful, how is it that is no more? People in the government refused to follow orders!!! Your argument includes a common neurotic fallacy! Who is “the government”? In your view, it is nameless people that are part of a machinery, called “the government”. In reality, the government consists of “we the people”. They… Read more »
@CF – I think East Germany is a great example. Virginian government is striving to attain similar type of government, ignoring how that worked out for the people living under that government. Unless federal government is totally complicit, VA cannot install walls and minefields to prevent escape.
Consider conditions under which people lived in E. Germany – and how many died opposing that government. Regardless of eventual failure, allowing VA to go further down that road is inexcusable. @REM’s point is valid in that if it comes to violence, many freedom fighters WILL lose all.
So, who is that “government” that crushes an “insurrection” in VA and how?
Any member of the assembly can file a bill. Lot’s of grandstanding bills get filed every year that won’t go anywhere. The politicians then run for office and fund raise on said filed bills. Having said that, the NRA will be using its standard strategy here, compromise, right? If the NRA approaches this like any other infringement on our rights, the NRA will reach a deal where their range can be used 1 day a week. Then the NRA claims victory and fund raises on the fact that their range stayed open 1 day a week. The American gun owner… Read more »
You have no idea what you are talking about.
Go back to cleaning the LGBT toilets at the DNC office.
LOL. Our village idiot is hilarious as usual!
CF, I’ll say it again.
If you have anything on loan to the NRA for the museum, go collect it now. When they crash and burn its condition cannot be guaranteed if and when you get it back from whatever state agency ends up seizing their property.
As used in this section, “indoor shooting range” means any fully enclosed or indoor area or facility designed for the use of rifles, shotguns, pistols, silhouettes, skeet, trap, or black powder or any other similar sport shooting. Download temple run 2 new version.
the mental defectives gaining control of government are SO hoplophobic they even panic at a toaster pastry chewed into the shape of a MOUNTAIN by a first grader to be grounds for immediate dismissal….. and they talk aboit the need for tolerance? They need to put that shoe on their own foot.