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1. Results of the Virginia Crime Commission hearing today
2. Victory in Spotsylvania County!
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1. Results of the Virginia Crime Commission hearing today
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Let's have a HUGE turnout at Lobby Day on January 19th to help ensure that we don't have problems with gun shows. Mark your calendars and plan on being there this year.
Today we had ten gun owners show up at the Crime Commission hearing. The other side had about 30 people.
Of course, to be fair, I didn't push for a big turnout. Lobby Day is the day we need the turnout.
The antis were rude and arrogant as usual. One of them actually chastised Delegate Kilgore during her testimony because Kilgore was talking to someone while she was speaking! THEN she starts her comments over again from the beginning to make sure that Kilgore heard every single one of her golden words of wisdom!
Abbie Spangler, with Protest Easy Guns, was unbelievably loud and arrogant in the way she addressed the Commission.
I was enjoying every second of it! Nothing like alienating the Senators and Delegates by being rude, impolite, and arrogant.
At the end of the testimony, the Commission decided to put off a vote until Tuesday, January 13th, on whether anything should be done with gun shows.
I plan on being there for the vote.
Regardless of what the Commission decides, I expect there will be another gun show bill put in this year and we need to make sure it goes nowhere.
Antis, like Senator Janet Howell, hate the political power that gun shows provide gun owners and would do anything to destroy those shows. We CANNOT let her, or anyone else, succeed at it.
There is a ton of coverage on this item. The press is very interested in it and that's all the more reason we need to have a heavy turnout on Lobby Day!
Limited gun-show measure could pass, legislator says
RICHMOND
An effort to close the so-called gun show loophole once again appears doomed in the 2009 General Assembly, but a senior member of the Virginia State Crime Commission said Tuesday that a less restrictive voluntary background check might get broad bipartisan support.
After hearing tearful pleas by survivors and family members of the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre, commission Chairman David Albo refused to allow a colleague's motion recommending legislation that would require mandatory criminal and mental-health background checks at gun shows.
"That's my ruling. I'm the boss," Albo said, to laughs, ending two hours of debate and testimony.
Gun rights advocates, several armed at the waist, turned out in about equal numbers to the gun-control activists and urged commission members not to fall for the "red herring" of the Tech tragedy. The shooter, who killed 32 people and wounded 17 more April 16, 2007, before killing himself, did not buy his firearms at a gun show.
Albo, a Republican legislator from Springfield, assured those in the room that he would take up the issue again at the commission's next meeting, just before the January start of the General Assembly.
Vice Chairman and state Sen. Kenneth Stolle said during a break that the commission would probably approve a strict background-check requirement at gun shows - something he does not support - but to survive the recommendation would need majority support from members of both parties on the commission.
"That's not going to happen," said Stolle, R-Virginia Beach.
Albo and Stolle both floated the idea of having a state trooper stationed at each gun show with a computer available to conduct voluntary background checks for a gun purchases. A State Police representative said that could be done if it's funded.
"That may pass," Stolle said.
Virginia is one of 35 states that do not require criminal and mental-health background checks for firearms purchases at gun shows. However, federally licensed firearms dealers are free to conduct background checks at gun shows and they often do, the gun-rights advocates said.
Federal law mandates that those same dealers conduct background checks for all firearms sales at their stores.
At Tuesday's meeting, the Tech survivors and family members lined the front rows of the commission meeting room.
"Are you really willing to take the chance that the next mass killing might come from someone who buys a gun at a gun show?" asked Lori Haas of Richmond, whose daughter Emily was wounded in the attack.
Lily Habtu, who was shot in the face at Tech, described through tears her injuries and recovery. When Habtu and her family moved here from Africa to escape war, she said, they never envisioned becoming victims of the same kind violence they saw in their homeland.
"So where is the freedom to go to school without it being your last lesson?" she asked.
Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, called the Tech argument a "red herring."
"Nothing that happened at Virginia Tech had anything to do with gun shows," he said.
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Even if the Virginia State Crime Commission recommends closing the gun show loophole, or perhaps suggests a middle-ground, supporters of the legislation still face an uphill battle in the General Assembly.
