Va-alert: Vcdl Update 8/20/07

[W.E.G.]

-----Original Message-----
From: VCDL President
Sent: Monday, August 20, 2007 7:07 PM
Subject: VA-ALERT: VCDL UPDATE 8/20/07

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VCDL's Gun Dealer Legal Defense Fund -- help fight Mayor Bloomberg's
scheme to cripple Virginia firearms dealers. See:
www.vcdl.org/index.html#DefenseFund
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VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings.html
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VCDL UPDATE 08/20/07 - Defending your right to defend yourself

Thought for the week:

When you call 911, you summon a man with a gun to use force on your
behalf. The fact that you don't personally own the weapon in question
doesn't make you morally superior. On the contrary, it makes you a
hypocrite of the first order. You absolve yourself from having to use
force by shifting that responsibility to another person, and then you
congratulate yourself on your civilized attitude.
--Marko
munchkinwrangler.blogspot.com
[http://tinyurl.com/28cb5g]

1. Bill O'Reilly calls for resignation of VT president over rap concert
2. VCDL meeting at Norfolk County Rifle Range on 8/22
3. VCDL meeting in Richmond on 8/30
4. VCDL speaking at Norfolk City Council on 8/28 **We need a good turnout**
5. Daily Press article on GMU Students for Concealed Carry (GMU-SCC)
6. Cato Institute plugs GMU-SCC in 'Daily Dispatch'
7. Watch Andrew Dysart take on the media, the Brady Bunch, and more!
8. NBC affiliate in Charlottesville reports on campus carry debate
9. ABC News: Do weapons increase safety or threaten students?
10. Former G-Man: Would students be safer if they carried guns?
11. When it comes to guns, The News Leader prefers to 'keep it local'
12. Chronicle responds to LTE, praises Eddie Eagle program
13. American Handgunner: How could VT murders NOT have happened?
14. JMU weapons policy Q&A
15. Sen. Warner, citing his grandfatherhood, supports Brady expansion
16. Anti-gun judge gives Bloomberg green light to sue GA gun shops
17. RTD: Only good gun shop is a closed gun shop
18. Gun Talk broadcast on XM radio
19. Gun shop manager charged with selling guns on the street
20. Rookie SF cop accidentally kills self
21. Washington Times OP-ED on bearing arms
22. CT paper admits 'gun nuts' right, but author still contradictory
23. Daily Press reports on bank robber, formerly one of their own
24. LTE on guns in national parks in UT paper
25. Parker v. DC now known as DC v. Heller for appeals process
26. Steep decline in firearms dealers across the U.S.
27. August 28 is National Exercise Your Rights Day! Buy something!
28. VCDL & OpenCarry.org team up for Gun Rights Policy Conference
29. Who needs a gun at home?
30. Who needs a gun in a church?
31. Police chief corrects record in Missouri church shooting
32. Clarification on Goochland zoning ordinance
33. Williamsburg City Council video shows importance of preemption
34. Crunching the numbers on permit holders
35. Armed citizen aids Texas officers in shootout
36. Concealed carry permit reciprocity bill introduced (again) to fix
'loopholes'
37. Cartoon: The right to own a bazooka
38. Frito Lay profiles anti-gun group on Doritos packaging
39. VCDL picnic on 9/15
40. Gun shows and events! VCDL PICNIC IN SEPTEMBER!

**************************************************
1. Bill O'Reilly calls for resignation of VT president over rap concert
**************************************************

While Virginia Tech is busy keeping its law-abiding adult students
and employees unarmed because of an irrational fear that permit
holders can't be trusted to have a gun on campus, VT President
Charles Steger is welcoming a rapper who endorses violence and murder
to perform at a VT concert!!!

So, violent rap that glorifies the criminal misuse of guns is GOOD,
but self-defense (and using guns morally and justifiably) is BAD?

It is clear that Mr. Steger is inept and VCDL calls for his
resignation, as well as the resignation of the VT spokesman, Larry
Hincker.

It's time for a regime change at Virginia Tech.

The dangerous policies of VT when it comes to students self-defense
are themselves indefensible.

Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" is also calling for Charles
Steger to resign -- or be fired. (See transcript below.)

http://tinyurl.com/2govve

"Insulting the Virginia Tech Victims"
Thursday, August 16, 2007
By Bill O'Reilly

When students return to Virginia Tech in early September, there will
be a concert starring the Dave Matthews Band. On the program is a
gangster rapper named Nas, a man who makes recordings that are as
violent as they come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAS: Shoot 'em up. Just shoot 'em up. Kill, kill, kill, murder,
murder, murder. Shoot 'em up! Just shoot 'em up! What? Kill! Kill!
Kill! Murder, murder, murder. Got yourself a gun. Yo I'm livin' in
this time behind enemy lines. So I got mine. I hope you got yourself
a gun!

Start cockin' up my weapon, slowly loading up this ammo. Bust a shell
at the ground. Pellets hit the ground. Nobody like a snitch.
Everybody shut they mouth. Woolrich, Carhart, gun powder stains.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

So let us put this into perspective. After 32 human beings are
murdered at Virginia Tech, a concert welcoming students back features
a guy who traffics in violent lyrics.

How disturbing is this? The ***villain*** here -- VT president ***Dr.
Charles Steger***, who knows Nas is inappropriate, but is too
cowardly to do anything about it. We called Dr. Steger, but he would
not explain this atrocity and said his communications guy Christopher
Clough told us, "I saw the FOX report by Douglas Kennedy and it was
crap. I don't expect any better from Bill O'Reilly."

Fine, but here's the kicker. VT's student newspaper editorialized
against Nas performing. Usually, the students rally behind a pop
figure. Not in this case.

