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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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1. Reminder: Operation Campus Safety protest at ODU - Tuesday, November 1st
2. Reminder: Membership meeting in Mechanicsville with Hanover Sheriffs Department on November 2nd
3. Last renewal notice
4. 'Fast & Furious': How botched operation spawned fatal results
5. ATF priorities: Smuggle guns to drug cartels, arrest cigarette smugglers
6. Response on Virginia's new gun safety curriculum
7. Packing heat on college campus: New restriction on guns unnecessary
8. Guns at work: Should you be able to defend yourself?
9. Senators: Veterans Administration has denied gun rights to more than 100,000 veterans
10. Virginia man tackles, restrains burglar
11. Update on H.R. 1865: Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act of 2011
12. Harrington's mother files lawsuit for $3.5 million
13. Obama Administration: Less protection for gun rights
14. Clerk kills would-be robber who grabbed daughter
15. Guides to debunking gun control myths
16. Nope, no crime at Virginia Tech
17. Bloomberg, ignore soaring crime and police corruption in NYC, play politics in Virginia!
18. Anti-gun candidate hates VCDL, attacks pro-gun Dick Black!
19. Bus being chartered from NoVA to Virginia Tech on November 17th
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1. Reminder: Operation Campus Safety protest at ODU - Tuesday, November 1st
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VCDL is teaming up with the Old Dominion University College Republicans to have VCDL's Operation Campus Safety protest/rally on Tuesday, November 1st, from 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM.
We will be in the Kaufman Mall area of campus by the water fountain.
We will have signs, brochures, and "No guns? No funds!" stickers. I am working out additional details with the College Republicans, such as parking arrangements, and a future update will cover the various items. The College Republicans are trying to arrange parking in a garage for the event.
** The media will be there and it would be great if we have a good showing - VCDL members, students, including those from other schools, alumni, and the general public are all welcome to show up and support us. **
I would like to thank Michael Cogar with the College Republicans for his critical help in getting the protest set up at ODU.
CARRY
Based on a recent Supreme Court decision and backed by an opinion by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, carry is allowed outside of ODU's buildings for everyone who is otherwise lawfully carrying. Inside an ODU building is OK for CHP holders, but non-CHP holders may be asked to leave the buildings under threat of a trespass charge because of an ODU policy. HOWEVER, the only exception to this is that if you are ODU faculty, staff or an ODU student, then you can get fired or expelled, respectively.
As always, VCDL leaves the decision to carry or not to carry and how to carry up to the individual.
We encourage students from other schools to attend the protest and stand with ODU students.
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2. Reminder: Membership meeting in Mechanicsville with Hanover Sheriffs Department on November 2nd
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Do you live, work or travel through Hanover County? If so, you do not want to miss this meeting! Hanover County Sheriff's Department will be making a presentation on how the department interacts with CHP holders and how they respond to "Man with gun" calls.
When: Wednesday, Nov. 2
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Pamunkey Regional Library
Mechanicsville Branch
7461 Sherwood Crossing Place
Mechanicsville, VA 23111
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3. Last renewal notice
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Renewal Season is starting to wind down. Thanks so much to all of you who renewed so promptly this year. If you haven't already and will want your card to make CMP purchases right after the first of the year, you need to renew IMMEDIATELY. Membership Processing stops for a week at Thanksgiving and then stops again on December 13 until after after the first of the year.
If at all possible, please renew with PayPal. It is the easiest for the VOLUNTEER Membership Processing Center Staff (ie Jackie) to process. If you have your membership number, please include in Paypal's Notes to Merchant section that you'll find under Shipping. If you don't have it or forget to enter it - not to worry, we can track you down without it but the number does make it quicker.
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4. 'Fast & Furious': How botched operation spawned fatal results
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From The Washington Times: http://tinyurl.com/44j5fdj
By Jerry Seper
October 17, 2011
The central characters in the failed "Fast and Furious" firearms investigation were 19 men and one woman, all legal residents of the U.S., accused of laying down hundreds of thousands of dollars in illicit cash at Phoenix-area gun shops to buy an arsenal of high-powered weapons for Mexican drug smugglers.
Between September 2009 and December 2010, congressional investigators said, they purchased or aided in the purchase of more than 2,000 AK-47 assault weapons, Barrett .50-caliber sniper rifles, FN 5.7mm semi-automatic pistols and other assorted rifles, shotguns and handguns that later were "walked" into Mexico. About half the weapons remain unaccounted for.
They paid cash, as much as $900,000, and with each purchase they signed their names on Form 4473, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) document, swearing under the threat of committing a felony that they were not purchasing the weapons for someone else -- that they were not "straw buyers."
But they were, and the ATF knew it.
Most of the purchases were recorded on video equipment mounted by ATF agents in the shops of cooperating gun dealers; other buys were personally witnessed by undercover agents in the stores. Some ATF officials at the agency's Washington, D.C., headquarters could watch live video feeds of the weapons being purchased.
The plan
It was part of a plan, a risky strategy to allow weapons to be placed in what agents call the "Iron River" of guns flowing south into Mexico. The goal, of course, was to feed the gun-trafficking network and to identify the big fish, the drug cartel bosses in Mexico who were paying for the weapons.
There was to be no interdiction of the purchased guns before they crossed the border, as frustrated ATF field agents were ordered to "stand down." There was no interest in prosecuting the straw buyers on charges of "lying and buying." Those who put the Fast and Furious operation together had bigger targets in mind.
Eventually, hundreds of weapons found their way to drug smugglers and other violent gangs throughout Mexico, some traveling 1,800 miles south to Acapulco with others turning up 1,200 miles east in Reynosa, near the Gulf of Mexico. Some Fast and Furious weapons also were discovered 1,300 miles southwest in La Paz, on the tip of Baja California.
