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Over 60 VCDL members were at the Falls Church City Council meeting Monday night. I counted 10 antis. The room was so packed with VCDL members that one of the antis sheepishly asked if she and her child could sit by one of our members. He, of course, welcomed them to do so. ;-)
Most of our members were from the area, but we had people as far away as Richmond come to the meeting.
The large crowd got the attention of the City Council members, who told some visiting dignitaries from Nicaragua that they were about to see democracy in action.
The Mayor was not in attendance.
Several VCDL members from Falls Church spoke, as did EM Dave Vann, Ed Levine, Ian Branson, and I.
I pointed out Bloomberg's true agenda, his vigilante actions in Virginia and other states, and quoted some comments from the many mayors who have left his coalition in disgust. I asked that the Mayor relinquish her membership in Bloomberg's shameful coalition.
Ed Levine told City Council that they have an illegal handgun ban still on the books.
Jim Sollo, president of the anti-gun Virginia Center for Public Safety, said that 26 people had been killed by CHP holders in the U.S. in the last 3 months. Even if that were true, what he didn't mention was that there are almost 6 MILLION CHP holders in the US! Also, Sollo said KILLED, not MURDERED. Big difference. A self-defense killing is not a crime.
(After Sollo spoke, someone from our side made a loud comment. That's something the anti-gunners do and it always makes them look bad. We must hold ourselves to a higher standard and refrain from any kind of outburst during government meetings. We can best get our points across by following the proper protocol and doing so politely, but firmly.)
Another anti-gun speaker said that VCDL was a vocal minority. That's rich coming from a group that turned out less than 80 adults last Lobby Day, while VCDL turned out 600!
At the end, after everyone had spoken, the Vice-Mayor said that City Council backed the Mayor being part of the coalition and that the City also wanted to be able to ban guns at government buildings.
At least he was honest about the Council's disgraceful agenda.
HOWEVER, this should serve as a strong reminder to all of us that some of the worst TYRANTS are the local ones.
WE MUST ALWAYS PROTECT PREEMPTION! Mark my words: without preemption, people like the Falls Church City Council and their Mayor would snap your gun rights away so fast it would make your head spin.
Those of you in Falls Church need to get together and vote them all out of office. They don't deserve to serve in the Commonwealth of Virginia. They are more fitting to New Jersey.
** I bless preemption every single day I do my job as president of VCDL.**
Dave Vann talked to the dignitaries from Nicaragua after we were done speaking to City Council. The Nicaraguans, who are coming from country that lacks many of our freedoms, had a much better understanding of freedom than did anyone on City Council. How sad is that?
Dave filed this report:
"It's obvious the 5 mayors from Nicaragua had common sense. They stopped me on my way to find them. I never had a chance to offer them the GSL stickers before they asked me for them!
We had a great time talking about Nicaragua, Costa Rica & Honduras. One of the interpreters (the woman) gave me her card and asked me to stay in touch.
All in all, great relations between two peoples that have something in common, FREEDOM!
I'm going to email her and offer an open invitation for the Mayor's to go shooting if they are ever back in the States again."
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Video of the council meeting is here (comments on the Mayor and her membership in Bloomberg's coalition start about 5 minutes or so into the video):
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Here is an article on the protest written up in the Falls Church News-Press. The article has two mistakes: saying that no one on our side who spoke was from Falls Church and saying that everyone on the other side was from Falls Church. Funny that the mistakes were twisted to make the reader believe that Falls Church residents were happy with their government and "outsiders" weren't. Not surprising - that paper struck me as being in the back pocket of the local politicians the last time I spoke there some years ago and things don't seem to have changed much.
Gun Issue Packs City of Falls Church Council Chambers
By Nicholas F. Benton
Monday, 26 October 2009 21:47
More than 50 persons wearing bright orange stickers reading "Guns Save Lives" packed the chambers of the Falls Church City Council Monday night to protest Falls Church Mayor Robin Gardner's membership in the Mayors Against Illegal Guns association founded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
While none of the protesters stated they were residents of Falls Church, but visiting from Loudoun County and other outlying jurisdictions, a dozen other citizens, all Falls Church City residents, countered the protest by speaking out in favor of the mayor's decision. Those opposing the Mayors Against Illegal Guns were led by Philip Van Cleve, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League from Newington, Virginia who accused the Mayors of a "hidden agenda of propagating law suits and propaganda against the gun industry."
Those Falls Church City residents supporting Mayor Gardner's decision to align with the Mayors group were led by Hannah Jordan, who a 15-year City resident who said, "More than two years ago, 32 members of the Falls Church community, myself included, participated in a lie-in organizede by ProtestEasyGuns in front of our community center...in solidarity with the victims of the Virginia Tech Massacre." She noted 450 mayors across the U.S. "support sensible gun laws" that "have one goal in common: reducing criminal access to guns."
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Tomorrow night I will be in Norfolk at 6:30 PM to handout GSL stickers to our members who are coming out to address Mayor Fraim for his involvement with Bloomberg's coalition. The City Council meeting starts at 7 PM.