Wednesday, October 26, 2011

VA-ALERT: Mini-Update 10/26/11

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1. Press coverage on Virginia Tech protest
2. Press coverage on ODU protest
3. NoVA Democrats running on gun control, but new survey says guns more popular than ever - DOH!
4. Protest carpool coordination links
5. Lord Fairfax Community College (LFCC) professor withdraws her anti-gun assignment under pressure from you!

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1. Press coverage on Virginia Tech protest
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The Roanoke Times printed a simple article on the protest (with one misleading statement noted below) and the antis are all having cows in a Roanoke Times blog area.

They're so cute when they're mad! ;-)

Here's the Roanoke Times article: http://tinyurl.com/3khn9bs

Pro-gun demonstration set for Nov. 17 at Virginia Tech

By Tonia Moxley | The Roanoke Times

Supporters of concealed carry on college campuses have scheduled an all-day demonstration for Nov. 17 at Virginia Tech, the university where in 2007, 33 students and faculty were killed in the worst school shooting in U.S. history.

The pro-gun Virginia Citizens Defense League announced the date in a message sent this morning to its members and e-mail news subscribers.

The group announced last month plans to demonstrate at more than a dozen public colleges and universities across the state in opposition to efforts to ban concealed carry in campus buildings.

The Tech protest is set for 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., with speakers from noon to 1:30 p.m., league President Philip Van Cleave wrote in the message.

The effort stems from an opinion issued by state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli that said to ban legal concealed carry in campus buildings, a university's governing body must pass a state regulation. A simple policy, such as that now in effect at Tech, is insufficient, Cuccinelli opined.

Tech's Board of Visitors is expected to follow Cuccinelli's advice [PVC: Actually in his opinion, Cuccinelli said that such bans do not make the university any safer. He was actually DISCOURAGING the idea of a regulation] and take up a regulation banning state permit holders from carrying concealed weapons in buildings and at events, although a timeline for doing so has not been announced.


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2. Press coverage on ODU protest
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From WVEC.com: http://tinyurl.com/3dfa3ap

Group to rally at ODU against ban on firearms on campus
by Philip Townsend
WVEC.com
Posted on October 26, 2011 at 1:42 PM
Updated today at 5:45 PM


NORFOLK -- Members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League will be rallying next week in support of ODU students having weapons on campus.

Old Dominion University was chosen because the school is developing regulations that would ban guns from campus buildings.

The November 1 protest is part of a broader push to oppose policies that prohibit gun holders from bringing their weapons into campus buildings.

The policy reform comes after Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said last summer that college bans on guns don't override permit holders federal right to "carry."

George Mason University put in place a policy that was upheld by the Supreme Court earlier this year, and ODU is hoping to follow the lead.

In an email Monday, the league said it's teaming up with the ODU College Republicans for Operation Campus Safety protest/rally from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Kaufman Mall area of campus by the water fountain.

Organizers say they'll carry signs, have brochures and "No guns? No funds!" stickers.

The league is planning stops at campuses all over Virginia.


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3. NoVA Democrats running on gun control, but new survey says guns more popular than ever - DOH!
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Northern Virginia Democrats are running on gun control and other social issues, not the economy. According to the article, below, they are putting pressure on candidate Dick Black to reveal the answers on his VCDL survey, the Democrats saying disparagingly (at least in their eyes) that VCDL is "far to the right of the National Rifle Association."

Darn, I was hoping to keep our position relative to the NRA a secret! ;-)

Anyway in another case of really bad timing, a Gallup survey came out today showing all-time LOWS for the public support of gun control!

NoVA Democrats are probably all hitting their heads on the wall, saying, "Doh!"

Gee, nothing like panicking and pouring gasoline on a fire.

Here is the Gallup survey article in the Washington Times: http://tinyurl.com/3g6dhpv

[SNIP]

Record-Low 26% in U.S. Favor Handgun Ban

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Here is the article on the NoVA Democrats running on a gun-control agenda:

Washington Times: http://tinyurl.com/3ryncqj

Va. Democrats shift campaign focus to abortion, guns
By David Sherfinski
The Washington Times

Tuesday, October 25, 201
For some Democrats in Virginia, it's starting to feel a little like 2009.

With a sputtering national economy looming over the state and an increasingly unpopular president, some campaigns in Northern Virginia are turning away from fiscal issues and toward social issues, such as abortion and gun rights, ahead of the Nov. 8 statewide elections.

