VA-ALERT: Legislative Update / ACTION ITEMS 1/26/09

––––-Original Message––––-
From: Philip Van Cleave
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 7:46 PM
Subject: VA-ALERT: Legislative Update / ACTION ITEMS 1/26/09

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VCDL's meeting schedule:  http://www.vcdl.org/meetings.html
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Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT:  http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html
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GUN SHOW BILL PASSED OUT OF COMMITTEE!  WE NEED TO STOP IT.  ACTION  
ITEM AT END OF THIS ALERT.

Several Senators changed their vote from last year and voted by the  
narrowest of margins (8-7) to pass Senator Marsh's gun show bill, SB  
1257, out of committee today. :-(

After Senator Marsh explained his bill to the committee, Marsh called  
the Secretary of Public Safety to speak on the bill's behalf.  After  
the Secretary spoke, Senator Stolle grilled him and got the Secretary  
to admit that he had no data to back up his claim that Marsh's bill  
was needed to stop criminals from getting guns at gun shows.

Each side then got 10 minutes to speak.

The antis, who believe that every word they say is golden and should  
be savored by all in the room, as usual went way over time.  They  
would either be droning on and on or they would be like anti-gun Abby  
Spangler (Stop Easy Guns) and scream at the committee, drowning out  
anti-gun Senator Howell who was trying to tell Abby her time is up,  
and threaten the committee members with political holocaust if they  
don't vote for Marsh's bill.

Also speaking in favor of Marsh's bill was the Virginia PTA.  Parents  
- if you are a member of the PTA, it is definitely time to get out of  
that organization.

Senator Creigh Deeds then offered an amendment that would exempt CHP  
holders from having to do a background check when purchasing a firearm  
from a private seller.  It also exempted antique firearms from needing  
a background check.

Sorry, Senator, but that is unacceptable.  We are not going to support  
a "divide and conquer" plan.

The amended bill still REQUIRES most gun owners to have a mandatory  
background check when purchasing a firearm in a private transaction.  
And the damage to the gun shows having to setup all kinds of  
procedures to handle those background checks for those who aren't  
exempted will be just as bad as it would be without the exemptions.

Just because some of us would be exempt means nothing.  Permit holders  
will NOT abandon non-permit holders and embrace gun control.

Senator Edwards offered to completely replace the modified bill with  
one that simply allowed for private sellers to have the OPTION of  
running a background check on the person they were selling a gun to.  
That bill substitution failed.

Finally the bill came up for a vote with the Deeds amendment.  Before  
the vote, Senator Norment chastised the antis for their behavior.  He  
said that they hurt their own cause.

Norment looked at the antis and said that he did not appreciate being  
threatened politically.  He then said that he would vote for Marsh's  
bill anyhow!!!

So Norment basically gave the antis a signal that if they were abusive  
toward him, they would get their way.

Even anti-gun Senator Saslaw dressed down the anti-gunners - that's  
how bad they were.

Here is the vote.  Three Senators who claim to be pro-gun sold  you  
out - Quayle, Norment, and Deeds.  The rest who voted wrong, always  
vote wrong:

Voting anti-gun:

Marsh (D), Salsaw (D), ***Quayle (R)***, ***Norment (R)***, Howell  
(D), Lucas (D), Puller (D), ***Deeds (D)***

Voting pro-gun:

Stolle (R), Edwards (D), Reynolds (D), Cuccinelli (R), Obenshain (R),  
McDougle (R), Hurt (R)

––

Two other gun bills came up this morning, with more shenanigans by  
Senator Marsh, the committee chairman.

Senator Watkins’s bill that would make raise the gun purchase  
background check tax by 150%, SB 1166,  also passed.  Senators  
Cuccinelli and Stolle grilled Senator Watkins on his bill.  The  
committee chair, anti-gun Senator Marsh, did not allow any public  
input and the bill passed out of committee without allowing me to  
comment on it.  This bill is bad and needs to be stopped.

Here is the vote on SB 1166.  Four Senators who claim to be pro-gun  
voted wrong - Quayle, Norment, Stolle, and Deeds.  The rest who voted  
wrong, always vote wrong:

Voting against gun owners - Marsh (D), Saslaw (D), ***Stolle (R)***,  
***Quayle (R)***, ***Norment (R)***, Howell (D), Lucas (D), Puller  
(D), ***Deeds (D)***

Voting with gun owners - Edwards (D), Reynolds (D), Cuccinelli (R),  
Obenshein (R), McDougle (R), Hurt (R)

––

Finally, Senator Marsh's concealed weapon bill that makes various  
changes to Virginia’s concealed weapon laws came up today.  Senators  
Norment and Stolle grilled the witness for the bill, Lt. Col. Robert  
Kemmler with the Virginia State Police.

Stolle suggested that the *requirement* for training be dropped!

The committee discussed what that might do to reciprocity and they  
decided to investigate that and look at the idea again next year.

The committee did vote to drop the wording that bans online training,  
as suggested by Senator Stolle.  Senators Stolle and Cuccinelli tried  
to substitute Cuccinelli’s wording that specifically says that online  
training is OK, but that was rejected.

I stood up to speak on the bill and Senator Marsh was about to start  
the vote without giving me a chance to speak.

Senator Reynolds stopped the vote to make sure I had a chance to speak  
- Senator Marsh looked like he had just ate a huge lemon.  He wanted  
desperately to ignore me and it didn't work. ;-)

I objected to out of state permits and non-resident permits that  
already have photos be required to show yet another form of photo-id.

The bill, minus the wording banning online training, but with the  
absurd double photo-id requirement still in tact, passed out of  
committee unanimously.

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ACTION ITEM ON GUN SHOW BILL

This is the third time in history that the gun show bill has made it  
out of committee - in this case it just barely squeaked out.

As in the past, we need to make sure that the bill dies on the Senate  
Floor and time is of the essence.

We NEED TO contact our Senators and make sure that friends, family,  
and coworkers do the same.

To send a message to your Senator to kill Marsh's gun show bill, SB  
1257, click here:

http://tinyurl.com/crdopj

––

URGENT ACTION ITEM FOR CONSTITUENTS OF DEEDS, NORMENT, QUAYLE

If you are a constituent of Senator Deeds, Norment or Quayle, you need  
to let them know that their support for gun control is unacceptable.

Here is their email addresses and phone numbers:

Creigh Deeds
[email protected]
804-698-7525

Thomas K. Norment
[email protected]
804-698-7503

Frederick M. Quayle
[email protected]
804-698-7513

Suggested email:

Senator,

As a constituent, I am very disappointed in your vote to support gun  
control.  Senator Marsh's bill SB 1257,  which forces background  
checks on all private sales at a gun show, is still a bad bill, even  
with an exemption for concealed handgun permit holders and antiques.

This bill is going to damage an important business in Virginia, gun  
shows, and will have nothing to show for it in reduced crime.

Instead, it lays the foundation for a private sale registration scheme  
requiring all private sales no matter where they take place to go  
through a dealer.

I urge you to drop your support for this atrocity and vote against the  
bill on the Senate Floor.

Please let me know what you are going to do to correct your bad vote.

Sincerely
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR ADDRESS]



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