The paper says, "It is hard to imagine that our school officials not
foreseeing this problem when they agreed to let a rapper known for
violent lyrics perform. Songs that glorify murder do not belong at a
concert for the friends and families of murder victims."

That student editorial is dead on. So why is Dr. Steger embarrassing
his own university? Well, he's got a history of lacking in courage.
He allowed Marcus Vick, the brother of Michael Vick, to continue to
play football despite numerous criminal activities. His
administration was widely criticized for not alerting students to the
early violence last April. And of course, more people were killed
because they were not warned [or allowed to defend themselves --
O'Reilly doesn't mention the 'No weapons policy' - EM Hal Macklin].

With this latest court decision, it is clear Dr. Steger ***has to
go***. If one of my children had been killed at VT, I could not
forgive Steger for this latest abomination.

Now if you would like to let Virginia Tech know how you feel about
this, Steger's e-mail and phone number is posted on BillOreilly.com.
As always, please keep your comments respectful.
http://tinyurl.com/3d5cyk

Finally, the governor of Virginia, Timothy Kaine, needs to step up
here. You may remember that Kaine sat out the Virginia Beach
controversy over a criminal illegal alien killing two teenagers, but
enough's enough, governor. Having a rapper who trades in violence
performing at Virginia Tech insults the victims, the university, and
the entire Commonwealth. There is no excuse for this. And that's "the
Memo."

**************************************************
2. VCDL meeting at Norfolk County Rifle Range on 8/22
**************************************************

EM Ron Hyson has made arrangements at Primo's Pizza following the
VCDL membership meeting at the Norfolk County Rifle Range (NCRR) THIS
Wednesday, 8/22/07.

The meeting will start at 7:00 PM and will run until 8:30 PM, at
which time those that would like continued fellowship will head to
Primo's. You do not need to be a VCDL member to attend the meeting
or Primo's, so bring your friends and family!

NCRR is located at:

4321 S. Military Hwy
Chesapeake, VA 23321

Ron has created MapQuest links (below) NCRR to Primo's (Ron will have
copies of the directions to hand out at the meeting) and also from
Primo's to I-64 into Hampton.

Directions from Norfolk County Rifle Range to Primo Pizza:

http://tinyurl.com/yqp96j

Additional directions: When driving towards Suffolk on Military
Highway, the restaurant is just over a hill (going over the railroad
tracks). You will go past the road on the right and just after the
mailbox is a hard right turn going down into the restaurant. When
going the opposite direction from the Uppys gas station and hotel,
you turn left PRIOR to the road just before the hill.

Directions from Primo's Pizza to Hampton, Va.:

http://tinyurl.com/2egjob

**************************************************
3. VCDL meeting in Richmond on 8/30
**************************************************

VCDL is having a membership meeting in the Henrico/Richmond area on
Thursday, August 30th, from 7 to 8:30 PM at the Tuckahoe Library.

The address is:

Tuckahoe Area Library
1901 Starling Drive
Richmond VA 23229
Ph: (804) 270-9578

After the meeting we will adjourn to a local restaurant for continued
fellowship.

 

[W.E.G.]

**************************************************
4. VCDL speaking at Norfolk City Council on 8/28 **We need a good turnout**
**************************************************

In a little over a week, VCDL will be addressing the Norfolk City
Council over recent harassment of gun owners by the Norfolk Police
Department. TWO gun owners were each harassed TWICE. One was told
that the needless handcuffing and harassment would continue each time
the police saw him open carrying!

Worse, one member, Chet Szymecki, who was attending a festival, was
actually arrested and charged under a newly passed, and totally
illegal ordinance. Chet's wife was told she would be arrested if she
attempted to film the arrest of her husband. She, along with 5 young
children, were escorted off the public property where the festival
was being held and left alone on a corner in downtown Norfolk, with
no car keys or way to get in touch with her husband.

This cannot be tolerated and VCDL needs a huge turnout to get the
message across!

The meeting starts at 7 PM and is located at:

Norfolk City Hall
810 Union Street
Norfolk, VA 23510

Carry is legal in City Hall.

EM Dave Vann is eating at a local restaurant before the meeting
(reservations are at 5 PM). If you are interested in joining Dave,
me, and other VCDL members, contact Dave no later than Wednesday of
THIS WEEK so he can get a head count and reserve the appropriate
seating arrangements.

Dave's email is:

[email protected]

The restaurant is:

Freemason Abbey
209 W. Freemason St.
Norfolk, VA

If you decide to carry, the restaurant does serve alcohol, so open
carry is required by state law.

**************************************************
5. Daily Press article on GMU Students for Concealed Carry (GMU-SCC)
**************************************************

GMU-SCC founder Andrew Dysart writes:

--

This article contains a few small inaccuracies:

1. I am a junior, not a senior.
2. GMU-SCC is not an official chapter of any other national group.
3. Our main goal is to convince GMU to change their policy. Asking
Richmond for a law change would be secondary.

I was impressed that the article noted that VA colleges cannot
prevent the public from carrying on campus.

http://tinyurl.com/2eotgh

dailypress.com
Va. Tech killings underscore guns-on-campus campaign

By ZINIE CHEN SAMPSON
Associated Press Writer

August 12, 2007
RICHMOND, Va.

Some college students are pushing for their schools to allow them to
carry guns on campus, saying that they should have the right to
protect themselves in the event of a shooting like the one that left
33 people dead at Virginia Tech.

Andrew Dysart, a George Mason University senior, has organized a
chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, which hopes to
convince legislators to overturn a Virginia law that allows
universities to prohibit students, faculty and staff members with gun
permits from carrying their weapons on campus.