For example, in recent weeks, the campaign of Arlington County board member Barbara Favola, a Democrat, has hammered opponent Caren Merrick, a Republican, for supporting newly passed abortion clinic regulations that critics argue are the most stringent in the nation.

The campaign has also publicized Ms. Merrick's A- rating from the National Rifle Association.

"There's exhibit A, right there, man," counters Republican strategist Chris LaCivita, who is consulting for the Merrick campaign. "Guns and abortion, that's all she has."

Mr. LaCivita described the strategy as "the same line" used by state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds in his failed 2009 gubernatorial bid. During that campaign, the Bath Democrat repeatedly hammered then-state Attorney General Bob McDonnell over a 1989 master's thesis Mr. McDonnell wrote, which said that working women and abortion were detrimental to American families.

The strategy, for the most part, was unsuccessful. Mr. McDonnell won the governor's race, and fellow Republicans Bill Bolling and Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II were elected lieutenant governor and attorney general, respectively.

And while Mr. Cuccinelli has been criticized for tackling politically sensitive topics such as health care and climate change, Mr. McDonnell has largely steered clear of introducing a legislative agenda based on social issues and scored healthy approval ratings statewide.

Adam Scott, Ms. Favola's campaign manager, was unapologetic about the campaign's highlighting abortion, saying the candidate's economic record speaks for itself.

"Voters have a right to know about that," he said. "Barbara's going to stand up for and be a champion for women's health in the state Senate."

Brian Coy, a spokesman for the Democratic Party of Virginia, said issues in races were different on a case-by-case basis. He pointed out that the party has also criticized Republicans on economic issues.

He pointed to Mr. Bolling, the state's chief jobs-creation officer, who told the Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce that "government doesn't create jobs" but should foster a friendly environment for businesses to create them. Republicans on Tuesday seized on the line of attack to tie Democrats to President Obama's stimulus plan.

But Mr. Coy has also stressed that the GOP is fielding candidates "who would do some radical things" if Republicans next month net the two additional seats they need to effectively control Virginia's Senate, along with the House of Delegates and the governor's mansion.

The state Democratic Party in another Northern Virginia state Senate race created a website highlighting what it describes as the "extreme" views on abortion and gun rights held by the Republican candidate, former Delegate Dick Black.

The campaign of his Democratic opponent, Shawn Mitchell, has also been pushing Mr. Black to release his answers to a Virginia Citizens' Defense League survey. The gun-rights advocacy group, which Mr. Mitchell's campaign claims is "far to the right of the National Rifle Association," endorsed Mr. Black earlier this year.

"I think this is an important issue to voters in the district, and voters deserve to know where he stands on it," said Dominic Gabello, Mr. Mitchell's campaign manager.

Mr. Gabello added that in traveling the district, Mr. Mitchell has found that voters do care about bread-and-butter issues, such as the economy, jobs, transportation and schools - but that pointing out where Mr. Black stands on social issues is important as well.

Republicans say the move smacks of desperation.

"It's not surprising that Democrats are trying to change the subject to social issues," said Garren Shipley, a spokesman for the Republican Party of Virginia. "Voters have made it clear they don't want any more job-killing tax increases. That leaves the Democrats without a record they can run on. Their only choice is try to scare people about these 'extreme' Republicans."

Democratic strategist Paul Goldman said that with an embarrassingly low turnout expected, parties and campaigns are trying to come up with anything they think will help drive voters to the polls. [PVC: This is why gun owners need to turn out in droves! There is a real opportunity, if we don't blow it by not voting, to vastly improve the Senate.]

"Talking about social issues generates energy, because they have a constituency of people who respond to those issues," he said.


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4. Protest carpool coordination links
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EM Ed Levine provided me these links to facebook for carpool coordination at the ODU and VT protests:

ODU

http://vcdl.us/odu

VT

http://vcdl.us/vt

If you don't use facebook and want to carpool, send me an email (president@vcdl.org)


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5. Lord Fairfax Community College (LFCC) professor withdraws her anti-gun assignment under pressure from you!
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My source has confirmed that the assignment for students to write Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli a letter asking him to not let students carry guns at LFCC has been withdrawn. The professor didn't like that people were going over her head - the President of the College got quite a few emails from VCDL members. ;-)

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(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.

VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org [http://www.vcdl.org/]
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