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This morning the full Militia, Police, and Public Safety committee voted 16 to 6 to report out HB 505, Delegate Gilbert's restaurant ban repeal bill!
The bill now heads to the House Floor for a vote in a few days.
The bill passed with substitute wording that allows current and retired police officers an exemption from the drinking prohibition.
I am not thrilled with that new wording because it creates two classes of people: current/retired police officers and Commonwealth Attorneys who can drink in a restaurant while carrying concealed and the rest of us who can't.
HOWEVER, that is something we can look at fixing next year. Strategically it is best to let the bill move forward as is and get the restaurant ban repealed.
The vote on the bill had two surprises:
Delegates Barlow and Shuler, both Democrats who had supported the repeal last year, voted "no" this morning!
And self-proclaimed "pro-gun" Delegates Paula Miller and Roslyn Tyler voted "no" also. Can you imagine what they would do if they were anti-gun?
A tale of two Delegates: the freshman Democratic Delegate from Portsmouth, Matthew James, voted against the repeal, while the freshman Democratic Delegate from Fairfax, Mark Keam, voted with gun owners in ending the ban. Keam has proven in several subcommittee votes to be thoughtful and open minded on gun issues.
Here are the Delegates that supported your rights this morning. If you live in their districts, be sure to thank them for their vote:
Sherwood, Griffith, Wright, Carrico, Lingamfelter, Nutter, Athey, Cline, Gilbert, Merricks, Cleaveland, Morefield, Edmunds, Cox, J.A., Lewis, Keam
And those who did not support you. Let them know that you want their support when HB 505 gets to the Floor:
Jim Scott, Barlow, Shuler, Paula Miller, Tyler, James
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ACTION ITEMS
First, let's all contact our Delegate and ask him or her to support the restaurant ban repeal as it will soon be up for a vote on the Floor.
Click on the link below to send a prewritten (but editable) message to your Delegate:
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If you are a constituent of Delegate Barlow or Delegate Shuler, you should contact them to find out why they didn't support the restaurant ban repeal and encourage them to vote for HB 505 on the Floor.
Here is their contact information:
Delegate Barlow:
Phone: 804-698-1064
Email: delwbarlow@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Shuler:
Phone: 804-698-1012
Email: deljshuler@house.virginia.gov