Not yet a VCDL member? Join VCDL at: http://www.vcdl.org/join.html
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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: VCDL meeting Feb 14 at Mason District Govt Center
2. Christiansburg Supper Meeting on Monday, February 27th!
3. Gun fans, foes square off at Va. Capitol
4. Weapons confiscated from student on SU campus
5. Great article detailing the restraint exercised by concealed carry permit holder
6. "Just give them what they want and you won't get hurt"
7. THIS is why HB 458 must not be allowed to pass!
8. RTD LTE: Gun myths may need clarifying - the facts don't
9. Editorial: Guns and responsibility
10. Who needs a gun at home?
11. Style Weekly: Guns will be everywhere - soon
12. Who needs a gun at a birthday party?
13. MILLER: Transferring a gun into D.C.
14. New open carry gun ban bill introduced by Portantino, CA
15. SF Sheriff Mirkarimi caught in gun control net he helped cast
16. Former New York prosecutor arrested for holding teen at gunpoint after doorbell prank
17. Video: New tech can spot people packing
18. Did you know that the UFC bans gun sponsorships?
19. Gun owners nationally support Starbucks on February 14th
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1. Reminder: VCDL meeting Feb 14 at Mason District Govt Center
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VCDL will be having a membership meeting on Tuesday, February 14th at 8:00 PM at the Mason Government Center. Fellowship starts at 7:30 PM.
As with all VCDL membership meetings, it is open to the public, so bring a friend!
Afterwards, we will go to a local restaurant for continued fellowship.
Map: http://tinyurl.com/2vybemv
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2. Christiansburg Supper Meeting on Monday, February 27th!
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VCDL will have a supper meeting on Monday, February 27, 2012 at:
AMELIA'S PIZZERIA & RESTAURANT
1130 Cambria St NW
Christiansburg VA 24073
540-381-7878
TIMES:
Fellowship starts at 6:30 PM
Buffet meal starts at 7 PM.
VCDL meeting starts by 8 PM--we expect the meeting to last 1 to 1.5 hours.
Cost: $12.00 per person including buffet, salad for the tables, drink, and tip. (does NOT include alcoholic beverages). Speaker(s) to be announced. This is a FAMILY event.
Special considerations: Parking is limited to about 50 spots, so car pooling is encouraged.
SEATING in the meeting room is limited to about 50 persons. Additional attendees will have to sit in the main part of the restaurant and join the meeting after the meal.
We are asking for RSVPs by midnight, February 25th. Please indicate number attending in your group. Firm numbers are needed so the buffet can be prepared properly. (IF we should have less than 20 attending, the meal will be ordered from the menu).
RSVP to: al@vcdl.org
DIRECTIONS:
From I-81 take exit 118B (Virginia Tech exit) to 460 bypass, then take the Christiansburg exit, then immediately take the Downtown exit. Turn left at light on Cambria Street. Restaurant on left.
We look forward to seeing you there!
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3. Gun fans, foes square off at Va. Capitol
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Board member Bruce Jackson emailed me this:
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From Newsleader.com: http://tinyurl.com/74g4669
By Associated Press
January 16, 2012
RICHMOND Gun-control advocates and opponents pressed conflicting legislative agendas Monday.
About 200 people attended a rally by the pro-gun Virginia Citizens Defense League, which is advocating a package of bills that would eliminate or relax restrictions on carrying concealed weapons and allow guns on state college campuses. Most wore stickers saying "Guns Save Lives," and some openly carried handguns or rifles.
"The right to bear arms is a fundamental human right," said Clint Kritzer, a member of the gun-rights group's board of directors
A gun-control group, the Virginia Center for Public Safety, also lobbied legislators and held a vigil for victims of gun violence.
"We oppose guns on campuses, we oppose guns in airports, we oppose eliminating the permitting process," said Lori Haas, a member of the group. "We think the laws on the books in Virginia are reasonable and believe the majority of our legislators agree with us."
Haas is the mother of Emily Haas, who was wounded in 2007 when mentally unstable Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 people before committing suicide. Advocates on opposite sides of the gun debate disagree on whether that tragedy warrants more or less regulation of firearms.
