1. Comparing how gun owners were treated on Lobby Day vs the current rioting mobs are treated
Governor Northam's and the other anti-gun Democrat's double-standards have been on clear display recently. One just has to compare and contrast how the state and the City of Richmond treated 50,000 peaceful gun-owners vs a much smaller and very violent crowd.
50,000 PEACEFUL, ARMED GUN-OWNERS The streets of Richmond where cleaner after Lobby Day than they were before. Totally peaceful event with no damage to buildings or businesses and no one was attacked or killed. VCDL had been doing Lobby Day since 2002/2003 and there have been ZERO problems with any of the attendees committing violence or breaking laws.
On top of that, over 105,000 gun owners had shown up at over 100 local government meetings across the state to push for localities to become Second Amendment Sanctuaries. Not a single violent incident or crime was reported at any of those events. Just gun owners peacefully engaging their government.
Knowing all of that, the Governor and Democrat leadership in the General Assembly responded to Lobby Day 2020 by: - declaring a state of emergency
- bringing in a large number of police, as if in preparation for a riot
- banning guns from the Capitol grounds and in the General Assembly building, where citizens had been able to peacefully carry for as long as there has been a Virginia. Even law enforcement officers were not allowed to carry unless they were an official part of security for the event!
- placing government snipers on surrounding roof tops
- fencing off the Capitol grounds and installing metal detectors for those wishing to get near the stage area
- requiring VCDL to have a permit for the event
- expecting VCDL to provide port-a-potties, and doing so for an unknown-sized crowd
- initially resisted allowing VCDL to have its own, more powerful, PA system so that a large crowd could hear what was being said. The locations where we were allowed to put the speakers was less than ideal
- admonishing us in a press conference to keep our rally peaceful (as if that was ever a problem) and how it would let down the people of Virginia if we didn't
- not allowing us to fly a drone in a fixed location just to get a good picture of the expected crowd
Democrat Delegate Lee Carter literally went into hiding on Lobby Day due to supposed fear for his safety, yet was out with rioting crowds on May 30 in Manassas and got pepper sprayed accordingly!
Carter also invoked some of his "privilege" at the Manassas event when he told police:
"Now you've sprayed C.S. or O.C. on a member of the General Assembly ..."
Hey, Delegate Carter: play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
HUNDREDS OF RIOTERS VIOLENTLY ATTACKING PEOPLE, VANDALIZING PROPERTY, LOOTING, AND BURNING BUILDINGS AND VEHICLES The streets of Richmond and other localities are definitely not cleaner after the protests and rioting. Rioting and protesting have gone on for days, so it is not like either came out of nowhere and was over in a flash.
In response, Governor Northam and Richmond Mayor Stoney did: - NOT declare a state of emergency
- NOT place government snipers on surrounding roof tops
- NOT fence off the Capitol grounds and install metal detectors for those wishing to enter that area
- NOT require the rioters or protesters to have a permit
- NOT require rioters or protesters to provide port-a-potties
- NOT admonish protesters in a press conference to keep their protest peaceful and how it would let down the people of Virginia if they didn't
I wonder why Stoney didn't just post a "No Rioting" sign and be done with it? We all know that violent criminals obey signs and laws. <eye roll>
2. Important: Understanding VCDL's focus
From its inception, VCDL has been a single-issue organization, protecting your right to protect yourself. We are non-partisan and welcome citizens of all races and creeds. Our membership represents a slice of America. Our members may differ with each other on many issues, but what binds us together is the shared belief that our right to keep and bear arms is critical to being free.
Having that broad coalition of diverse individuals helps us in fighting the shared threat of gun control.
VCDL is focused solely on the right to keep and bear arms and most of that focus is protecting that right for Virginians.
We are NOT a militia - we don't provide security for events, stores, or neighborhoods. Our members are certainly free to do such things, but is not VCDL's mission to organize or direct such efforts.
We do NOT protect statues from vandalism or removal.
We do NOT get involved in issues that someone deems to be "as important, or more important, than the Second Amendment" unless those issues either directly involve or directly affect the right to keep and bear arms.