"There's no way to know what could have happened, but the students at
Tech, they really should have had a chance," Dysart said of the April
16 shootings, in which gunman Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and then
committed suicide. "They should have had the chance to defend
themselves if it came down to that."

Virginia law allows schools to decide whether to allow students with
concealed-weapons permits to carry their guns on campus. One state
school, Blue Ridge Community College, does so. Schools cannot
prohibit non-students or other outsiders from carrying weapons onto
campuses if they have legal permits.

"In a sense (students) don't have the same rights to self-defense on
campus as the general public," said Dysart, who said his four years
as a Marine shaped his ideas about self-defense. "It's really
lopsided the way it works."

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has said that individual colleges and
universities should be able to decide whether to allow students to
carry guns on school grounds. He also said that he would wait to see
whether a panel studying the Virginia Tech shootings makes any
recommendations on the issue.

Nationwide, 38 states ban weapons at schools, and 16 of those
specifically ban guns on college campuses, according to the National
Conference of State Legislatures. Other states allow schools to adopt
their own gun policies.

Utah is the only state that specifically allows people to carry
concealed weapons at public colleges. Legislation passed in 2004
allows concealed weapons on all state property, including colleges
and universities. The University of Utah--which had banned concealed
weapons for decades--challenged the law, but the state Supreme Court
upheld it in 2006.

South Carolina's legislature this year defeated a bill that would
allow permit holders to carry guns onto public school campuses.

Students for Concealed Carry on Campus members at more than 60
colleges are aiming to change their state laws to allow permit
holders to carry on campus.

Joe Culotta, a senior at the University of Central Florida, said that
he and fellow students had planned to form a group to advocate for
concealed carry even before the Virginia Tech shootings. The Knights
Rifle Association is seeking recognition as an official student
organization this fall, and plans to circulate a petition to send to
Florida's governor about the issue, Culotta said.

Many colleges generally oppose, for safety reasons, allowing
concealed-carry permit holders to bring guns on campus and have
resisted efforts to change the law.

In the Virginia General Assembly, a bill to require schools to allow
permit holders to carry concealed handguns was killed in subcommittee
this year, said bill sponsor Del. Mark L. Cole, R-Spotsylvania. Cole
said he'll wait until the Virginia Tech study panel issues its
findings before deciding whether to reintroduce such a measure.

"Obviously the current policy is ineffective; it certainly didn't
protect anyone at Virginia Tech," Cole said.

The International Association of Campus Law Enforcement
Administrators, which represents campus public safety officials, said
the presence of students carrying concealed weapons "has the
potential to dramatically increase violence on our college and
university campuses."

Allowing concealed weapons brings the potential for accidental gun
discharge or misuse of firearms at parties, including those where
alcohol or drugs are used, and the possibility for guns to be used to
settle students' disputes, the group said in a statement.

For their part, Virginia Tech officials haven't actively lobbied
against attempts to modify Virginia's law, spokesman Larry Hincker
said, but the university's position on weapons hasn't changed after
the shootings.

"We don't believe that guns have any place in the classroom," Hincker
said. "We've experienced far more of guns in the classroom than any
university should have to endure."

On the Net:
http://www.concealedcampus.org/

**************************************************
6. Cato Institute plugs GMU-SCC in 'Daily Dispatch'
**************************************************

Note: Robert Levy, also quoted and linked to in the blurb below, is
one of the lawyers who represented Parker in Parker v. DC

http://tinyurl.com/38fu6o

Students Push for Guns on Campus

"College students are pushing for their schools to allow them to
carry guns on campus, saying they should have the right to protect
themselves in a situation like the one in which 32 Virginia Tech
students and faculty were fatally shot," reports the Associated Press
[http://tinyurl.com/2frmpb]. "Andrew Dysart, a George Mason
University senior, organized a chapter of Students for Concealed
Carry on Campus, which hopes to persuade legislators to overturn a
Virginia law that allows universities to prohibit students, faculty
and staff members with gun permits from carrying their weapons onto
campus. ... Virginia law lets schools decide whether to allow
students with concealed-weapons permits to carry their guns on
campus. One state school, Blue Ridge Community College, gave
permission. Schools cannot prohibit nonstudents or other outsiders
from carrying weapons onto campuses if they have legal permits."

In "They Never Learn [http://tinyurl.com/2h3po5] ," Cato senior
fellow in constitutional studies Robert Levy writes:

"Anti-gun advocates, however noble their motives, help create the
environment in which horrors like Virginia Tech occur. Possession and
use of guns on the Tech campus violated state-imposed restrictions.
But crazed fanatics, undeterred by laws against murder, will not be
dissuaded by laws against guns. More such laws will accomplish
nothing. Indeed, liberalized laws might have enabled responsible,
armed citizens on campus to defend the hapless victims. It took two
hours for the killer methodically to massacre 32 people and injure
another 15. Why did nobody intervene sooner to stop the killer?"

**************************************************
7. Watch Andrew Dysart take on the media, the Brady Bunch, and more!
**************************************************

CNN Headline News video here:
http://tinyurl.com/2ysaqj

MSNBC video with Helmke here:
http://tinyurl.com/22ogmk

Various interviews on VA Gun Info:
http://tinyurl.com/255ojv

**************************************************
8. NBC affiliate in Charlottesville reports on campus carry debate
**************************************************

http://tinyurl.com/34ew7q

Should Guns be Allowed on Campus?

Reported by Matt Talhelm August 14, 2007

Virginia colleges and universities can prevent teachers, staff and
students from carrying guns on campus even when it's legal for them
to do it just off campus. Now, some of those people with concealed
carry permits are working to get the right to carry on campus.

Students at George Mason University are pushing their school to allow
them to carry concealed guns on campus. There's only one public
college in the state where students can do that -- Blue Ridge
Community College.