"If people had been allowed to carry, there still would have been deaths but one of the early ones would have been Cho and there would have been less carnage," Kritzer said.
Colin Goddard, who survived being shot four times by Cho, doesn't buy that argument.
"It upsets me when they use the situation at Virginia Tech as justification," Goddard said of the pro-gun group and its support for allowing guns on campuses. "Talk to the people who were there. It's a resounding 'No."'
Andrew Goddard, Colin's father and executive director of the Virginia Center for Public Safety, said the organization's legislative goals for this session are defeating proposals to weaken current gun restrictions and expanding the law on background checks for gun-buyers to include all sales, not just those by licensed dealers.
Their task is daunting. The already gun-friendly Virginia legislature became more conservative after the November elections as Republicans strengthened their Republican majority and took control of the Senate.
"We realize it's going to be very tough this year," Andrew Goddard said.
Sen. Donald A. McEachin, D-Henrico and sponsor of the bill calling for universal background checks, urged several dozen people attending the vigil for gun violence victims not to be discouraged by the current political climate, telling them that "by and by, we will prevail."
Legislation to require criminal background checks of buyers at gun shows has died annually for the last several years. McEachin's proposal would go even further, requiring background checks when guns are sold through newspaper or internet advertisements and at yard sales.
On the other side of the gun debate, Del. Mark Cole is sponsoring legislation that would eliminate the permit requirement for anyone who wants to carry a concealed weapon. State law already allows Virginians to carry a weapon in full view without a permit.
Other bills introduced by pro-gun lawmakers would allow faculty members to carry concealed weapons on campus, eliminate the background check requirement for purchasers who have a concealed weapons permit, allow guns in airport terminals and repeal the law limiting handgun purchases to one per month. The one-gun-a-month law, enacted in 1993, was intended to combat interstate gun trafficking.
Goddard's group is opposing all of those proposals.
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4. Weapons confiscated from student on SU campus
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From Northern Virginia Daily: http://tinyurl.com/88f9v5x
By Candace Sipos
January 23, 2012
WINCHESTER -- A Shenandoah University student was found with weapons on campus Saturday, but an SU spokeswoman said the matter will be dealt with through university policy.
Sgt. Frank Myrtle with city police confirmed that there is no law against weapons on the university's property, so police are not investigating the incident. City police are holding the weapons because the university cannot safely do so, he said.
Myrtle and Emily Burner, director of media relations at SU, would not comment on what type of weapons were found.
Burner said the university is not releasing any additional details, including the name of the student, what disciplinary action officials are taking, or whether officials searched the student's residence.
She said the weapons were not necessarily found in a dorm room and only confirmed that they were discovered in the student's possession somewhere on campus.
"They were confiscated because that is campus policy," she said.
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5. Great article detailing the restraint exercised by concealed carry permit holder
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Deborah Anderson emailed me this:
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"The way you get shot by a concealed weapons permit holder is you point a gun at him." -- Sheriff Chuck Wright
More from the All American Blogger about the concealed permit holder who shot the bad guy in a Waffle House in Spartansburg, SC. This article points out a great example in showing the amount of restraint exercised by concealed carry permit holder.
The author sums up the situation by saying, "Concealed carry permit holders are law abiding citizens who just want to be able to protect themselves and others when necessary. This is a great example." But, it's also what the author says earlier that had me really cheering. I love how the author points out that the county Sheriff (Chuck Wright) spoke up loudly and clearly about some things that should completely thwart the notion of a "Wild West" shootout scenario that the "antis" like to bring up so much about the "dangers" of people having concealed carry permits.
Sheriff Wright detailed exactly just how restrained the concealed carry permit holder actually was -- pointing out that he waited and watched what was going on first. When the bad guys started rounding up customers and employees, then he finally took out his handgun. He ordered the bad guys to stop, but the bad guys didn't feel like backing down -- probably that's cuz bad guys just don't listen or follow directions all that well. But, still the concealed carry permit holder remained restrained. It was only after one of the bad guys actually pointed a gun a him that he shot the bad guy.
