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Good news from the House Militia, Police and Public Safety subcommittee #1 tonight!
1. SB 334, Senator Hanger, repeals the restaurant ban, passed out of subcommittee UNCHANGED 4 to 0! This is exactly what we hoped it would do. We need to make sure this bill passes the House Floor UNCHANGED and, if it does, the restaurant ban repeal will head to the Governor's desk! See ACTION ITEM below.
2. SB 408, Senator Vogel, allows non-CHP holders to have a loaded gun in a locked container or compartment in a vehicle or boat, passed UNCHANGED out of subcommittee by 3 to 1! Like SB 334, above, if it passes the House UNCHANGED, it will head to the Governor's desk for signing.
3. SB 501, Senator Lucas, makes it so that out-of-state DUIs count against someone getting a CHP for 3 years, same as an in-state DUI. Because some states simply don't have DUI laws similar to Virginia, the subcommittee sent the bill to the House Courts of Justice to see if any language could be worked out.
4. SB 580, Senator Marsden, which makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for someone under the age of 18 to have an airsoft gun that can fire a projectile at over 250 feet-per-second on K-12 school property, DIED because no one would second a motion to pass the bill!
Thanks for killing this bill goes to EM Mike Stollenwerk, as he found out late today that Fairfax County, which Marsden represents, ALREADY has an ordinance that makes carrying an air gun on K-12 school property a Class 3 misdemeanor (kudos to Mike for that discovery). I presented that evidence to the subcommittee and said that SB 580 wasn't needed.
The subcommittee agreed.
You would think that Senator Marsden would be glad to hear that Fairfax County already had an ordinance in place (as opposed to having to wait until July 1 for a change to Virginia law to take effect), but he didn't seem happy when his bill got tanked.
Marsden had supported the restaurant ban repeal as a Delegate and had led many to believe he would be a moderate on guns and would support the restaurant ban repeal if he became a Senator. But on the Senate Floor two weeks ago, he voted against the repeal (and all the other pro-self-defense bills for that matter), arguing that because the Senate had just passed a bill allowing guns in locked compartments and containers in vehicles (SB 408), the restaurant ban repeal was no longer needed.
Tonight, in a form of poetic justice, VCDL argued that because Fairfax County had that air gun ordinance, it was Senator Marsden's SB 580 that wasn't needed.
In the end, the restaurant ban repeal passed the Floor of the Senate without Marsden's support, but Marsden's SB 580 wasn't so lucky in the House.
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ACTION ITEM
Between Lobby Day and all of you sending emails when needed, Virginia gun owners are a force to be reckoned with! Let's keep that forward momentum.
We need to let the House know that we want Senator Hanger's restaurant ban repeal, SB 334, and Senator Vogel's handgun in locked compartments and containers in vehicles, SB 408, to both pass the House UNCHANGED.
That is important, because if either are changed, then there is another chance that the Senate's anti-gun leadership could kill the changed bills.
A win on the restaurant ban repeal is finally within sight - we must NOT drop the ball now!
Here is the link. Click, fill in your name and address, and send the message to your Delegate.