Other than the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article 1, Section 13 of the Virginia Constitution, we do NOT protect other rights, unless such protection is tied directly to the right to keep and bear arms. There are various organizations dedicated to protecting those other rights.
VCDL has a reputation for being a well-run and effective organization. Hence the temptation many have to send VCDL off to fight other important non-2A battles. But if VCDL did so, we would lose our focus and our primary mission would inevitably suffer. We simply cannot afford for that to happen.
Remember this: VCDL is protecting the right that protects all the other rights. If we lose the right to keep and bear arms, all the other rights will follow in short order.
3. Carrying a gun while wearing a mask
There have been rumors flooding social media that it is illegal to carry a handgun while wearing a mask in Virginia.
There is NO such law.
There is a law about wearing a mask, but it says nothing about carrying a firearm at the same time. If the intent of the person wearing the mask is to conceal his identity, then it is illegal and is a felony.
There are various exceptions, including one for a health-related state of emergency if the Governor invokes that exception and he did in one of his Executive Orders.
Here is a link to the law (18.2-422)
Here is a link to an Executive Order (61) with the face mask exception (item C. 3.).
Thus, you should be exempted from the law twice.
4. Riots reminding us why we need the 2nd Amendment
The Riots Remind Us Why We Need the Second Amendment
https://www.breitbart.com/2nd-amendment/2020/06/01/kobach-the-riots-remind-us-why-we-need-the-second-amendment/
This is why we need guns
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/06/this-is-why-we-need-guns/
5. Thoughts on a previous article on gun safes (5/25/20, #6 "Article on gun safes and security containers")
From member J. Hansen:
I was interested in the gun safe article to see what they had to say. Unfortunately, it looks like an infomercial website. It mirrors this website, so I suspect this is the source of it: https://www.secureitgunstorage.com/gun-safe-fire-rating/
Don't worry- that led me down the rabbit hole of trying to find some clarity. In the process, I found some resources to better understand the ratings and what is really going on. Underwriter Laboratory (UL) has a set of specifications for "safe" (UL 687) and "residential security container" (UL 1037). All of the UL specifications are for purchase, meaning the actual difference between an RSC and a safe aren't clearly defined in an open manner. It does indicate to me that the concept of a "safe" or "not safe" is a marketing ploy on the website in the Alert. The best I can determine, a safe is meant to hold material (money, valuables, etc) as safely as possible as long as possible, including attacks by cutting torches, tools, and explosives (for the highest rating). Safe ratings are required for medicine containers and evidence lockers for drugs. The newer safe ratings relate to how long a safe can resist attack.
This website has a nice run down of the general requirements for secure containers: https://www.lockreference.com/ratings-for-safes/
This one has a good run down of uses by UL Safe rating: https://www.stockinger.com/en/blog/a-complete-guide-to-safe-ratings
This is similar to the Residential Security Container (RSC) ratings they provide for "gun safes" (which are classified as RSC by UL but fit the general dictionary description of a safe). There are three levels of protection, but I don't have a clear chart of "this rating is this level". Liberty Safe has this run down, which explains the different RSC ratings (which is in line with other places I found): https://www.libertysafe.com/gun-safe-ratings-explained-lm-102-p-3531.html
Link, with a purported discussion with a UL representative and a list of RSC approved safes, by manufacturer: http://gunsafehaven.com/ul-rsc-gun-safes/.
I did find a lot of interesting information, and a bit of information not on the mark. I think some of this confusion comes from UL keeping the specifications behind a pay wall. In short, a UL rated safe isn't anything a private citizen without a lot of money will purchase. RSC is a recognized rating, and represents an appropriate level of protection for the vast majority of the people with valuables to protect. Plenty of claims are out there, but not a lot of proof of them.
For full disclosure, I have a Liberty Safe. There is no way anyone is getting in there in less than 5 minutes, which is why I was interested in the article in the first place. I am confident you would need a torch to open most any, high quality RSC on the market in short order. It might not meet a commercial safe rating, but I don't need that level nor could I afford it. Get a quality, RSC rated safe to protect your valuables. It will do the job.