And that's why Sheriff Wright stated, "The way you get shot by a concealed weapons permit holder is you point a gun at him."
Blessings,
Deborah Jane Anderson
From All American Blogger: http://tinyurl.com/6o76ytb
By Duane Lester
January 23, 2012
I hate to see a kid throw his life away, literally, for whatever could be stolen from a Waffle House, but when you start pointing guns at people and robbing them, you forfeit your right to take in oxygen. This is especially true if there is someone with a gun pointed at you:
Spartanburg County sheriff's deputies responded to the Waffle House at 2230 Chesnee Highway just before 1:15 a.m. Saturday. Two masked men had entered the restaurant with the intention of robbing it, and at least one of them was armed, authorities said.
A customer, who is a concealed weapons permit holder, thwarted the robbery by pulling his gun and attempting to hold the men until deputies arrived. When one of the men pointed his gun at the customer, the patron fired, killing the teenager.
The teenager, later identified as Dante Lamont Williams, of 827 S. Edisto River Drive, Roebuck, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a written statement from Coroner Rusty Clevenger. Williams had been shot in the head and chest.
Sheriff Chuck Wright said he does not plan to charge the customer, who he says is "very upset" about the shooting.
As most anyone would be. I'm sure the customer didn't go to the Waffle House to kill a kid. But when given the choice of allowing others to be hurt or preventing it, he stepped up.
And to shut up any liberals who want to talk about a Wild West shootout scenario, read this:
During a news conference Saturday night, Wright said even after the masked men entered the restaurant, the concealed weapons holder waited until the robbers began ordering customers to the floor and employees into the back - while waving a gun - to act. After pulling his .45-caliber Glock, the customer ordered the men to stay put until deputies arrived. Only after Williams pointed his Hi-Point 9mm at the man, did the customer fire, Wright said.
"The way you get shot by a concealed weapons permit holder is you point a gun at him," the sheriff said.
Exactly. The person who violated people rights in this situation wasn't a law abiding citizen who jumped through unnecessary hoops to exercise their right to bear arms. It was the criminal who probably got his gun outside the parameters of the law.
Concealed carry permit holders are law abiding citizens who just want to be able to protect themselves and others when necessary. This is a great example.
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6. "Just give them what they want and you won't get hurt"
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From Richmond Times-Dispatch: http://tinyurl.com/6we9kz9
January 26, 2012
Man arrested in beating, abducting, robbing of Chesterfield woman
Amelia County authorities arrested a man wanted in the beating, abduction and robbery of a Chesterfield County woman.
James L. Wolfe Sr., 29, of Amelia was being held without bond today on charges of breaking and entering with the intent to commit robbery, robbery, abduction, aggravated malicious wounding and arson in Powhatan County and robbery in Chesterfield County.
Wolfe is to be arraigned Friday in Powhatan General District Court.
Authorities said the Powhatan County Sheriff's Office received a call at 11 p.m. Wednesday from Chesterfield County police saying a woman had been taken to a hospital after being found severely beaten along U.S. 60 in Chesterfield.
Authorities said a man had entered the woman's home in the 2100 block of Academy Road in Powhatan County, beaten and cut her and demanded money before driving her to Chesterfield, where he forced her to withdraw money from an ATM.
The woman told investigators at the hospital that the man had also set a fire in her home.
She also gave authorities a description of the suspect and the vehicle he was driving, and an Amelia deputy spotted the vehicle in the western part of the county.
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7. THIS is why HB 458 must not be allowed to pass!
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Josh Kellogg emailed me this:
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From WVEC: http://tinyurl.com/88uykj6
Man arrested for stabbing at Norfolk library
NORFOLK--A Norfolk man is charged with stabbing a person leaving the Ocean View library.
A man stabbed another man at the Mary D. Pretlow Library Tuesday night.
Thomas Marshall Hamilton, 52, allegedly pulled a knife on the victim around 7:40 p.m. at Mary D. Pretlow Library.