The strategy had neither a stop sign nor a cutoff switch -- until Dec. 14, 2010, when the investigation came to an abrupt halt. What had been feared by field agents had happened: At least two Fast and Furious AK-47s purchased at an Arizona gun shop turned up just north of the Arizona-Mexico border at the site of the killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry.
The agent's death during a firefight with Mexican bandits in a popular drug-smuggling corridor known as Peck Canyon confirmed the worst fears of at least one of the licensed Fast and Furious gun dealers. The dealer had sought assurances from the ATF on two occasions that weapons he was selling would never end up in the hands of the "bad guys."
In an email, the dealer told the ATF he understood the investigation was ongoing so information about it would be limited, but since the border was awash in both guns and violence, he was reaching out for assurances that "none of the firearms" he was selling at the Lone Wolf Trading Co. in Glendale, Ariz., "could or would ever end up south of the border."
The dealer told the ATF he wanted to help the agency with its investigation, "but not at the risk of agents' safety, because I have some very close friends that are U.S. Border Patrol agents in southern Arizona."
ATF assurances
The dealer's email prompted the following response from ATF Group VII Strike Force Supervisor David J. Voth, who oversaw the Fast and Furious operation: "I understand that the frequency with which some individuals under investigation by our office have been purchasing firearms from your business has caused concerns for you.
"However, if it helps put you at ease, we are continually monitoring these suspects using a variety of investigative techniques, which I cannot go into [in] detail," Mr. Voth wrote.
Later, ATF arranged a meeting between the dealer and Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley, the lead prosecutor in Fast and Furious, during which the dealer was again assured that safeguards were in place to prevent further distribution of the weapons.
The dealer had sought assurances after selling more than 300 weapons to straw buyers he knew were Fast and Furious targets. After being told by ATF and the U.S. Attorney's Office that the gun buyers and weapons were being continually monitored, he went on to sell an additional 450 guns.
Less than six months later, the ATF confirmed that two WASR-10/63 assault rifles found at the site of the Terry killing had been traced to Jaime Avila Jr., a suspected straw buyer and one of the Fast and Furious targets.
He had bought the weapons, a Romanian variant of the AK-47, at the Lone Wolf Trading Co.
By the time of the shooting, Mr. Avila had been under surveillance for more than two months. It took ATF less than 24 hours to confirm that he had purchased the weapons found at the site of the Terry killing.
The operation was shut down, and Mr. Avila was arrested, along with 19 others named in a federal grand jury indictment on charges of dealing in firearms without a license, making false statements in connection with the acquisition of a weapon, and smuggling goods from the United States.
Trials for the 20 straw-purchase suspects are pending.
Big purchases
Those identified as the straw buyers in Fast and Furious were nothing if they weren't ambitious. They bought hundreds of high-powered weapons and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. Although many of the purchased weapons were not top of the line, they weren't cheap.
According to government records, the straw buyers spent an average of $648 for each AK-47-type assault rifle they bought. The Barrett .50-caliber sniper rifles went for more than $6,000 each, and the FN 5.7mm pistols cost an average of $1,130 each.
Uriel Patino, a food-stamps recipient, proved to be the most prolific straw buyer, said the indictment, which alleges that he bought 316 weapons, although congressional investigators said the number might be twice as high. Included were 246 AK-47 assault rifles purchased during 24 visits to two Phoenix-area gun shops over a nine-month period.
Mr. Avila and Mr. Patino, the indictment said, shopped together at the Lone Wolf Trading Co.
According to the 43-page indictment handed up in January, Mr. Patino's buying habits were aggressive.
On Nov. 24, 2009, he purchased five AK-47 assault rifles; on Dec. 11, 2009, he purchased 20 more; on Jan. 15, 2010, he bought 10 more; on Jan. 30, 2010, he purchased 15 more; on March 15, 2010, he purchased 40 more; on March 25, 2010, he bought an additional 26; on April 27, 2010, he bought 10 FN 5.7mm pistols; on June 10, 2010, he bought an additional 10 AK-47s; and on July 8, 2010, he bought 16 more AK-47s.
Mr. Patino came to the attention of ATF in October 2009. Within three weeks, he had purchased a total of 34 weapons, including the AK-47s from gun dealers cooperating in Fast and Furious. The serial numbers of the weapons were logged into the ATF's Suspect Gun Database, which discovered that one of them had turned up in Mexico just 14 days after it had been bought.
"ATF is supposed to stop criminals from trafficking guns to Mexican drug cartels," said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who began the Fast and Furious probe last year. "Instead, ATF made it easier for alleged cartel middlemen to get weapons from U.S. gun dealers."
Kept in the dark
While Fast and Furious was supposed to monitor the purchased weapons as they headed to buyers in Mexico, ATF agents assigned in Mexico had been kept in the dark about the operation.
"I would like to apologize to my former Mexican law enforcement counterparts and to the Mexican people for Operation Fast and Furious," Darren Gil, former ATF attache to Mexico, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "I hope they understand that this was kept secret from most of ATF, including me and my colleagues in Mexico."
During a rancorous five-hour hearing, ATF agents assigned in Mexico said they discovered the Fast and Furious investigation only after documenting that an alarming rate of guns found at violent crime sites in Mexico were being traced to Arizona gun dealers.
Mr. Gil said he found it "inconceivable" that any competent ATF agent would allow "firearms to disappear at all," especially on an international border. As a result, he said, Mexico will continue to suffer the consequences of drug-related firearms violence.
Agent Carlos Canino, ATF's acting attache to Mexico, angrily told the committee that "walking guns" was not a recognized investigative technique, adding that hundreds of weapons ultimately went to ruthless criminals in Mexico.