The ratings themselves, if you want to purchase them:
UL Standard 687 (safe): https://standardscatalog.ul.com/standards/en/standard_687_15
UL Standard 1037 (RSC): https://standardscatalog.ul.com/standards/en/standard_1037_6
6. VCDL GSL sticker front-and-center on CNN
From EM Dennis O'Connor:
VCDL GSL sticker on CNN
10 cases that could change how the Supreme Court looks at the Second Amendment
"The Supreme Court's solid conservative majority could soon choose to take up its first major Second Amendment case in nearly a decade, positioning the court to override state laws established to limit the availability and accessibility of some firearms and when they can be carried in public."
Read in CNN Politics: https://apple.news/AghSyDZ2fSoO-NI4Aw9h3Ow
7. Father of murdered Richmond child says gun control isn't the answer
Richmond's Mayor Stoney ignores the father of a murdered child who says that gun control is not the answer. Stoney still used her tragic death as an excuse to further his gun-control push. Gun controllers are actually quite good at dancing in blood:
From the article: Whitfield remains skeptical about other efforts for stricter gun laws. "They won't work. I know they won't work for a fact. I live in the streets, I'm in the streets," he said. "When I was 16 I had a gun. I didn't go to the store and fill out no paper for it. Go out on the street, a couple of hundred dollars, you got a gun." https://www.wtvr.com/remembering-markiya-dickson-third-grader-shot-and-killed-in-richmond-park
8. Analysis of some armed robberies captured on security video
https://youtu.be/B-g7Bhez9fk
9. The Washington Post editorial board trying to influence the U.S. Supreme Court on gun cases
From member Clayton Vieg:
The Washington Post Editorial Board has done it again – an opinion piece hoping that the Supreme Court won't do any more damage by not accepting another gun case – the last sentence kind of sums it up: "The fact that the Supreme Court is now more conservative than it was a decade ago is no reason to upend — once again — its Second Amendment directives. Such a naked power play would only imperil the court's fragile credibility."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/we-dont-need-another-supreme-court-guns-case/2020/05/26/48a0ac96-9f84-11ea-9590-1858a893bd59_story.html
So much for even a façade of credible objectivity!
10. Idiot looters break into a gun store and, well, you know
Best to have your will in place before you try robbing a gun store. A cautionary lesson for looters from Philadelphia, where safety in numbers doesn't apply when your victim is holding a semi-automatic rifle:
https://www.theblaze.com/news/looters-philly-gun-store-owner
11. Keeping an eye on this: lawsuit against NJ for not honoring court-issued CHPs from other states (such as Virginia CHPs)
This lawsuit against New Jersey for not accepting out of state permits is based on the U.S. Constitution's Full Faith and Credit clause, since most permits, including those in Virginia, are issued by courts.
https://www.ammoland.com/2020/01/declaratory-judgment-sought-in-njs-carry-permit-scheme-violates-full-faith-credit/#axzz6OPtiuedr
12. Northam can't help himself, picks gun control over virus control
https://thefederalist.com/2020/06/01/gov-northam-cant-help-himself-picks-gun-control-over-virus-control/
13. VCDL President speaking at Family Foundation event in Heathsville on June 14
I will be speaking at a Family Foundation event in Heathsville on Sunday, June 14, at:
Kat Stansell's home
363 Potomac Shore Drive
Heathsville, VA 22473
The event runs from 2 pm to 7 pm
For more details, call Kat at: 919-717-2170
14. VCDL Secretary to speak at Family Foundation Summer Speaker Series in Richmond on June 13
VCDL Secretary, Patricia Webb, will be speaking at a Family Foundation event on Saturday, June 13, at:
Family Foundation
707 East Franklin St.
Richmond, VA 23219
Registration starts at 7:30 am. Pat will be speaking from 8:30 to 8:45 am. For more information, contact VAFAMILY@FAMILYFOUNDATION.ORG. |
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