As a student at Blue Ridge Community College, former police officer
David Briggman carried his handgun from the firing range to class one
night.

While he could do it at BRCC, it's not allowed at a lot of Virginia schools.

"It's in our student behavior book that no guns are permitted on
campus except to the extent permitted by law," explained BRCC's vice
president John Downey.

There's no law banning people with concealed weapons permits from
carrying their guns on public college campuses. Statewide, schools
set their own safety policies for students with weapons. That policy
has some students questioning the balance between their rights and
their safety.

BRCC student Ryan Noley said, "I would think they'd be doing
everything in their power to prevent having weapons in an atmosphere
with so many people in one place."

"It's a scary thought, especially what happened at Tech. I think we
need to make more strict rules," stated fellow student Sarah Bowman.

BRCC continues to update its campus safety policies following the
Tech shootings, but the school says it's up to state lawmakers to
review what's on the books when it comes to students and guns.

Downey shared, "I think it will be revisited at every college across
the state."

BRCC says colleges across the Commonwealth need more guidance from
the state on this issue, especially from legislation so there's an
across-the-board policy on campus concealed carry.

 

[W.E.G.]

**************************************************
9. ABC News: Do weapons increase safety or threaten students?
**************************************************

http://tinyurl.com/2cbnhl

Do Weapons Increase Safety or Threaten Students?
Campus Gun Laws Decided by States and Schools

By MICHAEL SKOCAY
Aug. 15, 2007 --

If a college student is allowed to bring a handgun to class, will it
increase the risk of violence toward other students or provide the
student with a necessary measure of self-defense?

The issue of gun control has long been a subject of national debate,
but in the months following the mass shooting at Virginia Tech,
discussion has centered on college campuses.

On April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho used two
handguns to shoot and kill 32 members of his college community in
what stands as the largest mass shooting in American history.

"The university was struck today with a tragedy of monumental
proportions. There were two shootings on campus. In each case, there
were fatalities," said Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger, who
spoke candidly on the shooting later that same day.

Questions about Cho's mental health, the weapons he purchased, his
motives and security at the university became controversial issues
after the tragedy.

Now, as students return for the fall semester at Virginia Tech, the
questions of gun rights remain largely unresolved - both at a school,
where gun violence is a recent memory, and on the national scene.

A National Question

Gun control at schools and universities is legislated on a state
level, and there is no federal legal standard. Currently, 38 states
have banned weapons on school grounds, with 16 states extending that
ban to college campuses. Even so, individual universities are often
allowed to create their own campus security rules.

At the extreme end of the gun rights spectrum sit many rural states.

With vast stretches of land open for hunting and farming, along with
a sparse police presence, Montana is known for its liberal gun
control policy. It is a state where close to 90 percent of households
contain firearms, according to a Montana Shooting Sports Association
estimate.

This is, in part, due to a state law that allows Montana residents to
openly carry firearms without a permit, and to also carry concealed
weapons with the legal permission of a county sheriff.

Montana's liberal policies also stretch onto its college campuses. At
Montana State University, many students check their rifles and
ammunition at the front desk of their residence halls.

A recently proposed ban of concealed weapons on the MSU campus
prompted a heated response from students. "The idea that they're
instituting the exact same policy as Virginia Tech is ludicrous.
People who use guns for ill aren't going to follow university
policy," said Dan Bothwell, a premed student at the university.

Another western state, Utah, allows students over 21 to carry
concealed weapons at public universities, drawing on a 2004 law that
permits concealed weapons on state property. That law was challenged
by the University of Utah in a case that reached the state Supreme
Court, but failed to overturn the legislation.

Helping or Hurting?

Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is a nonpartisan grass-roots
group that supports gun rights on university campuses.

In a written statement on the group's Web site, Chris Brown, the
founder, and a senior at the University of North Texas, explained the
group's stance.

"As a college student, and a concealed handgun license holder, when I
step onto campus, I am left unable to defend myself. My state allows
me to carry a handgun in public, but there is some imaginary line
drawn around college campuses for silly reasons. And those silly
reasons are getting people killed, raped and robbed."

Jon Vernick, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy
and Research in Baltimore, said the contention that more guns make a
campus safer is simply wrong.

"Rather than arming students, we should instead focus on making it
harder for criminals and other dangerous persons to gain access to
firearms in the first place," Vernick explained in an e-mail to ABC
News. [AND if those efforts fail and a student is facing death at
the hands of a murderer - then what Mr. Vernick? - PVC]

"We have approximately 30,000 firearm-related deaths in the United
States each year - about 80 per day," said Vernick, "more than two
Virginia Techs happening every day."

While those on either side of the issue cite evidence supporting
their claims, conclusive data on right-to-carry laws and concealed
weapons is scant. "Research devoted to understanding the defensive
and deterrent effects of guns has resulted in mixed and sometimes
widely divergent findings," concluded a 2004 report on firearms and
safety, produced by the National Research Council. [So rather than
letting students defend themselves (since the alternative didn't
work), we should just throw our hands up in the air because some
study couldn't conclude that guns prevent/deter crime? - PVC]

Returning to Virginia Tech

Fall semester classes begin on Aug. 20 at Virginia Tech. An initial
report on last April's shooting incident, commissioned by Virginia
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, is expected to be released during the first
week of classes at the college.

A second independent panel, that includes former Homeland Security
director Tom Ridge, is expected to release its findings on the
shooting in the coming months.