"It is a long shot," conceded local Brady Campaign President Andy Goddard. "We are looking at possibilities of how to introduce it in a phased way."
Goddard's son, Colin, was wounded in the Virginia Tech massacre. He hopes offering a compromise bill- a volunteer background check for private sellers- will help move things along.
"The [private sellers] will probably realize, ‘hey, this is no big deal- now I can get a background check, now I can sell that old gun that's been lying around," added Goddard.
One opponent of shutting the loophole, Virginia Citizens' Defense League President Philip Van Cleave, says he'd consider the compromise but worries it could be just a gateway for stricter legislation.
"If somebody wanted to do something voluntarily, I'm all for freedoms and liberties to do whatever you want," noted Van Cleave. "The danger is, something starts as voluntary, and then they tighten the screws down and now it's mandatory."
State Senator Creigh Deeds (D-Bath County) tried backing a moderate bill during last year's Assembly session, only to see it fail.
"I know that the Crime Commission has been working on this issue for the last few months, and I would be curious to see what the results of that work is," remarked Deeds.
There are currently 15 states that limit the gun show loophole in some capacity. Virginia is not a member of that group.
The Crime Commission will vote on a motion at its next meeting, scheduled for January 13, the day before the start of the 2009 General Assembly session.
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Battle Over Virginia's Gun Show Loophole
The debate about buying guns in Virginia is back in front of legislators in Richmond. Advocates from both sides of the issue made their case Tuesday, hoping lawmakers will deal with the so-called gun show loophole in the upcoming General Assembly session. For both sides, this is a very personal battle about whether Virginia should require background checks for every gun sale, including ones between private sellers at gun shows.
"It's our responsibility and duty as proud Virginians to close the gun show loophole in Virginia," said Lily Habtu, who was shot multiple times during the April 2007 shooting rampage at Virginia Tech.
Habtu and the relatives of other Tech victims came before members of the Virginia State Crime Commission Tuesday, encouraging legislators to make background checks on all gun sales mandatory. That includes transactions now considered private sales.
"These are not some backyard swap of a few guns. These shows are big business," said Lori Haas, the mother of an injured Virginia Tech student.
Those who support closing the loophole say doing so would help keep firearms out of the hands of convicted felons and the mentally ill. "By not closing the gun show loophole, we are only protecting the criminals here," Habtu said.
Others say private sales should stay private. "I take great exception to the term loophole because it really isn't true," said Dennis O'Connor of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a group that supports gun rights.
O'Connor and other gun rights advocates say regulating private sales tramples on their Second Amendment rights. "We're heading down a slippery slope," O'Connor said, referring to possible regulation of private gun sales.
Supporters contend such regulation puts the public at a greater risk. "I believe we have a moral obligation to defend ourselves, defend our friends, our families," said David Gilmore, who testified before the commission with a handgun strapped in a shoulder holster.
Tuesday's hearing served only as a public comment period. Commission Chairman Delegate David Albo (R-Dist. 42) decided to hold off on a vote on whether to recommend changes to the state's gun laws until January 16 in order to give the public more notice.
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Virginia Tech Victims Renew Call to Close Gun Loophole
By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 10, 2008; B05
RICHMOND, Dec. 9 -- One year after his sister was gunned down during the Virginia Tech massacre, 25-year-old Omar Samaha walked into a Richmond area gun show and was immediately greeted with offers from unlicensed gun dealers hawking their wares.
Samaha, who graduated from Virginia Tech in 2005, approached one of the dealers and asked to purchase an assault rifle. Within minutes, he said, the sale was complete.
"I wanted to see how easy it was, and it was by far one of the easiest things I have done," he told the Virginia State Crime Commission on Tuesday. "They never asked me my age. They never asked me if I had a criminal record or was a terrorist."
Samaha, whose sister, Reema, was killed in Norris Hall, and other relatives and victims of the Virginia Tech shootings came to the hearing to renew their push for legislation that would require background checks for all gun-show sales.