He left but then returned, said Officer Chris Amos and is now charged with felonious assault.
The victim was treated for non-life threatening injuries.
No motive for the stabbing was released by police.
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8. RTD LTE: Gun myths may need clarifying - the facts don't
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From Richmond Times-Dispatch: http://tinyurl.com/7m34e6k
January 28, 2012
Editor, Times-Dispatch:
In his letter, "Myths about guns need clarifying," Andrew Goddard raises issues about the ownership of handguns without giving proper evidence. He states that "women . . . before deciding to carry a gun . . . need training and practice." In Virginia, citizens are required to apply for a concealed carry license to carry concealed handguns. The applications require applicants to prove basic firearm proficiency. Concealed carry license holders are some of the most upstanding citizens in the country. In Florida, between October 1987 and August 2011, just 168 (.008 percent) of licenses were revoked because of criminal firearm use.
Goddard states that there are only 300 justifiable homicides a year from handgun self-defense. He fails to account for the use of handguns that did not result in homicide. The National Criminal Victimization Survey placed the number of defensive gun uses per year to be about 100,000 occurrences, but this number is difficult to quantify because there are many more cases where guns are used as a deterrent without the firearm being utilized. Gary Kleck, in his famous 1995 study, put the number much higher (approximately 2.5 million defense gun uses or defensive gun deterrents). The Brady Campaign, a coalition to limit gun violence and ownership, states that there are approximately 12,000 murders with a firearm per year, while only 866 die from accidents with firearms.
Goddard raises valid concerns about gun ownership. For some families, ownership of firearms may not be the proper choice. But it ultimately comes down to this: Do you trust yourself to defend your home and your life, or do you put your trust in someone else's hands?
Sam Akers,
Student,
Maggie L. Walker Governor's School.
Henrico.
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9. Editorial: Guns and responsibility
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Board member Bruce Jackson emailed me this:
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From The Daily Press: http://tinyurl.com/86ykclg
January 12, 2012
Another opportunity to reevaluate state firearm freedoms and controls
Hardly a General Assembly session goes by in Virginia without the Second Amendment making an appearance.
This session, our lawmakers are being asked to consider several bills that either expand or restrict the constitutional right to bear arms. As always, each will involves a balancing of public safety concerns with individual freedoms. And context is everything.
Here's where we stand on the bills being bandied about this session:
Guns on campus: Divergent views continue to collide on college campuses, even in the wake of December's tragic shooting of Virginia Tech police officer Deriek W. Crouse.
The pro-gun Virginia Citizens Defense League is lobbying for bills that would effectively prohibit universities from banning guns owned by holders of concealed-carry permits. The idea is that college campus policies should not trump legislatively created rights to carry guns with valid permits.
We think college campuses have an overriding interest in keeping their students safe. Just last week, Old Dominion University adopted a campus regulation banning all guns except those carried by law enforcement officers. If legislation is necessary to assure universities the continued right to adopt no-gun policies, then our lawmakers should provide it.
One gun per month: We oppose repeal of the 1993 "one-gun-a-month" law, a measure intended to cut down on gun traffickers coming to Virginia to buy unlimited weapons. While restricting an individual's right to purchase goods is rarely a good idea in a free-market democracy, when it comes to firearms, a dozen a year doesn't seem so unreasonable.
Universal background checks: The General Assembly should also close the gun show loophole, once and for all.
Currently in Virginia, licensed dealers are required to run instant background checks on all buyers, even at gun shows. But sellers who aren't licensed dealers ˘ which account for about 40 percent of all U.S. gun sales, two out of every five guns sold ˘ need not abide by this requirement.
As a result, convicted felons are free to shop gun shows for their weapons of choice.
Bills to close the loophole have been proposed and have failed in our state for several years running. It's time to fix it.
Sen. Donald A. McEachin (D-Henrico) is sponsoring a bill calling for universal background checks. We support using the National Instant Criminal Background Check System as a means of tracking purchases and, theoretically, deterring criminals from buying guns.