"It infuriates me that people, including my law enforcement, diplomatic and military colleagues, may be killed or injured with these weapons," he said, adding that "never in my wildest dreams" would he have thought that ATF agents would allow guns to be walked to Mexican criminals.
Noting that Fast and Furious ended with the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent, one high-ranking former Border Patrol official described the operation as "scary."
"The only thing I can figure is that the politicians in the upper management of the agencies involved decided it would work," the official told The Washington Times on the condition of anonymity for fear of being reprimanded. "They sure as hell couldn't have run it by the agents in the field who would have known what would happen."
'The most fun you have'
Not only were the ATF agents in Mexico unaware of the Fast and Furious investigation, several ATF agents involved in the operation itself had their own concerns.
Agent Olindo James Casa testified before the House committee that as a member of the Group VII Strike Force, he discovered that straw buyers were purchasing numerous firearms, that "no law enforcement activity" had been planned to stop them, and that numerous firearm traces had put many of the weapons in Mexico.
Because they were "increasingly concerned and alarmed," he said, he and several other strike force agents took the matter to their bosses, including Mr. Voth, but to no avail. Instead, he said, they received an email they regarded as a "direct threat to the agents who were not in agreement" on how the operation should be run.
"Based on my 18 years of experience with the ATF, I did not think the email was an empty threat. I took it very seriously," Mr. Casa said.
In that March 12, 2010, email, Mr. Voth told the agents that "close attention" was being paid to Fast and Furious by "people of rank and authority" at ATF headquarters in Washington.
"It may sound cheesy, but we are 'The tip of the ATF spear' when it comes to Southwest border firearms trafficking. I will be damned if this case is going to suffer due to petty arguing, rumors or other adolescent behavior," Mr. Voth wrote. "If you don't think this is fun, you're in the wrong line of work -- period!
"This is the pinnacle of domestic U.S. law enforcement techniques. After this, the toolbox is empty," he wrote. "Maybe the Maricopa County Jail is hiring detention officers, and you get paid $30,000 (instead of $100,000) to serve lunch to inmates all day. We need to get over this bump in the road once and for all and get on with the mission at hand. This can be the most fun you have with ATF, the only one limiting the amount of fun we have is you!"
Mr. Voth summed up the Fast and Furious program in an April 2010 memo, saying the violence in Mexico "is severe and without being dramatic, we have a sense of urgency with regards" to Fast and Furious. He noted that the straw buyers had purchased 359 firearms during the month of March 2010 alone, including numerous Barrett .50-caliber rifles.
"I believe we are righteous in our plan to dismantle this entire organization, and to rush in to arrest any one person without taking into account the entire scope of the conspiracy would be ill-advised to the overall good of the mission," he said.
The repercussions
William McMahon, ATF deputy assistant director for field operations in Phoenix and Mexico, and William Newell, former ATF special agent in charge of the Phoenix field division, also defended the operation in their committee testimony.
Mr. Newell testified that ATF had good intentions when it began the operation in 2009 and that it was not its purpose to permit the transfer of firearms to Mexico. He said he would do such an investigation again with some changes.
In a supplemental statement to the committee, Mr. Newell said that after reviewing his testimony, he concluded he "should have conducted more frequent assessments" of the operation during which he could have "articulated to my staff the need to be proactive in ascertaining the quantity of guns being purchased that we were not able to intercept."
Mr. Voth, Mr. Newell and Mr. McMahon all have since been moved to administrative duties.
Knowledge on high
President Obama has said he did not authorize Fast and Furious, and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. told the House Judiciary Committee in May that he first became aware of it in April. "I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks," he said.
But Mr. Grassley and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell E. Issa, California Republican, said Mr. Holder received at least five weekly memos beginning in July 2010 describing the Fast and Furious investigation.
The July 2010 memo from Michael Walther, director of the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), specifically identifies the Fast and Furious operation, says when it began, names the law enforcement agencies involved, and identifies the major investigative targets.
Sent to Mr. Holder through the office of the acting deputy attorney general, the memo also noted that the operation involved a Phoenix-based firearms-trafficking ring and said "straw purchasers" were responsible for buying 1,500 firearms "that were then supplied to Mexican drug-trafficking cartels."
The Walther memo also said the straw buyers had direct ties to the Sinaloa drug cartel, "which was suspected of providing $1 million for the purchase of firearms in the Greater Phoenix area."
"Attorney General Holder has failed to give Congress and the American people an honest account of what he and other senior Justice Department officials knew about gunwalking and Operation Fast and Furious," Mr. Issa said. "The lack of candor and honesty from our nation's chief law enforcement officials in this matter is deeply disturbing.
"Tragically, it wasn't until Fast and Furious guns were found at the murder scene of a Border Patrol agent that Justice officials finally ended this reckless and arrogant effort," he said.
Mr. Holder, in a letter last week, denied that emails sent to his office showed he knew of Fast and Furious before April.
He said public comments about the inquiry and his involvement with it had become "so base and so harmful to interests that I hope we all share," he had to publicly address the matter.
He said he took "decisive action" when he learned about the program in ordering the Office of Inspector General to investigate the matter. He said he also overhauled the leadership at ATF and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix.
Last week, Mr. Issa issued a subpoena for Justice Department officials, including Mr. Holder and more than a dozen of his top deputies. He said the department's top echelon of officials "know more about Operation Fast and Furious than they have publicly acknowledged."
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5. ATF priorities: Smuggle guns to drug cartels, arrest cigarette smugglers
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Board member Bruce Jackson emailed me this:
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From Daily Caller: http://tinyurl.com/3b9svo5
By C.J. Ciaramella
October 20, 2011
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms may have knowingly allowed thousands of guns to be trafficked across the U.S.-Mexican border in the botched Operation Fast and Furious, but don't worry! The agency is busy keeping Americans safe from the scourge of cigarette trafficking.