Last year, the Virginia Tech victims and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) pushed for a similar law, but it was rejected by a Republican-controlled House of Delegates committee. Despite that setback, the victims say they will fight even harder this year to get the legislation approved. [PVC: AND it was rejected by a DEMOCRATIC controlled Senate committee!]
Lily Habtu of Woodbridge, who was shot in the wrist and jaw, told lawmakers how her family escaped the war-torn African nation of Eritrea in 1985. As she broke down in tears, Habtu said her parents would have never imagined that the first member of their family to go to college would become a victim of the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
"This tragedy would have never happened had he not had access to guns," Habtu said. "I still can not fathom how this could happen here in America, of all places. . . . This is not the freedom that my family had searched for. This is not the American dream."
Unlicensed gun vendors at gun shows in Virginia are not required to conduct background checks on purchasers. Gun-control advocates call it a legal loophole that could lead to another massacre.
But gun-rights groups argue that changing the law would not have stopped the killings at Virginia Tech because shooter Seung Hui Cho did not buy his weapons at a gun show. They also say that average residents often buy and sell weapons at gun shows and that background checks could threaten privacy rights and hurt business.
"Nothing that happened at Virginia Tech was . . . in any way, shape or form related to gun shows," said Philip Van Cleave, president of the pro-gun Virginia Citizens Defense League.
There appears to be sufficient support on the crime commission to approve a nonbinding statement urging legislators to close the loophole when the General Assembly convenes in January. But Del. David B. Albo (R-Fairfax), chairman of the commission, delayed a vote on the recommendation for a month to allow more time for public input.
If approved by the commission and the Democratic-controlled Senate, the legislation would have to get past the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee, which killed it last year.
Del. Terry G. Kilgore (R-Scott), a member of the committee, said he and other GOP legislators would almost certainly defeat the bill again this year.
"I think it was sort of a red herring all along to relate the gun show loophole to Virginia Tech," Kilgore said.
Lori Haas, whose daughter, Emily, was injured in the shootings, said she and other gun-control advocates remain optimistic that GOP leaders might allow the bill out of committee. She noted that all 100 delegates are up for reelection in November.
"I think a lot of delegates realize their constituents support background checks," Haas said. "The state is turning blue, and they should fear their future spot being jeopardized."
If the bill fails, Samaha said he and others would be back.
"We are going to keep going until this law is changed," said Samaha, who has turned over the assault weapon and the other weapons he purchased at the gun show to Richmond police.
[PVC: And WE will keep fighting to make sure they fail.]
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Va. commission delays gun show loophole decision
By DENA POTTER | Associated Press Writer
December 9, 2008
RICHMOND, Va. - The Virginia State Crime Commission put off a decision on whether to recommend legislation closing the so-called gun-show loophole Tuesday, but promised to do so before the General Assembly convenes in January.
Victims and family members of those injured or killed by a student gunman in 2007 at Virginia Tech pleaded with the commission to support closing the loophole, in which private sellers at gun shows are not required to perform the background checks on buyers that commercial dealers must provide.
Others, most carrying weapons, asked members not to confuse the issue with the tragedy at Virginia Tech because Seung-Hui Cho did not buy the two guns he used to kill 32 others and himself from a gun show.
Some victims' family members accused commission chairman Del. David Albo of putting off a vote to protect fellow Republicans on the commission who oppose further checks.
Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle and Del. Rob Bell, both Republicans, tried to kill a vote on a technicality, saying that the commission's charge was to study federal and state laws concerning gun shows and not to recommend changes to the law.
Albo agreed, but said the commission usually studies issues then recommends legislation. He said he simply wanted everyone involved to be aware before a vote was taken.
"This is not an effort for me to wimp out on a vote. I like record checks at gun shows," Albo said. "My ruling is one of procedure that I don't think that the General Assembly or committees or the Crime Commission should be taking action on things that the public wasn't properly" given notice.
The issue was listed among eight others under the heading "Possible Legislation" on the commission's agenda.
Albo said he would call another meeting in January to vote on the issue but would not take comment from any of the 15 individuals who spoke Tuesday.