Background checks have become second nature to dealers. There is no good reason not to require all gun show sellers to do them. It's a minor inconvenience and provides law enforcement with a valuable tool in tracing guns used in crimes.
Hunting on Sunday: A bill to allow hunting on Sunday is once again up for grabs. The issue not only pits animal rights groups against hunters, but hunters against hunters, as well. Many bow hunters want it; many dog hunters don't.
Some argue Sunday hunting would require more policing and therefore drive up the cost of permits. But it could also generate more revenue.
We think laws that apply differently depending on the day of the week are arbitrary in the modern world. The best approach is to open up hunting on Sundays and let the economics fall where they may.
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10. Who needs a gun at home?
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John Treaster emailed me this:
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From WTVR - CBS6: http://tinyurl.com/7kw45dr
January 24, 2012
HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) - A man forced his way into a West End apartment and stole a woman's purse, according to a Henrico County Police news release.
Police said on January 20, 2012, a woman told officers a man knocked on the door of her Shepton Circle apartment and asked if her boyfriend was home.
When she said no, the woman said the man forced his way inside. The woman, who said she saw the man had a gun, ran outside for help.
When she returned to her apartment, the woman told police she noticed her purse was missing.
The woman said when she called her bank to cancel her cards, she was informed someone had used her card at a gas station near the intersection of Three Chopt Road and Parham Road.
Police released pictures of the suspect captured by the gas station's surveillance camera.
Police described the suspect as a black male possibly in his mid to late 20's with braided hair. Police said he was last seen driving what appears to be a two-door Ford Explorer that is dark colored with gold running boards.
Police asked anyone with information about this crime to call Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000.
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11. Style Weekly: Guns will be everywhere - soon
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Roy B. Scherer emailed me this:
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"Five things that should make you sweat the General Assembly. ARE YOU SITTTING DOWN?"
From Style Weekly: http://tinyurl.com/6qrxht3
By Scott Bass, Vernal Coleman, Peter Galuszka, Melissa Scott
January 24, 2012
[SNIP]
One Republican lawmaker, Delegate Robert G. Marshall, R-Manassas, wants to make state colleges safer. How? By allowing professors to carry concealed weapons into their classrooms. His logic is simple: If, say, a professor is packing and a gunman pulls out a weapon or opens fire on campus, then the professor can pull out his piece and shoot back, in hopes of preventing a massacre like the one at Virginia Tech in 2007.
More guns equate to less violence, the pro-gun lawmakers say. So with Republicans in control, a whole slew of gun bills have bubbled up ˘ guns on campuses, guns in airport terminals and courthouses; doing away with permits for concealed weapons and the law that restricts handgun purchases to one a month.
"I don't hold a lot of hope out in this area of legislation," says Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico County, of the firing squad on Capitol Square. "Unless Republicans show some restraint, I suspect they are all going to pass."
Will the streets become more dangerous? No one really knows for sure. That's the difficulty with fighting the pro-gun lobby, says Dana Schrad, executive director of the Virginia Association of Police Chiefs. Weighing the effect of gun laws on criminal activity is hard, she says, although many have tried.
"It's difficult to measure the negatives," says Schrad, who was on the state crime commission in the mid-'90s when the commission attempted to assess the impact of the 1993 law restricting gun purchases to one a month. The number of Virginia guns traced to criminal activity outside of the state decreased after 1993, when the law passed, but then it spiked again in recent years. In a study released in September 2010 by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Virginia ranked second for exporting interstate crime guns, behind only Georgia.
That's why Schrad is focusing her efforts on fighting other bills, such as gun-toting professors and the elimination of fees for criminal history checks administered by the Virginia State Police. Without the fees, there's no funding, which likely would cripple the program.
Meanwhile, be ready to live with more guns.
"It really represents a step backwards to think that we would continue to loosen these laws so that you have guns in bars, and guns just everywhere," says Mayor Dwight Jones, during a Jan. 10 news conference with Richmond Police Chief Bryan Norwood and Commonwealth's Attorney Michael Herring. It was a celebration of the city's declining violent crime, of course.