The ATF announced Wednesday that, in conjunction with Georgia law enforcement agencies, it had executed seven search warrants and 50 arrest warrants as part of a three-year investigation for violations of state law involving the illegal possession, sale and distribution of contraband cigarettes.
"By working together as a cohesive unit, our law enforcement partners were able to identify and apprehend individuals participating in racketeering activity, which included defrauding the state and federal governments of revenue by evading cigarette and cigar excise taxes," said Georgia State Attorney General Sam Olens. "These arrests send a strong message that if you do not play by the rules in Georgia, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
As the second word in its name implies, the ATF has jurisdiction over contraband and counterfeit tobacco products.
During fiscal year 2010, the ATF recommended 219 defendants for prosecution and seized approximately $63.2 million in contraband tobacco and alcohol, according to its website.
Since 2003, ATF has initiated a total of 1,052 tobacco diversion investigations, with an average of 131 investigations per year.
Meanwhile, between 2009 and 2010, the ATF facilitated the sale of at least 2,000 guns, knowing most would be smuggled into Mexico. The object of the operation was to track the guns as part of a sting operation. (RELATED: GOP reps directly press Obama on Fast and Furious)
The guns have since been linked to 179 crime scenes in Mexico as of June.
One such gun was used to shoot at a Mexican military helicopter, forcing it to land. Two AK-47s recovered by Mexican police were used by cartel members in the high-profile kidnapping of an attorney.
Two other guns allowed across the border were linked to the death of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.
Only 600 of the 2,000 guns allowed to be walked over the border have been recovered by officials.
Luckily, the cartels were not getting their hands on something truly dangerous, like cartons of tax-free cigarettes.
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6. Response on Virginia's new gun safety curriculum
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I have been directly in touch with the Governor's Office about the flawed curriculum for gun safety in public schools and they are looking into it.
The Secretary of Education's response, below, to member Orlando Esposo Jr. is unacceptable. Nothing like pouring gasoline on a fire to make things more exciting. My comments embedded in the email.
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COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA
Office of the Governor
Laura W. Fornash
Secretary of Education
October 12, 2011
Thank you for contacting the office of Governor Robert F. McDonnell. The Governor has asked me to respond to your communication regarding the Virginia Board of Education's Elementary School Gun Safety Guidelines and Curriculum. I assure you that the guidelines, which were mandated by the General Assembly, were not established as a basis for instruction about firearms handling, laws related to gun ownership, or constitutional issue. Rather, they are intended to prevent firearm accidents involving children and to ensure that children understand not only what to do if a gun is found by accident but also personal and community responsibility for gun safety [PVC: So far, so good.]
Firstly, the NRA's Eddie Eagle curriculum only addresses kindergarten through third grade, and therefore does not appropriately address the target audience of kindergarteners through fifth graders. The principal author of the adopted guidelines, RJK Associates, has prepared public safety-related educational materials for former Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley and for Governor Robert F. McDonnell when he served as the attorney general. Founder and CEO Robert J. Kipper is a retired Newport News police officer with more than 30 years of public safety experience and has taught the NRA's Eddie Eagle curriculum.
Again, these guidelines were established in order to provide instruction about safety and prevention. A large part of this education is the misuse of firearms. [PVC: ASSASSINATION OF PUBLIC FIGURES? That has NO PLACE in such materials. It is inflammatory and pushes a "guns are bad" agenda to the children.] This is a very real safety issue in some Virginia communities, and is therefore included in the guidelines. [PVC: That is NOT what the curriculum was supposed to address!] This includes the misuse of firearms by criminal. [PVC: No, it doesn't. The curriculum is supposed to be solely about SAFETY and ACCIDENT PREVENTION, not a discussion about crime. Crime is not an accident! It's very much intentional. If the agenda is really about crime, then why is there no mention of using bats, knives, cars, bricks, tire irons, rocks, hammers, axes, golf clubs, and about 5,000 other items to commit a crime? Or why aren't car bombs, or using a car as a get-away vehicle from bank robberies, part of the driver's ed curriculum?] The inclusion of three famous Americans who were killed by criminals misusing guns provides only a starting point for instruction about the impact of the misuse of firearms. [PVC: BALONEY! It is an ANTI-GUN agenda, pure and simple. There is no excuse for it. Just admit it, Ms. Fornash, and fix it.]
The guidelines are meant to be shared with parents for cooperative education of students and children are encouraged to share what they have learned with their parents after each lesson. In fact, Appendix A of the guidelines includes a letter to parents and guardians telling them that the class will be introduced to safety rules to prevent gun accidents and encouraging them to 'look at the materials to be used. This provides an opportunity for parents who own firearms to discuss responsible gun ownership and safe storage of firearms with their children.
The Virginia Department of Education is preparing a technical amendment to the teacher notes to further clarify that private gun ownership by adults for the protection of persons and property is another example of firearms ownership and use. [PVC: Self-defense is an afterthought, covered by a technical amendment. That says it all right there. I am not impressed by RJK Associates and their work.]
I hope you find this information helpful.
Sincerely,
Laura W. Fornash
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7. Packing heat on college campus: New restriction on guns unnecessary
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From The Flat Hat: http://tinyurl.com/3opwyyp
By Cassie Medeiros
October 17, 2011
It is well known that the College of William and Mary has recently taken steps toward implementing rules banning guns on campus and in campus buildings, regardless of permit. This new policy is part of a campaigning for stricter gun policies at Virginia state universities. It was announced Oct. 10 that protests against these new policies are being planned at both the College and at Old Dominion University, although no specific date has been set. The new regulations would enact restrictions that are similar to those now in place at George Mason University, and which have been upheld by the Supreme Court. Despite this ruling, I believe that such extreme measures are unnecessary.