In Virginia, the law states that universities can prohibit students
and faculty from carrying weapons onto campus, even if those students
have state permits to carry concealed handguns. [WRONG. Virginia law
does NOT state that. The universities are doing that on their own by
threatening students with expulsion and faculty with firing. There
is no other penalty. It's NOT a criminal offense. The public at
large is not affected by the prohibition, only students and faculty.
- PVC] Following the shooting in April, Virginia Tech approved a
violence prevention policy, reaffirming its ban on students and
employees bringing guns on campus. [Since the VT murderer violated
the VT gun ban policy (along with numerous other state laws), VT is
going to reaffirm their policy so that anyone with criminal intent
will know that they have a defenseless victim-rich zone. - PVC]

Not all Virginia Tech students agree with the university's ban on
weapons and, for some students, the April shooting was a sign that
students should have more, not fewer weapons.

"A law to prevent gun ownership doesn't do anything except keep good
standing people more dependent on the government, so I am against any
kind of gun control," explained Jeremy McClay, a senior at Virginia
Tech, who supports gun rights on constitutional grounds.

Referring to the Virginia Tech shooting, McClay explained that "If
students had been armed, I think the outcome would have been the same
... ownership of a firearm does not mean you are proficient at it."
[What? So someone with a gun to defend themselves would have just
laid it down, unfired, and bowed their head, waiting to be executed?
I don't think so. - PVC]

Jamal Carver graduated last spring from Virginia Tech with a degree
in engineering science and mechanics. He was in his Monday morning
engineering class when Cho began shooting into the Norris Hall
classroom. Carver, one of several wounded in the assault, suffered
gunshot wounds to his arm and stomach.

Carver shared his thoughts on gun rights. "I think I'd rather have it
where students can't have guns on campus," he said [Huh? VT already
had a 'no guns' policy that Cho violated. - PVC], adding, "there
should be some sort of system where a person has to go through some
kind of a serial background check" before being allowed to purchase a
weapon. [Huh? There already is. - PVC]

Four months after the shooting, Carter explained he is doing well,
physically, and that he is "emotionally fine ... besides the
occasional bad dream." He said he plans to attend graduate school in
the near future.

"A lot of people have sort of moved on," he said, speaking about
fellow classmates, many of whom go back to school next week. Carver
expects those returning to be more jittery and aware of their
surroundings when they attend classes in the fall.

"It will just be different."

**************************************************
10. Former G-Man: Would students be safer if they carried guns?
**************************************************

And from the "only police should have guns" mentality is a story that
makes my blood boil. As an ex-deputy sheriff I am embarrassed by Mr.
Van Zandt and his elitist, condescending comments towards the general
public.

Most police officers see the advantage to armed citizens, but as an
ex-FBI profiler, Van Zandt may not have had enough street
experience to understand that police rarely arrive on the scene of a
violent crime in time to save lives.

I suggest duct tape and blood pressure medicine before proceeding.

http://tinyurl.com/2kjk5k

MSNBC.com
Would students be safer if they carried guns?
Gun safety questions still linger four months after the VA Tech shootings

COMMENTARY By Clint Van Zandt
Updated: 3:45 p.m. ET Aug 16, 2007

On April 17, four months ago today, a major university and a nation
stood still in an attempt to understand the devastation that was
levied by one angry man with two guns. That morning, 23-year-old
Virginia Tech senior Cho Seung-Hui killed 33 and wounded 29 in an act
of rage that still defies explanation. In the aftermath of those
killings, many thought to themselves, "If only someone could have
stopped him sooner..."

As students at Virginia Tech prepare for a new school year, some
believe they would be safer if they were legally allowed to carry
guns along with members of the faculty and staff. It has been
suggested that had just one student or faculty member had a gun, Cho
could have been stopped before his total number of victims reached
62, thus saving perhaps dozens of lives. But others believe that the
ensuing crossfire between Cho and armed students could have cost even
more lives. [If I was at VT back in April, waiting for Cho to kill
me, I would happily have taken my chances on getting hit by
'cross-fire.' - PVC] They think our colleges and universities should
be islands of learning in the sea of violence that seems to grip our
nation on a weekly basis.

I do not see this as a Second Amendment right to bear arms issue. I
see it as a need and a safety issue. Do students really need to carry
a gun on campus for personal protection? [YES - PVC]

Notwithstanding the slaughter at Tech, the murder rate on college
campuses is 0.28 per 100,000 people, far less than the overall U.S.
murder rate of 5.5 per 100,000. This means that a non-student is at
least 20 times more likely to be a murder victim than a student at
college. That is the way it should be. Our institutions of higher
education should be places where people of all backgrounds come
together to debate and discuss different ideas, and, if they've not
learned otherwise, a place where they can be taught to disagree
without using violence to make their point and get their way.
Students need to fight for their ideas and beliefs, ones honed over
the blazing fires of verbal discourse and debate. But their fight
should be with words, not bullets. [I agree, but if someone INSISTS
on using bullets to harm innocents, then what, Mr. Van Zandt? - PVC]

Guns on campus seem to increase other risks

Within the last decade the Harvard School of Public Health conducted
a random sample of over 15,000 undergraduate students from 130
different four-year colleges. At that time 3.5 percent of the student
respondents indicated they had a firearm at college. This same study
concluded that students with guns on campus were more likely to
engage in binge drinking, to have DUI offenses, and were more likely
than other students to be injured severely enough to require medical
attention while in college. Overall, the study found that students
with guns on campus were more likely than those without guns to
engage in activities that put them and others at risk. [Oh, BS. Why
am I not surprised that anti-gun Harvard even thought to run such a
'survey.' Anybody want to bet this survey was NOT of ADULT PERMIT
HOLDERS? - PVC]

Were all states to allow guns to be carried on campus, I believe the
danger for everyone at such schools would increase. We know, for
example, that approximately 25,000 college students attempt suicide
and 1,1000 more are successful.

