va-alert 11/17/25-meetings, gun shows, virginia-15 lowers, more

1. SECOND AMENDMENT SANCTUARY UPDATES!

2. VCDL PRESIDENT'S INTERVIEW WITH CAM EDWARDS

Cam and I discuss the sudden silence by Virginia Democrats on gun control. (Do not think a bunch of gun-control bills aren’t on their way, they are.)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAa_nOGFL-A

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And a writeup by Cam on Bearing Arms website:

https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2025/11/21/virginia-democrats-first-gun-control-bills-governing-trifecta-n1230688

3. virginia democrats considering licensing to purchase firearms

At the hearing, described below, it was mentioned that after Missouri repealed its handgun purchase permit requirement, crime went up.

That is a typical gun-control misrepresentation of the facts. Here’s what they don’t tell you: crime had already been going up for several years before the repeal and continued to climb after the repeal. The repeal did not cause crime to suddenly increase.

https://richmond.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/article_77c4325f-e27a-4800-b0ad-81b64501994c.html

Virginia legislators consider licensing to purchase firearms

DAVE RESS Richmond Times-Dispatch

Virginia could be on track to join 14 other states in requiring a license to purchase firearms, legislators say.

Virginia currently requires background checks before a person can buy a gun and bars some people — those convicted of felonies or who have been committed to a mental hospital, for instance — from owning firearms.

But unlike legislators in states ranging from deep blue Massachusetts to bright red Nebraska, Virginia's General Assembly has so far balked at the idea of licensing people before they can buy guns. Senate Bill 1109 died in committee in the 2025 session, as did House Bill 1424 the year before.

Now, however, “We’re definitely talking about it,” said Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, after a briefing to the Virginia State Crime Commission on how firearms purchaser licenses work in other states.

Still, it's not a sure thing.

One big issue, given the budget pressures the 2026 session faces, will be any potential cost, he said.

Del. Karrie Delaney, D-Fairfax, a commission member, said she wants to dig into data about any impact that purchaser licenses have on deaths from homicide and suicide.

“That’s what we’d be trying to achieve,” she said.

The commission's greenlight to criminal justice proposals usually has a big impact on whether those ideas make it into law.

Commission deputy director Colin Drabert told the legislator and citizen members of the body that some research found states requiring purchaser licenses do see reductions in homicides and suicides but that other studies were inclusive.

Limited sample sizes and timelines, along with failing to account for the impact of other laws, are problems with some studies, he said.

“We have to be sure that correlation means causation,” Delaney said.

Drabert said research does suggest that purchaser license laws, in conjunction with other firearm laws, may reduce firearm trafficking.

He said that firearms purchaser laws have withstood challenges that they infringe on the U.S. Constitution's 2nd Amendment right to have firearms.

Asked by Surovell about possible legal challenges to a license law, Drabert said the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Virginia, has upheld Maryland’s firearms purchaser law after it was challenged as an infringement of the 2nd Amendment, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review that decision.

Following Maryland’s law would be one approach unlikely to face any legal challenge, he said. Maryland's law is one of three that apply only to handguns, and it requires fingerprinting and completing a firearms safety course but does not require a risk-based assessment.

Instead of licensing purchasers, Virginia could follow the lead of Rhode Island and California, which do not require a license but do say people must complete a firearms safety course before buying a gun, Drabert said.

But enacting a license law would mean costs.

These include staff to administer a licensing system, creating and updating a firearm safety course, along with certifying instructors, and going to court when licenses are denied or revoked. Delaware has estimated that its new licensing law would result in some $7.5 million in recurring costs, Drabert said.

Earlier, the commission heard that a Lynchburg circuit court last month issued an injunction barring the Virginia State Police from running background checks on buyers in private firearms sales.

Attorney General Jason Miyares is reviewing the decision, State Police Captain Julia Gunderson told the commission.

“I thought we’d spoken on that,” commission chair and House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, said after the commission adjourned. “Maybe we’ll have to speak again."

Gun-related homicides declined to 418 last year from 511 in 2023 and the 2022 peak of 563, said Ryan Diduk, director of the Division of Death Prevention at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

But suicides with guns increased to 746, a peak, in 2024 from 732 in 2023, she said.