The issues that groups for and against gun restrictions have are very similar, and both bring up the issue of the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007. Groups that are advocating for more stringent gun policies on college campuses argue that if there were firmer regulations and enforcement, events like the shooting at Tech wouldn't happen. Guns rights groups argue that if students passed concealed carry permit classes and were trained to use their guns, they should have the right to carry them on campus because they would be able to protect themselves and other students if a shooting ever happened on a campus again.
Issues of campus safety are very important to students and faculty at the College, especially after the a student was recently robbed. While more rigorous enforcement of current gun laws should take place, like keeping up with what students have gun permits and actually carry guns on campus, I don't believe that there is any need for further restrictions on carrying guns on campus, because it has not been a problem here as it might be at a larger school. Gun rights groups advocate that a training program should be implemented on campuses where students want to learn how to carry a gun safely, with a permit, and want to learn how to defend themselves in the case of a violent situation.
I agree with the idea of having training classes for students who wish to learn more about gun safety. Even though there is not a lot of violence on this campus, it does happen occasionally, and being able to defend oneself would definitely be useful if the situation ever arose. Training classes would ensure that students would know how to handle guns correctly, and the danger of accidental firing would decrease because of extra training. Stricter enforcement of gun laws should be implemented on any college campus, especially if violence toward students whether it's from fellow students or members of the outside community is common in the area, but further restrictions may not be necessary.
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8. Guns at work: Should you be able to defend yourself?
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Roy B. Scherer emailed me this:
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Guys -
I just ran across this, a September column from a woman writing as "Evil HR Lady"
Interesting piece from someone whose expertise is human Relations/hire&manage&fire in businesses. The column takes off from the recent incident when a pharmacist at Walgreens reacted to armed, violent robbers by resisting, and was fired for it.
She says, "I don't pretend to know anything about guns. What I do see is darn scary and everybody in that pharmacy had reason to believe their lives were in danger. " Over 150 comments already, which I have not yet read through.
I thought it was worth reading; you may agree.
-- Roy
From Bnet.com: http://tinyurl.com/3v87ttw
By Suzanne Lucas
September 9, 2011
Walgreens' fired Pharmacist Jeremy Hoven because he saved the lives of his coworkers, as well as his own life.
Okay, technically, according to current court procedures, Walgreens terminated him because he violated a policy against escalation. Many, many companies have these policies. I know when I worked for a credit union we had a policy of giving robbers whatever they wanted, under the assumption that they would leave once they had the money and no one's life was worth the measly amount of money most banks keep on hand.
Hovens is arguing that he acted in self defense and the defense of others, and he has the right to do so, regardless of a company policy. Video exists of the event and is now available. A physician who blogs under the name "Dr. Whitecoat" comments on the video as follows:
Video posted on the mlive.com site shows two hooded thugs running into the store with guns. They took one or two employees hostage and, when they saw the pharmacist behind the counter, one jumped over the counter to presumably take the pharmacist hostage, too. The robber tried to shoot, but his gun jammed.
That's when pharmacist Jeremy Hoven whipped out his own handgun and shot back.
The robbers ran away with their tails between their legs.
Now, to be honest, I don't see the gun jamming, but I don't pretend to know anything about guns. What I do see is darn scary and everybody in that pharmacy had reason to believe their lives were in danger. The would be robbers didn't calmly walk to the counter and pass a note, like robbers do in movies. They had already taken one person hostage and leaping over the counter shows that they aren't content to have the pharmacist put their drugs of choice in nice little bottles with childproof caps and leave.
In theory, I support non-escalation rules. Whatever is stolen will not be of more financial value than the cost to a company if an employee or customer is accidentally killed or injured due to the escalation. But, in the past, escalation has been things like chasing the robber out of the store and tackling him. That's not self defense.
But should a company be able to demand that you sacrifice your own life in deference to the policy? That, I have to oppose. If I had been in that Walgreens I would have felt my life was in danger and thoughts of complying with a company policy would have not even crossed my mind. I'm sure it didn't cross Hoven's mind either.
To be clear, this isn't a political issue, but a policy one. Government is restricted by the 2nd amendment but companies are not. There are clear precedents that allow private entities to restrict weapons. Interestingly, though, it's not clear if Walgreens had a no weapons policy or not. (If someone knows, please let us know.)
Should a company fire an employee for acting in self defense when it violates company policy? Is there a specific level of threat that has to be met before you would not punish an employee for fighting back? What is that level? What policy would you set if you were the boss for a business that has a high risk of robbery?
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9. Senators: Veterans Administration has denied gun rights to more than 100,000 veterans
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I received an email this week from the wife of a veteran who has been denied his right to keep and bear arms by the Veterans Administration. This is all too real.
Jay Britt emailed me this:
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From Daily Caller: http://tinyurl.com/66lau24
By C.J. Ciaramella
October 18, 2011
They pledged to support and defend the Constitution, but the office of North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr says more than 100,000 U.S. military veterans may be being improperly denied one of the most fundamental rights they swore to protect.
Military veterans whose Veterans Affairs benefits are managed on their behalf by appointed fiduciary trustees are deemed "mentally defective" and reported to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), a computerized database which prohibits them from purchasing firearms.
Sen. Burr is the ranking Republican member of the Senate Committee on Veteran's Affairs. His office told The Daily Caller that around 114,000 veterans have been reported to the NICS and are unable to purchase firearms.