We also know that roughly 90 percent of individuals who attempt
suicide with a firearm are successful. If we do the math, as college
teaches us to do, the success rate of college suicide could increase
dramatically if guns were easier to obtain. Guns that were bought,
borrowed or stolen, perhaps from a roommate or from the desk of an
absent-minded professor who let students know that he or she had a
loaded gun in their office desk drawer. [This guy was a COP?
Unbelievable. His disdain for citizens is disgusting. - PVC]

If a student or a college employee is able to turn to a readily
available gun as a means of conflict resolution rather than talking
or walking away, the danger to all increases exponentially. [This
explains why police are constantly killing each other while attending
academies. Actually this is the same old, "blood in the streets if
two people bump into each other" argument that has been proven
totally false for over a decade now. - PVC]

Put yourself, for example, in the shoes of the campus police officer,
administrator, instructor or janitor who must confront a student who
could possibly be carrying a gun under his sweatshirt. The tension
between such individuals is automatically ratcheted up to a much
higher level, one that could needlessly impact on the dialogue
between the two. [Then police should leave their guns in their cars
while confronting criminals, because the police officer's gun would
only ratchet up the tension. Right, Mr. Van Zandt? - PVC]

Shoot or don't shoot decisions not that simple [Want to bet? Cho has
just shot several of my classmates and is now aiming his gun at me.
Hmmmm - should I shoot him or not? Hmmmm - tough decision. If I
shoot him, I live. If I don't, I die. Hmmmm - thinking, thinking.
- PVC]

During my time at the FBI, one encounter that sticks to my mind: I
crossed a darkened basement floor, one step at a time, I strained in
the dim light to see if an escaped killer was there and hiding. Would
he attack when I came into his sights?

In the dank basement was an old cardboard fireplace , something left
over from perhaps a previous Christmas play. I grabbed the faded red
cutout chimney and flipped it back.

A man came at me from behind the cardboard. He seemed to fill the
room in front of me. I stepped back, pointing my .357 at the middle
of his chest.

I yelled, "FBI. Freeze."

He did.

Later, as I was driving him to jail, he asked another FBI Agent, "Who
was that guy in the basement, the one that was going to kill me?"

I'm glad he understood that I would've shot him, and I am also glad
that I didn't have to. I might have been justified in shooting him
under the circumstances. But I didn't have to, so I didn't.

I did a tour of duty in Vietnam, took years of "Shoot / Don't Shoot"
courses, and have over two decades as an FBI agent. All that went
into my decision not to shoot. It was a decision I had to make in a
fraction of a second and one that I would need to make again.

But I had a lot of experience informing my instincts and decisions.
In any case, shootings involving FBI agents can be somewhat rare.
They're rarer still on college campuses.

Would it have been "better" at Virginia Tech on April 17? [Yes - the
students are not carrying a gun for law-enforcement or military
purposes. They aren't sworn to go into dangerous places looking for
criminals. They are free to run away from danger, if they can. - PVC]

I totally agree that a number of armed students, faculty or staff on
the Tech campus could have made a difference during Cho's killing
spree, but I'm not sure the difference would have resulted in a
better outcome. Would the armed students know who among those with
guns was the real shooter that needed to be stopped? How should the
police officers who flooded the campus looking for the shooter have
responded when confronted by one or two or 50 students and others
wielding guns as they ran helter skelter across the campus quad? [A
law-abiding student is NOT going to point a gun at a police officer,
FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! - PVC] Could the situation, as terrible as it
was, have become even more tragic were innocents to have shot other
innocents in the haste of a moment, trying to identify the real
shooter as they looked down the barrel of their own gun while their
heart beat so loud they couldn't hear themselves think? [Clint - you
missed your calling as a fictional book writer. - PVC]

I think our schools would be far safer if we work first to exclude
firearms from campus. Second, we need to work to identify the
students at risk such as Cho, and get those students psychological
help to develop appropriate anger management and conflict resolution
skills. If necessary, those students need to be removed from campus.
[And, we can all hold Mr. Van Zandt's hand and sing Kumbaya, while
swaying from side-to-side. That will keep those criminals at bay! -
PVC]

It's true that some shooters come from off campus, drawn to a school
because the shooter wants to assault and murder in a target-rich
environment. Such a shooter may also believe that no one would be
capable of stopping his horrible actions, much like the monster that
killed the five brave young women at the Amish school in Lancaster,
Pa., in October 2006. In these rare outsider situations, it should
first be the job of the school to keep such individuals out, and the
job of law enforcement, not armed students, to tactically intervene
when needed.

Many people are fully capable of making good decisions concerning the
firearm they carry on their person, but the chances are really slim
that they would ever need to fire a weapon in self-defense or to save
others. I just do not think the statistics, even when faced with a
once-every-40-year situation like Cho at Virginia Tech justify the
increased danger that allowing guns on campus could create. Your
second amendment rights are safe; just don't take your gun to school.
["Your Second Amendments rights are safe..." Not in your elitist
hands, Sir. - PVC]

Clint Van Zandt is a former [That's good news at least - PVC] FBI
Agent, behavioral profiler and hostage negotiator as well as an MSNBC
Analyst [MSNBC analyst - perhaps that says it all, right there -
PVC]. His web site www.LiveSecure.org provides readers with security
related information.

 

[W.E.G.]

**************************************************
11. When it comes to guns, The News Leader prefers to 'keep it local'
**************************************************

I wonder if the News Leader would feel the same way about localities
determining what was acceptable for The News Leader to print?

The News Leader knows that when it comes to guns, the worst tyranny
is at the local level. Look at Norfolk, Falls Church, Hampton,
Manassas, etc.

I am grateful every day that we have preemption in this state!

It's a free country and the News Leader is free to dream of
oppression if they so desire.