The number of people showing up in emergency rooms with firearms injuries declined to 2,292 in 2024 from 2,488 in 2023, Lauren Yerkes, a senior epidemiologist at the Virginia Department of Health, told the commission. That’s down from a 2021 peak of 2,818.

The number hospitalized fell to 676 from 831. That’s down from a 2022 peak of 929, she said.

Care during the 34,214 days Virginians with firearms injuries spent in a hospital from 2020 through 2024 cost more than $737 million, Yerkes said.

“What about collateral costs?” Surovell said. “That was 34,000 days people weren’t working.”

VCDL is having Lobby Day Flyers printed and we expect them to be delivered to us soon.

If you are able, and willing, to distribute these in quantity we could use your help. They could be placed in these locations:

• In every bag at the gun store
• Every bulletin at church or the lodge
• Hunter Ed or firearm classes
• Your gun club / shooting range
• The office
• Any Christmas / Holiday Party
• Any other place you can get the word out

If you are interested, please email the following information to  LDF@VCDL.ORG. Include:

• Your name
• Your street address
• Your city, state zip
• Your best phone number
• Your best email address
• The quantity of flyers you want 
• Your planned method and area of distribution

Again, if you can help out in distributing these flyers, Please email LDF@VCDL.ORG with the info above.

If you want to print your own (two sided) here is a link to the PDF version.

5. Lobby Day Bus reservations

6. vcdl's cyber monday sale

VCDL's Cyber Monday Sale Starts NOW!

Time to buckle up buttercup! With the upcoming legislative session being overstocked with gun-controllers, you need to prepare yourself to fight back! 

Part of that preparation should include a roll of VCDL's 3-inch "Guns SAVE Lives" stickers. Think of it as a 1,000-round magazine of freedom messages.

Give GSL stickers to your friends and family. Put them on the outside of outgoing mail, give some out at any event you attend, or wear one when you are out for a walk. Politicians need to know that gun rights are important every day of the year!

VCDL will be offering a discount on rolls of 3-inch stickers. If you put an order that includes a roll (or rolls) of stickers, VCDL will refund the shipping charge as soon as your order is processed. Go to the VCDL home page and click on "Gear" to get started.

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New Fulfilment Center Shipping Rate starting in 2026

Shipping charges will have to be raised at the beginning of next year. This will be the first increase in the shipping charges since the online store opened in January of 2014!

The new fee will be $12. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Thank you for your support! And see you on Lobby Day, January 19^th, 2026!

7. 2026 TRAVELER'S GUIDE MAIL ORDER SALE AND DEADLINE (AND FREE?)

The 2026 Traveler's Guide to the Firearm Laws of the Fifty States is being ordered and is expected to arrive about the 3rd week in January. If you do not want to wait until the next local gun show, do we have a deal for you!

The VCDL Fulfillment Center has a copy on order with your name on it! If you would like one, we need to receive your order by January 5th.

Orders will be processed in the order in which they are received.

There are two options:

If you want it sent in a sturdier envelope and by priority mail the cost will be $27.00 

If you want it sent in a standard manila envelope and by first class mail the cost will be $24.00

If you include a copy of your current unexpired membership card (or a completed application) you can reduce the price by $2.

To order, please send a check or money order made out to "VCDL" to:

VCDL Fulfillment Center
PO Box 254
Garrisonville, Virginia 22463
ATTN: Book Sales

NOTE: If you do not place "book sales" on the envelope, your purchase could be delayed by 3 weeks or more. Please help us to help you!

Also, please consider including a contribution to either the VCDL, the VCDL-PAC, or BOTH!

(If you contribute to the PAC, please make it a separate check and include your occupation, employer, and employer's city and state. Thanks!)

For every $100.00 you contribute you will receive 1 FREE copy of the 2026 Traveler’s Guide inclusive of our best shipping option above! Contributions may be to either VCDL, VCDL-PAC, or BOTH. 

Contribute $500 and you get 5 books for friends, co-workers, and family members!

8. vcdl members getting together in the washington/russell county area

Some VCDL members in the Washington and Russel counties area informally meet the second Thursday of each month at 7pm. The location is:

Fiddlers Restaurant

480 Cummings St.

Abingdon VA

Directions: I-81north or south off exit 17. It will be on the right, past the first red light.