"I was slightly disappointed, but I know that's what politics is," Omar Samaha, 25, whose sister Reema was killed at Virginia Tech, said afterward. "They're trying to keep the guys who are going to give a no vote out of the hot water right now, but that's the way it works. But we'll be back. We're going to keep doing this until it gets changed." [PVC: WE will be there to see that doesn't happen.]
Proposals to require checks of private sellers at gun shows have been proposed for the past five years, but the effort gained fury last winter when the Virginia Tech families got behind it.
Despite their support, legislators killed the bill and sent it to the Crime Commission for study.
Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, reminded the commission that even if the checks were required, it would not have prevented the Virginia Tech shootings. Cho purchased a Glock 9mm at a Virginia gun store and a .22-caliber pistol over the Internet.
"Evil is just a tough thing to legislate out of the world," he said. "I wish you could do it, but you can't."
But the families said if Cho hadn't been able to buy his weapons he likely would have turned to a private dealer at a gun show. [PVC: There's not a shred of evidence to support that theory.]
"The next one is coming. Are any of you really willing to take the chance that the next mass killing might be by a person that gets his gun from a gun show just because he knew he could avoid a background check?" Lori Haas, whose daughter Emily was shot but survived, asked legislators.
Lily Habtu, 23, said her family brought her to Virginia from Africa when she was 5 to get away from violence. She said they never imagined she would be shot twice--in the face and the wrist _ while sitting in a classroom.
A bullet remains lodged in Habtu's jaw.
"By not closing the gun show loophole we are only protecting the criminals here, we are not undermining our Second Amendment rights to own guns," she told the commission.
It was the first time Habtu publicly has spoken about the April 16, 2007 shootings. She said she would continue to do so until something changed. [PVC: Huh? She spoke at the ""Lie in" at the Bell Tower last year.]
"I don't care if it takes a decade. I'm serious," she said. "No one should have to go through what I went through." [PVC: I agree with her. If VT hadn't disarmed students, faculty, and staff, the massacre could have been curtailed before so many lives were destroyed.]
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2. Victory in Spotsylvania County!
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Tonight five gun owners and the Sheriff of Spotsylvania County spoke in favor of dropping the fingerprinting requirement for CHPs in Spotsylvania County. Another five or so gun owners came to show support, but didn't speak.
I backed up the Sheriff's point that fingerprinting is not needed for a background check.
VCDL Board member Bruce Jackson pointed out that the County could just about pay for a new deputy sheriff with the money the County would save.
The Board of Supervisors then voted unanimously to drop the fingerprinting requirement.
Now might be a good time to approach YOUR Board of Supervisors or City Council if your locality still does fingerprinting and ask that they drop the fingerprinting and use the money for more productive things.
Thanks to EM, and gun show coordinator, Robert Herron for his efforts on this item over the last year.
An article on the hearing:
Weapon permit rules may change
Spotsylvania County supervisors will consider removing fingerprint requirement for those seeking concealed weapons permits
Date published: 12/9/2008
By DAN TELVOCK
Spotsylvania County residents may soon be able to obtain concealed-handgun permits without having to submit fingerprints.
Tonight, the Board of Supervisors will consider removing the fingerprinting requirement from the concealed-handgun permit ordinance. According to a county staff report, the national background check has never prevented a person from acquiring a permit.
A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for tonight at the Holbert Building on Courthouse Road. Public hearings begin at 6:30 p.m.
The state allows localities to add fingerprinting into local ordinances as an extra step before anyone can obtain a permit. The fingerprints are sent to Virginia State Police, who forward the applications to the Federal Bureau of Investigations for a national background check.
Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, said fingerprints are an unnecessary burden on law-enforcement agencies that process the applications.
"The State Police has already made it clear that [fingerprints] are not required to do a thorough background check," he said.
Supervisors are considering removing the clause because most of the local fee goes to pay the $24 cost of each national background check. By law, the fee local law-enforcement agencies can charge for the background check cannot exceed $35, and the total for processing an application cannot exceed $50.
Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office Maj. Michael Timm said the county won't have to pay a deputy two Saturdays a month to perform the fingerprinting. There has been a spike in permits this year, he said.
"It just alleviates the burden of us having to do all of that fingerprinting," he said. "We just about have to devote someone to that full time."