Under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, any person determined by a government authority to lack the mental capacity to manage his or her own affairs is subject to being prohibited from buying a gun.
The VA's review process for assigning a fiduciary, however, determines veterans' ability to manage their finances - not whether they are a danger to themselves or others. the VA assigns fiduciaries to handle disability compensation, pensions, survivors' compensation and other VA government payments veterans' behalf.
Sen. Burr, a Republican from North Carolina has joined with Democrat Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia to introduce the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act, which would require a judicial authority to determine whether VA beneficiaries pose a danger to themselves or others before they can be added to the FBI's NICS database.
"As a matter of fairness, a veteran should be permitted to purchase a firearm under the same conditions as every other American," said Sen. Webb. "This bipartisan bill ensures consistent guidelines are used for reporting citizens to the FBI, and that no veteran is needlessly stripped of their Second Amendment rights."
In various forms, the bill has languished in Congress for several years now, but the House passed one version last Tuesday. The legislation has the support of the National Rifle Association.
"These are good, honest men and women. They are not a danger to themselves, or to others, and it is wrong to deny them their constitutional freedom," said Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action. "This bill addresses this issue and rightly ensures that veterans and their family members aren't prohibited from having guns unless they've been found to be dangerous."
A VA spokesperson said that while the goals of bill were laudable, the VA sees it as unnecessary.
"We understand and appreciate the objective of this legislation to protect the firearms rights of veterans determined by VA to be unable manage their own financial affairs," the spokesperson said. "But we believe adequate protections can be provided to these veterans under current statutory authority."
The VA currently has two options for a veteran to challenge an incompetency determination. He or she can reopen the issue based on new evidence and have the determination reversed. Veterans can also petition VA to have their firearms rights restored on the basis that they pose no threat to public safety.
"Although VA has admittedly been slow in implementing this relief program, we now have relief procedures in place, and we are fully committed going forward to implement this program in a timely and effective manner in order to fully protect the rights of our beneficiaries," the spokesperson added.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a pro-gun control group, has staunchly opposed the legislation in all of its forms. Acting Brady Campaign president Dennis Henigan said the bill on its face "poses a severe threat to public safety."
"The standard that that the VA has announced and the ATF has approved has to do with mental incapacity," Henigan said. "I have no reason to doubt that the names that have been submitted by the VA to the NICS meets those standards. There are very strong due process protections built into the VA process, which is what the ATF has found for many years."
The VA also contends that the new legislation would create a double standard.
"By exempting certain VA mental health determinations that would otherwise prohibit a person from possessing or obtaining firearms under Federal law, the legislation would create a different standard for veterans and their survivors than that applicable to the rest of the population and could raise public safety issues," the VA spokesperson said.
More than 7.6 million Social Security beneficiaries are assigned fiduciaries, but the Social Security Administration does not forward any of those names to the NICS.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano named military veterans as a potential threat in a 2009 memo describing the threat of homegrown terrorism.
"The return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks," the memo stated.
Napolitano quickly apologized. [PVC: A "hand in the cookie jar" apology.]
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10. Virginia man tackles, restrains burglar
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Better lessons for the resident would be a) keep your gun either on your person or away from where a burglar can get his hands on it and b) when a burglar is in your home don't tackle him, point the gun at him and order him to the floor and hold him at gun point until the police arrive.
Why would he assume the burglar wasn't armed? Why engage in a risky physical confrontation when properly armed?
David Custer emailed me this:
--
From MSNBC: http://tinyurl.com/3v9jhvy
Police arrested a burglary suspect after a Fredericksburg, Va., man tackled and restrained an intruder in his Fredericksburg home Sunday afternoon, police said.
Robert Cline White 41, of Stafford, was arrested and charged with two counts of burglary, two counts of grand larceny, and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon after allegedly breaking into a residence in the 300 block of Herndon Street.
The resident and his girlfriend were on the second floor when they heard his dog barking. When they walked down the stairs and entered the bedroom, they found an unknown man going through dresser drawers.
The resident tackled the burglar and restrained him while his girlfriend called police. During the struggle, the resident's loaded handgun fell out of the intruder's waistband, police said.
When police arrived, White was found with jewelry in his pocket and was taken into custody, police said.
The resident told News4's Jane Watrel he learned a lesson and would no longer keep the gun loaded. [PVC: WHAT? That is certainly the WRONG LESSON to take away from this experience!]
White has been linked to a break-in at a residence in the 1200 block of Rappahannock Avenue just 30 minutes earlier, police said. He is also considered a suspect in several daytime robberies in recent weeks.
White is being held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail with no bond.
The investigation has also led to two arrests through a search warrant. Investigators found heroin, marijuana and prescription narcotics at a residence in the 100 block of Hillcrest Drive, police said.
Lauren Taflambas, 27, of Spotsylvania, was arrested for possession of narcotics, and Shaun Smith, 32, of Fredericksburg, was arrested for misdemeanor possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, felony possession of narcotics with intent to distribute and possession of narcotics.
Taflambas and Smith both are being held at Rappahannock Regional Jail.
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11. Update on H.R. 1865: Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act of 2011
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Where are the Virginia Congressman on this bill that would open up carry on more government lands?
Robert Risacher emailed me this:
--
From govtrack.us: http://tinyurl.com/3zn9xeq
H.R. 1865: Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act of 2011
112th Congress: 2011-2012
To protect the right of individuals to bear arms at water resources development projects administered by the Secretary of the Army, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Bob Gibbs [R-OH18]
Status: This bill is in the first step in the legislative process. Explanation: Introduced bills and resolutions first go to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills and resolutions never make it out of committee. [Last Updated: Oct 6, 2011 6:15AM]
Overview
Occurred: Introduced May 12, 2011
Occurred: Referred to Committee View Committee Assignments
Not Yet Occurred: Reported by Committee ...