"We've developed a paradigm, we've developed a strategy that no matter what the variables are, we continue to use that strategy to solve crimes and work to bring the crime rate down," Jones says. "I think we'll do that no matter what happens at the General Assembly."
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12. Who needs a gun at a birthday party?
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Dave Troxel emailed me this:
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Yeah, strict gun laws really work don't they? (sarcasm)
Dave Troxel
From Yahoo News: http://tinyurl.com/6wn3usq
By Associated Press
January 23, 2012
6 hurt during shooting at Calif. teen's party
ANTIOCH, Calif. (AP) Six people, including five teens, were injured when gunfire erupted at a girl's 16th birthday party in the San Francisco Bay area, authorities said Sunday.
Police in Antioch believe three or four male partygoers opened fire Saturday night when two groups began arguing, said police Lt. Scott Willerford. Violence is not common in the neighborhood in Antioch, which is about 38 miles northeast of San Francisco.
"Weapons were brandished and numerous shots were fired from multiple guns," Willerford said.
The gunfire wounded a 13-year-old boy, two 16-year-old boys, two 18-year-old men and a 21-year-old woman, police said. Their injuries ranged from a minor grazing wound to an abdomen wound, police said. Police did not say how many shots were fired, or specify what kind of weapons were used.
Three of the wounded have been released from hospitals, but the 13-year-old, an 18-year-old and the woman remained in serious but stable condition, police said. Their names have not been released.
Police are looking for three or four suspects described as "young men," but acknowledge they haven't been able to obtain more detailed descriptions. Willerford said callers reporting the shooting had said between 70 and 80 people were at the party, but many of them ran away when the gunfire broke out.
Authorities said the party was being thrown by the girl's parents.
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13. MILLER: Transferring a gun into D.C.
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Board member Bruce Jackson emailed me this:
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From The Washington Times: http://tinyurl.com/86yvtva
By Emily Miller
January 24, 2011
I bought my new 9mm Sig Sauer from a dealer in Virginia and needed to get it to into the District. When it comes to firearms, a distance of 70 miles might as well be thousands of miles across international borders.
my gunThere is no open-carry right in the nation's capital. It is against the law to posses a firearm in a public space unless traveling directly to or from a lawful, firearm-related activity, such as registering, hunting, shooting with it at a practice range. So a D.C. resident must use the city's one legal gun dealer, Charles Sykes, to physically transfer the gun into the city.
Mr. Sykes works about four hours a day to handle transferring the few hundred new guns registered each year. He charges the same transfer fee - $125 - whether he picks up your gun at a local store or he receives it in the mail. Either way, he holds the gun until you can provide the certified registration certificate.
His business is located inside the same building as Metropolitan Police Department, which is convenient for residents, though inconvenient when it comes time to mail the gun. The U.S. postal service does not deliver to the police headquarters in D.C. Mr. Sykes, therefore, recommends guns be sent to him via UPS or FedEx, so that the guns are "passing through as few hands as possible."
I bought my gun from Mark Attanasio of Immortal Arms in Culpeper Virginia. When I made the purchase on the phone, the dealer offered to deliver the gun to Mr. Sykes. I had a feeling that he couldn't do that, but he believed that his Federal Firearms License (FFL) would suffice.
After sorting through the D.C. gun laws, Mr. Attanasio called me back. "I'm a FFL licensed dealer and I can't drive it into the city to Sykes, another licensed dealer," he told me, astounded. "But I can send it to him and pass through who-knows-how-many unlicensed hands." I'm watching first-hand how gun-control restrictions aren't based on common sense.
Mr. Attanasio was supposed to switch the standard 13-round magazine in my gun for a D.C.-legal, 10-round one and convert to E2 grips. Then he sent the gun to Mr. Sykes through UPS. It cost $43 to ship the short distance because guns have to be sent overnight delivery and require "adult signature."
After my gun gets to Mr. Sykes, I still need to pass a written test, get paper work filled out and signed, get approved for the registration and endure a 10-day waiting period. It is illegal for Mr. Sykes to release the gun to me before all of these steps have been completed.