VCDL members will continue to fight for freedom.

http://tinyurl.com/39xzvp

The News Leader
Keep firearms decisions local

Before the mourning period for the 32 students and faculty members
gunned down on April 16 at Virginia Tech by fellow student Seung-Hui
Cho had ended, questions began to be asked about how another such
murderous rampage could be headed off. The suggestions have ranged
from the simple -- installing interior door locks -- to the
expensive: installing more cameras on campus and hiring more security
personnel. Inevitably, there has been discussion about the
advisability of allowing students to carry concealed weapons with the
inevitable argument in favor of that solution: had one student inside
any of the classrooms Cho turned into a killing zone been armed,
Cho's rampage would have been cut short quickly and dramatically.

The truth of the matter is that every suggestion that has been made
about increasing security at campuses in Virginia and elsewhere
remains in the realm of the theoretical and subject to a myriad of
random factors. Under some circumstances, one of these suggestions
might provide positive outcomes; in others, they may actually make
things worse. Such is the case where allowing firearms on college
campuses is concerned.

Proliferating the presence of firearms carried by students on campus
may make concealed-carry and other gun advocates happy, but it is
unlikely to have the deterrent effect that those advocates advertise.

The peculiarities of college life -- the general lack of a home base
where firearms might be securely stored, ready availability and use
of alcohol and large numbers of young and often immature people --
suggests that more bad outcomes may occur than good if large numbers
of firearms are present.

We object to any attempt by lobbying groups to overturn universities
or colleges rights to decide to ban firearms. We feel that the
current policy used in Virginia, which allows institutions of higher
learning to allow or forbid students to carry concealed weapons is
adequate.

Blue Ridge Community College is not VCU and the University of
Virginia in Charlottesville is not the same as its branch college
located in Wise. A blanket decision about allowing firearms across
the entire state is not the answer to making college students in
Virginia safer. Keep it local.

Opinions expressed in this feature represent the majority opinion of
the newspaper's editorial board, consisting of: Roger Watson,
president and publisher; David Fritz, executive editor; Cindy Corell,
local editor; Jim McCloskey, editorial cartoonist; and Dennis Neal,
opinions editor.

**************************************************
12. Chronicle responds to LTE, praises Eddie Eagle program
**************************************************

VCDL member TJ Parmele got a letter printed last week. He got the
paper's attention to the point that they felt compelled to respond to
him ;-)

http://tinyurl.com/3b6r6y

The South County Chronicle
Reader's Viewpoint-I Shook My Head Regarding Your Gun Rights Editorial

Published: Friday, August 3, 2007 1:22 PM EDT

I shook my head reading your editorial titled "Gun Deaths Versus Gun
Rights in the Light of Virginia Tech" [June, 2007]. I was shocked and
dismayed at the "facts" that your editorial reported. Again, the
media either forget to check facts, or deliberately leave information
out. This letter is an attempt to fill that void.

Here are the problems: Your editorial mentions that the National
Rifle Association (NRA) is essentially an impediment to compromise
and supporting sensible gun access. The NRA supports the National
Instant Background Check system; they were critical in getting it
passed in the 1990s. The NRA worked with Democrat Sarah McCarthy, a
noted anti-gun proponent in crafting and passing HR 2064, which
provides federal money to states to report mental health cases to the
NICS, so murderers like Cho are further limited from firearm access.

The NRA has a program called "Eddie the Eagle" that teaches firearm
safety to children in all 50 states. This teaches children four
simple rules when they see a firearm: Stop! Don't touch. Leave the
Area. Tell an Adult. The NRA is the number-one safety organization
that teaches firearms safety to law enforcement, sportsmen, hunters,
trap shooters, and individuals who want to defend themselves.

Your editorial also mentions the recent brouhaha between Virginia and
New York City. It's obvious that no fact-checking was done for this
statement at all. Bloomberg did not cooperate with federal, state, or
local law enforcement with his stings they were all conducted by
private investigators who videotaped the transactions. These same
private investigators sought to conduct straw purchases, which is an
instant felony under Virginia state and federal law. Bloomberg
civilly, not criminally, sued two dozen gun dealers in six states in
federal court for violating New York City public nuisance laws.
Bloomberg refused to hand over the videotapes to the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and only did so with the coercion
of a court order. The ATF has since ruled that no crimes were
committed by any of the dealers involved in Bloomberg's lawsuits,
they have since launched a federal investigation into Bloomberg to
see what laws he has broken.

Your editorial also gets it wrong regarding Cho and his access to
firearms. Numerous people at Virginia Tech reported Seung-Hui Cho to
numerous officials. Officials at the local level and Virginia Tech
dropped the ball in not committing him. If he had been committed, his
name would have been sent to the NICS database, thus preventing him
from legally owning a firearm. Of the 22 states that submit data to
the NICS, Virginia submitted more than half of the names.

I am not going into the statistics; they are cooked longer than
overdone spaghetti, and just as useful. I hope to see more editorials
actually going through facts instead of bleating the standard Brady
Bunch message of "more gun control."

TJ Parmele
Alexandria

-----------

Viewpoints' Response

Whereas the writer certainly is free to disagree, he is not free to
invent his own "facts." With regards to the NRA support of HB 2064
that occurred after the editorial was published, the editorial did
not question the good work in gun safety such as the Eddie the Eagle
program that the NRA performs; it challenged the NRA to support
legislation that would block gun purchases by criminals and the
mentally ill. The writer quietly fails to address the gun show
loophole supported by the NRA, which enables criminals and the
mentally ill to legally purchase guns in Virginia.

He is correct that Bloomberg's agents broke the law. He claims the
Virginia gun dealers committed no crimes. The evidence suggests that
the dealers did improperly sell guns; however, the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms is not going to prosecute dealers involved in an
illegal gun purchase sting. The bureau would not acknowledge an
investigation of Bloomberg.