Not Yet Occurred: House Vote ...
Not Yet Occurred: Senate Vote ...
Not Yet Occurred: Signed by President ...
Last Action:
May 13, 2011: House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
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12. Harrington's mother files lawsuit for $3.5 million
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EM Hal Macklin emailed me this:
--
With all this talk about "campus safety," what about this?
Remember Morgan Harrington? Seems her life was endangered at UVA because security was allegedly negligent. She left the arena and was NOT permitted reentry.
So, lawsuit:
Mother of slain Tech student claims RMC failed to protect daughter http://tinyurl.com/6hf82zd
Harrington's mother files lawsuit for $3.5 million
http://tinyurl.com/5u6feds
[SNIP]
Gil is suing Regional Marketing Concepts, Inc., claiming that it should have allowed Morgan back into the concert after leaving. She said by not allowing Morgan back into the venue, the company left her daughter vulnerable.
==========
Apparently, it's standard practice NOT to allow reentry. So, a student who is unarmed and outside is vulnerable to attack. [PVC: Thank you, UVA, for endangering your unarmed students with a bad policy. :-( ]
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13. Obama Administration: Less protection for gun rights
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No surprises here - the Obama Administration wants to keep it easy to infringe on our right to keep and bear arms and is urging the Supreme Court to make it so.
Dave Hicks emailed me this:
--
From SCOTUS blog: http://tinyurl.com/5rpjl3b
By Lyle Denniston
October 19, 2011
Asked by the Supreme Court for its views on the scope of a constitutional right to have a gun outside one's home, the Obama Administration has tentatively suggested a standard that would mean that more restrictions on that right - but not really tight limits - would probably be upheld in court. In a brief filed Tuesday and now available, the U.S. Solicitor General said there was no reason to judge gun controls beyond the home by anything other than mid-level scrutiny - that is, less protection than gun rights advocates have been demanding.
A defense of a so-called "intermediate scrutiny" standard was not the central point of the brief, but emerged with some clarity as government lawyers responded to a new case involving a man convicted of having a loaded gun in his car in a national park - a place that the government argued is the kind of "sensitive place" that the Supreme Court has previously indicated could be put off-limits for guns. The case is Masciandaro v. U.S. (10-11212); the petition with the lower court opinion is here. After that petition was filed, the government opted not to reply to it. But on August 9, the Court asked for a response.
The case involves a Woodbridge, Va., man, Sean Masciandaro, who was convicted and fined $150 for having a loaded gun in his car while he was parked in a national park near National Airport, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. His lawyers argued that the only difference between his case and the case that led the Supreme Court three years ago to recognize a personal right to a gun, under the Second Amendment, is that his possession occurred outside the home. Lower courts in general have been reluctant to extend that right to possession outside the home, awaiting further guidance from the Supreme Court.
"Despite the text of the Second Amendment," Masciandaro's petition contended, "federal and state appellate courts either expressly hold that the right to keep and bear arms ends at the doorway to the home or avoid deciding the constitutional question." In Masciandaro's case, the Fourth Circuit Court in Richmond, Va., simply assumed - but did not actually decide - that the Second Amendment may sometimes shield gun possession away from the home. It upheld his conviction and fine, even though the National Park Service regulation he was convicted of violating had by then been eased significantly.
U.S. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., urged the Court to deny review, arguing that the change in the regulation had taken away the significance of this case for the future. But, more importantly, Verrilli challenged the need for the Court to adopt the most rigorous constitutional standard that can be applied - "strict scrutiny." Usually, a law put to that test cannot survive, since the standard requires a very strong reason in public policy to justify a law. Strict scrutiny is the standard that the Court customarily uses to judge a law that is challenged as violating a "fundamental right" under the Constitution.
In the Court's 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, the 5-4 majority ruled that the Second Amendment protected - as a "fundamental right" - an individual's possession of a working and loaded gun for self-defense in the home. It refused, however, to specify which constitutional standard lower courts were to use in hearing sequel cases testing restrictions on the new personal right, leaving that to lower courts.
In the Fourth Circuit, the response was to apply two different standards: strict scrutiny to judge a law putting limits on the "core right of self-defense" in the home, but intermediate scrutiny when a law applied beyond the home. "As we move outside the home," the Circuit Court said, "firearm rights have always been more limited, because public safety interests often outweigh individual interests in self-defense."
Urging the Supreme Court not to review that decision, the Solicitor General noted that, while lower courts have used some differing wording in judging new Second Amendment cases, "it is not clear that the standards differ in substance." No lower court, the brief went on, has applied a standard tougher than middle level scrutiny when the restriction on guns applied outside the home.
Masciandaro's lawyers, the brief contended, had made no attempt to justify the use of a strict scrutiny standard. Even if the Court agreed to hear this case, and rule that the Second Amendment right does apply outside the home, the brief contended, the lawyers for the Virginia man had not explained why a more restrictive standard than the Fourth Circuit had embraced should be applied.
The Court may not act on the case until after getting a reply from Masciandaro's lawyers.
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14. Clerk kills would-be robber who grabbed daughter
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Last week I goofed up the link to this story - it went to a store clerk using a gun to fight off a couple of violent robbers. This link is correct about a clerk who would not turn over her daughter to a criminal, and the criminal is now dead.
Rich DeStefano emailed me this:
--
From FOX News: http://tinyurl.com/3ub2ofq
Associated Press
October 19, 2011
Sheriff's officials in southwest Florida say a clerk at a 24-hour food store shot and killed a man who tried to rob her and take her 1-year-old daughter.