I wondered what would happen if I didn't pass the registration requirements? I paid $781 for a gun and, generally, such purchases are non-refundable. Mr. Sykes has seen this happen before.
"Registration is not 100 percent. The FBI may say yes, but D.C. says no. Or D.C. says yes, and the FBI says no," the long-time gun dealer explained. "I just send it back to where it came from. Then it's up to you to work it out to get your money. But I'll tell you, the average company is not going to want to talk about returning a gun that's been out of their possession for three or four months."
When I first went to the gun registry office and was told about the written test on the laws, I asked the officer what happens to the gun if you don't pass the test. "That doesn't happen very often," she said. "And we let you take it over once without paying." This was not very reassuring. So if you fail anywhere along the line in the registration process, you're out hundreds of dollars and the right to keep arms.
I put a lot of thought and effort into making sure my purchase was exactly what I wanted for another reason. You are stuck with what you picked as long as you live in the city.
The law in D.C. says you can't pawn a gun or sell to anyone who isn't a licensed dealer. That sounds like standard practice until you realize that the only licensed gun dealer in the city is Charles Sykes, and he doesn't buy and sell. He only transfers. If you buy a gun in this town, there's no returns or exchanges. So you better be sure you will like it.
Next up in the series: I will testify before the D.C. city council about guns
"Emily gets her gun" is a series following senior editor Emily Miller as she tries to legally get her hands on a gun in the nation's capital. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
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14. New open carry gun ban bill introduced by Portantino, CA
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From AltadenaPatch: http://tinyurl.com/89rfgzn
By Dan Abendschein
January 25, 2012
AB 1527 follows up on Portantino's successful legislation from last year banning the open carry of unloaded hand guns by extending the ban to unloaded shotguns and rifles.
A bill introduced by Anthony Portantino, D-La Canada Flintridge, would ban rifles, shotguns and other long guns from being openly displayed in public, even while unloaded.
Portantino wrote in a press release that the bill is inspired by guns right protest groups that openly carry long guns in public. He noted that following the passage of AB 144, the bill he introduced last year barring the open carry of handguns, the groups began to show up instead with automatic rifles and shotguns at rallies.
"Last year, the state made it clear that this type of behavior had no place on Main Street, California," Portantino wrote. "Unfortunately, the Open Carry community has decided to once again force our hand by escalating their unnecessary activities and entering our communities with AR-15s and other long guns. I had hoped cooler heads would have prevailed and this law wouldn't be necessary, obviously that hasn't been the case and I must once again take action to ensure the safety of our communities."
California Right to Carry, a nonprofit group that has filed a lawsuit over AB 144, was swift to condemn Portantino and his new legislation.
"Portantino is an idiot," wrote Charles Nichols, the president of California Right to Carry. "By banning long guns in public, Portantino makes it impossible for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to conclude that long guns carried in public are an alternative to openly carried handguns. The Federal Courts take a dim view on complete bans of anything and both the US Supreme Court and the California Supreme Court have already held that such bans are unconstitutional."
Portantino noted that his legislation provides "exemptions to enable safe transportation, lawful hunting, and use by law enforcement officials."
He expects the bill to begin hearings in March or April.
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15. SF Sheriff Mirkarimi caught in gun control net he helped cast
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Jay Minsky emailed me this:
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From Examiner.com: http://tinyurl.com/8yw5atn
By David Codrea
January 27, 2012
[SNIP]
Although San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi was a strong advocate of gun control while on the Board of Supervisors, he surrendered 3 handguns when police recently booked him on misdemeanor domestic violence charges," KCBS reports.
Mirkarimi apparently owned them while sponsoring legislation last summer to bolster San Francisco gun control laws against a lawsuit by the National Rifle Association.
"Mirkarimi was elected sheriff in November after serving seven years as one of the city's more liberal supervisors," Fox News tells us.
Indeed, "As a longtime member of the progressive bloc on the Board of Supervisors, Mirkarimi was a vocal advocate of gun control," The San Francisco Examiner informs us.