The goal is to grow VCDL membership in the area and have a steady place to meet for fellowship and discussions.

9. free accuradio lets listeners vote weekly for charitable donations and vcdf is eligible!

10. gun rights office at the u.s. department of justice

This could be a positive thing:

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-justice-department-plans-gun-rights-office-within-civil-rights-unit-2025-11-25/

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https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/11/justice-department-harmeet-dhillion-trump-bondi-guns-civil-rights-division/

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Of course, it is the same Department of Justice that is fighting gun groups in court to keep the NFA registration alive, even though the tax on SBSs, SBRs, and suppressors is going to $0 starting on January 1.

However, that said, firearm attorney Mark Smith thinks this could be part of a strategy to knock down the NFA when it reaches higher courts:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGVu78W6Pts

11. great news for the 2a!

Watching the Department of Justice (DoJ) handling 2A issues can give you whiplash. This video, by 2A Attorney William Kirk, discusses a major move by the DoJ in support of our 2A rights coming up in a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court in January. Kirk also suggests that rather than being all in or all out with the schizophrenic DoJ, that we are better served calling balls and strikes with each thing they do:

https://youtu.be/4qCk4cLtAs0?si=snM93I_oDBd_Z5VO

12. fraternal order of police sells out gun owners on national reciprocity

I’ve had no use for the Fraternal Order of Police (FoP) since they spoke out against gun owners being able to carry in parks at a Richmond City Council meeting back in the early 2000s.

If you are in law enforcement and support the Constitution, you really don’t want to be associated with the FoP.

https://www.breitbart.com/2nd-amendment/2025/11/18/fraternal-order-police-urges-congress-reject-national-reciprocity/

13. fancy virginia-15 ar

14. guns the leading cause of death for children? not true

To make gun control seem reasonable requires lies and/or distortion of the truth.

https://thefederalist.com/2025/11/12/democrats-favorite-talking-point-about-children-and-gun-deaths-is-a-lie/

15. lawyer: six moments you can legally pull the trigger in self defense

In this video, gun attorney Tom Grieve looks at a real-life situation and discusses when the victim could have legally pulled the trigger:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jxrw-7YqfkY&pp=ugUEEgJlbtIHCQkeAaO1ajebQw%3D%3D

16. you fight in the military to protect our rights, only to have a vfw, of all places, put up a "no guns" sign! wth?

From previous VCDL Board member, Dennis O’Connor, who now lives in Florida, but comes to Virginia mid-winter to visit (don’t ask me to explain, as I am as perplexed as you):

I am retired from the US Army and a Life Member of the VFW. The Constitution means something to me, as does the sacrifices of my brethren who died face down in the mud for their oath to support and defend our particularly American liberties enshrined within it. 

Today I showed up at VFW post #10131, 105 Long Point Rd, Cape Canaveral, FL as a volunteer to help with an activity, and was shocked to be made aware of a new “No Guns” sign recently posted at the entrance door. 

With 35% of Floridians owning or carrying guns, and not seeing any such signs or support for gun control elsewhere in the community, I pointed out to one of the post officers that I would have expected better from a VFW post which purports to be patriotic and supportive of our constitution, and suggested that they just defer to state law rather than enacting extra-legal gun control. 

His answer was that “we are not like” the rest of the community because we are a “private club.” 

Let me point out that this post is not just a bar, but like other restaurants and businesses, has dining or other activity rooms. With members being welcomed to carry firearms in VFW posts I have visited in other states, I am outraged that the officers of this post, who have all sworn an oath to support and defend the constitution, are doing the opposite. 

Any visibility you can give to this issue which may influence the leadership into restoring fealty to their oaths would be much appreciated. 

Respectfully,
Dennis J. O’Connor
Chief Warrant Officer 3 (Retired)
US Army

17. vcdl member's book endorsed by massad ayoob

Plug of Christian Orr’s book on the Beretta Model 92 by Massad Ayoob:

https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/celebrate-beretta-92s-anniversary/?mc_cid=da422a772e&mc_eid=71bf93901c

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Book is here:

https://www.amazon.com/Five-Decades-Fabulous-Firearm-Celebrating/dp/B0FQMV2ZH6/ref=zg_m_bs_g_465306_m_sccl_4/131-5622417-1184267?psc=1