Store owner Del Ackerman told the Naples Daily News (http://bit.ly/rnKaJe) his granddaughter shot the man after he stormed into the store Tuesday afternoon and demanded money and grabbed the stroller that held her baby.
Authorities say 22-year-old Elizabeth Easterly was alone in the store with her 1- and 2-year-old daughters. Collier County Sheriff's spokesman Jamie Mosbach says the man was acting erratically before the incident.
Mosbach says the clerk shot the man as he headed toward the door with the child. He was taken to a hospital where he died of his injuries.
The sheriff's department is investigating.
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15. Guides to debunking gun control myths
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Kennith Modica emailed me this:
--
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16. Nope, no crime at Virginia Tech
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Luckily the woman was able to fight off her attacker.
From the Collegiate Times: http://tinyurl.com/3rwjehv
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17. Bloomberg, ignore soaring crime and corruption in NYC, play politics in Virginia!
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Rather than try to control crime and police corruption in New York City (NYC), Mayor Michael Bloomberg is going to bless Virginia with his presence as he tries to influence our elections once again. The last time Bloomberg supported a Virginia candidate was anti-gun Republican state Senator Jeanne-Marie Devolites-Davis in 2007. And with help from Bloomberg, amongst other things, she suffered a crushing loss at the polls. ;-)
Here are the politicians Bloomberg is trying to get elected, with the hope that Virginia can have NYC style of gun control (all six are anti-gun Democrats):
1) Democratic incumbents: John Miller, Mark Herring, Toddy Puller, Dave Marsden and George Barker.
(2) A sixth, Barbara Favola, is running for an open seat.
A manager at A&P Arms in Hampton summed up Bloomberg's visit this way according to the article, "[Bloomberg] is an arrogant bastard who shouldn't be meddling."
From the New York Daily Press (whose staff genuflects whenever Bloomberg's name is mentioned ;-) ) http://tinyurl.com/3e2tj7l
Mayor Bloomberg supports pro-gun control platforms, donates $25,000 to Virginia state Senate candidates
Mayor's office defends Hizzoner's actions, say that Virginia's gun policies will affect New York's public safety
BY Jonathan Lemire
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Saturday, October 29 2011, 4:50 AM
Mayor Bloomberg will contribute generously to the campaign funds of several Virginia state Senate candidates.
Mayor Bloomberg is crossing state lines - and opening his wallet - in his latest salvo in his war to keep guns off city streets.
Bloomberg has donated $25,000 apiece to the campaigns of six Democratic candidates for the Virginia state Senate who share his strict beliefs on gun control, officials told the Daily News Friday.
The deep-pocketed mayor, who drew the ire of the Virginia attorney general when he ran gun stings there five years ago, will travel to Old Dominion to campaign for the candidates next week, the officials said.
What happens in the Virginia Legislature will directly affect the public safety of New Yorkers, said John Feinblatt, the mayor s Criminal Justice Coordinator.
Virginia has long been a leading source of weapons to the city, annually sending hundreds of crime guns - including the one that killed police officer Russel Timoshenko in 2007 - to New York.
Bloomberg fears the flood of firearms may increase: there are currently 10 bills that have passed Virginia s Republican-controlled General Assembly that would make it harder for law enforcement to track or crack down on gun sales.
One of the bills would repeal the state s current mandate that a person can only buy one gun a month. Another would make it legal to carry a concealed weapon on a school campus, even in light of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting.
The state Senate, controlled by Democrats 22-18, has blocked the passage of those bills - but the party s hold on power is tenuous.
If these six would lose, the laws would sail through, said Feinblatt. A bad situation would get even worse.
Five of the candidates Bloomberg supports are Democratic incumbents: John Miller, Mark Herring, Toddy Puller, Dave Marsden and George Barker. A sixth, Barbara Favola, is running for an open seat.
We re just happy to have the contribution of people who support our values, said Kiel Brunner, Marsden s campaign manager. We re concerned about Virginians safety - and that has a national impact.
Bloomberg was slammed by Virginia s then-attorney general - and now governor - Bob McDonnell for the 2006 stings. That sentiment was echoed at gun stores Friday.
He's an arrogant bastard who shouldn t be meddling, said a manager at A&P Arms in Hampton, Va., who would not give his name. Go home.
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18. Anti-gun candidate hates VCDL, attacks pro-gun Dick Black!
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Here is anti-gun Shawn Mitchell's ad attacking pro-gun Dick Black. Gee, would you believe those EXTREMIST at VCDL want guns in schools?? AND bars??? and LIBRARIES!!!???? AND they want to get rid of background checks for a Constitutional Right?????????!!!!!!!!
Why, yes, yes we do! And we pretty much have sewn up all but the last one on that list already.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIoaq7xxKyw
Here's what I get from that video: If you live in Senate District 13, be sure to VOTE on November 8th and bring family, friends, and neighbors!
If you live in Senate District 13, call Shawn Mitchell's campaign (703-731-6431) and urge him to send in his VCDL Survey
Thanks to EM Hal Macklin for finding the video.
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19. Bus being chartered from NoVA to Virginia Tech on November 17th
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EM Ed Levine has arranged a bus charter from Northern Virginia to Virginia Tech for Operation Campus Safety on November 17th. He does need a firm 30 commitments to pay for the bus.
From Ed:
The link for the bus is: http://vcdl.us/vtbus
The price is $40 roundtrip per person
I need to pay for the bus in full by Next Friday or I will have to cancel. So I need 30+ people to buy their ticket before then. If I am under but close, I might kick in the rest. If I am over, it will go for tip and maybe some snacks.
Trip details are in the link. Sterling, VA starting address will be emailed to ticket holders.
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VA-ALERT is a project of the 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.
VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org [http://www.vcdl.org/]
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