But after being arrested on three misdemeanor charges including domestic violence battery, Mirkarimi was forced to turn over all his guns to authorities.
"If Mirkarimi were convicted on the domestic violence charge, he would not be able to carry a gun as sheriff," reporter Joshua Sabatini claims.
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16. Former New York prosecutor arrested for holding teen at gunpoint after doorbell prank
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Deborah Anderson emailed me this:
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Warning: Strap yourself to your chair before reading this story, because you're gonna laugh so hard at the stupidity of a former NYC prosecutor, that you're likely to end up rolling on the floor laughing yourself to death.
Blessings,
Deborah Jane Anderson
From FOX News: http://tinyurl.com/7bfnpkf
January 25, 2012
A New York mother and former Bronx prosecutor was reportedly so enraged with someone constantly ringing her doorbell and running away that she fired a round from her pink 9mm pistol and held a teenager at gunpoint until police arrived.
Former Bronx prosecutor Bernadette Greenwald, 37, of Rockville Centre, Long Island, told Nassau County police she felt she "had balls" after firing the gun for the first time after the game of "ding-dong ditch" caused her to snap, the New York Post reports.
Greenwald initially told cops that a neighborhood teen rang the bell twice, and on the third time threatened to rape her and kill her children. But police said the teen, who was not charged, had nothing to do with the prank and the young man's mother insisted he was walking home from a friend's house after watching the Giants game and drinking beer.
Greenwald, who served as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx from 1989 to 1994 before resigning, was later charged with second-degree menacing, reckless endangerment and unlawful use of a weapon after her statements to cops changed. She was released without bail after her arraignment on Monday, the Post reports.
"It was just kid [expletive]," Greenwald said, adding that she pulled the trigger only to scare the boy.
"He thought it was a Barbie gun," Greenwald told police, referring to Nolan LeBlanc, 17, a South Side High School football star who lives across the street. "I wanted to show him that it was loaded."
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17. Video: New tech can spot people packing
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From Military.com: http://tinyurl.com/6uw6hz7
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18. Did you know that the UFC bans gun sponsorships?
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Deborah Anderson emailed me this:
--
I'm not into UFC fighting, but for those who are, they should be aware that the UFC recently banned all sponsorships by businesses dealing with firearms. Check out the last sentence of the paragraph below, which appears midway through the news article:
"Fighters aren't allowed to have conflicting sponsors in certain categories like motorcycles where Harley Davidson is the official bike of UFC or if a company is out of ethical or moral boundaries. The days of a fighter like Tito Ortiz being sponsored by a certain adult bookstore in Santa Ana, Calif., are over. Another recently banned category is guns, Jason Genet of the management group Ingrained Media wrote on his blog."
Apparently, the UFC lumps guns under the "out of ethical or moral boundaries" category of things they ban. Oh yeah? Since When? What's unethical or immoral about a gun or gun ownership by a law-abiding individual?
So, if anyone is into UFC, they might wish to take the new "no gun" policy under serious consideration in making choices about whether or not to watch or patronize the UFC and/or the companies that heavily sponsor its fighters.
Blessings,
Deborah Jane Anderson
From FOX Sports: http://tinyurl.com/8y3o34y
By A.J. Perez
January 24, 2012
[SNIP]
Then there's the sponsors, a revenue stream that Evans told FOXSports.com is just as lucrative as the checks cut by the UFC.
Fighters aren't allowed to have conflicting sponsors in certain categories like motorcycles - where Harley Davidson is the official bike of UFC - or if a company is out of ethical or moral boundaries. The days of a fighter like Tito Ortiz being sponsored by a certain adult bookstore in Santa Ana, Calif., are over. Another recently banned category is guns, Jason Genet of the management group Ingrained Media wrote on his blog.
"The UFC takes a close look at which sponsors they want to be associated with," Robinson said. "They will look at every sponsor on that banner to make sure you're not trying to sneak one past them that hasn't been approved."
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19. Gun owners nationally support Starbucks on February 14th
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EM Ed Levine emailed me this:
--
From Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/7ayqg4c
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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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