After the Virginia Tech tragedy, Governor Kaine closed the loophole
requiring individuals who are deemed dangerous and ordered by a court
to undergo outpatient mental health treatment be reported to the
federal database of those ineligible to buy firearms. At the time of
the incident, only those actually committed to a hospital were
reported to the federal database. Mental health services are grossly
underfunded in Virginia and Cho probably will not be the last
mentally unstable person who does not get the care they need or the
dangerous access to a gun they should be denied.

**************************************************
13. American Handgunner: How could VT murders NOT have happened?
**************************************************

John Connor unblinkingly says it like it is. If you like political
correctness (speak/thought control), then you won't like this
article. If you think that Mr. Van Zandt (#10, above) is right that
gun **bans** save lives, then you won't like this article.

For the rest of you, here comes a breath of fresh air:

http://tinyurl.com/yof6zm

American Handgunner
Virginia Tech: Rage, Reflection and Rejection

Guest Editorial by Handgunner's own John Connor

Editor's Note: I discussed the Virginia Tech incident with Connor
during one of his rare "phone into the office" moments. After
talking, I realized John could say it better than I ever could, so I
asked him to send us his thoughts. Reading this, you might think he
was calm, thoughtful and methodical while he was writing it. Nope. If
we had strapped some cans of old paint to him, the contents would
have been whipped to a froth from the rage-induced vibration. Best
not to mention it to him for a while, perhaps -- until his Heat Index
drops below "volcanic."

How could this have happened? Is that a serious question? In a place
where possession of a gun -- and indeed, any effective means of
self-defense -- is prohibited; a place packed with young people who
have been taught that surrender and submission is not only the
correct, but the morally superior response to lethal confrontation; a
slaughter-chute where the prey were lulled by a moronic mantra of
"this is a gun-free zone; a safe and nurturing place; there is
nothing to fear," 32 are killed at leisure by a lone, armed
psychotic. Through a red film of rage, I ask, I cry, How could it NOT
have happened? Did thinking people not know, from both ancient and
modern history, and from simple common sense, that it had to happen?

First, disarm as many citizens as possible. Restrict their God-given
right to self-defense, and make those who successfully deter
predators the subjects of aggressive prosecution and endless
life-destroying lawsuits on behalf of their would-be murderers.
Create "killing boxes," and fill them with infantilized,
mind-massaged victims, and give them rules against resisting killers.
Forbid trained, experienced, armed citizens and even off-duty peace
officers from bearing arms in those zones, and ridicule those who
protest as "paranoids."

Coddle the obviously crazed and dangerous. Brush aside and ignore
their prolonged, repeated, graphic threats of grisly mass murder.
Minimize their malignant malice; indulge it as "diversity" and
celebrate its "otherness." If the most obvious threat is brought
before a court, then fumble and fail, without follow-up, and hold no
one accountable for it, because the guilty are "gentle,
compassionate, socially-sensitive souls." Do not blink at the ticking
time bomb's return to the classroom, where his freshly embittered
brain spews out even more and greater warnings of the coming
explosion.

Finally, claim this inevitable event, and the actions of its
architect "could never have been foreseen," even if, absurdly, you
"knew it had to be Cho" when you heard of the slaughter. Only a
"respected professor" or other half-wit could utter such words
without seeing their irony.

Above all, totally abdicate decision-making power on the issues of
arms and self-defense to those who are completely unqualified to even
address the subjects.

A Better Bloodbath

In America, many of our oldest and most onerous gun laws were crafted
by criminals and passed by their puppet politicians. Frequently their
purpose, as in New York City, was to prohibit arms to rival gangs. In
other places, like Chicago and San Francisco, their aim was to
criminalize ethnic minorities and "subversive elements," including
blue-collar workers with coal on their clothes and grease under their
fingernails; those who might organize and object to dangerous slave
labor conditions and perennial poverty.

Following on that foundation came more restrictive weapons laws
propounded by "progressive thinkers" and "social engineers," many of
whom also embraced the "science" of "eugenics," which called for the
euthanasia of "congenital misfits, morons and degenerates." Jews
were, as a race, defined as degenerates. The "progressive" philosophy
also envisioned a more "manageable, unarmed populace" of those who
were not quite bound for the gas chambers, but well below the
sophistication level of "gifted society" -- those "born to lead."
They only abandoned euthanasia, by the way, when the Third Reich
co-opted the theme.

Tyrants and gangsters still exert their influence, because corrupt
politicians prefer unarmed peasants; a simple fact. Their motives
ethically disqualify them from such decision-making. Then,
increasingly, our laws, policies and public perceptions have been and
are promoted and enforced by psychological cripples, the emotionally
unbalanced, and moral cowards.

Am I being rash and unreasonable?

Please consider this: Those who fear inanimate objects -- tools like
guns and knives -- and believe them to be intrinsically evil or
capable of inspiring evil, are clearly psychologically crippled. They
cannot think rationally about arms and their lawful use. Those who
cannot differentiate between armed, trained, dedicated guardians of
their fellow man, and twisted, predatory, psychotic killers, based on
shared use of firearms, are clearly emotionally unbalanced. Those who
so morbidly fear physical confrontation they preach submission and
surrender, even unto death, in preference to fighting for life -- and
seek to enforce that condition upon others -- are moral cowards.

None are possessed of the courage, wisdom and appreciation of the
dynamics of violence and counter-violence requisite to engage in
decision-making on those critical issues -- yet they do. They
persist, and the killing zones widen, deepen and darken with the
blood of innocents.

Our rights and freedoms were fought for and affirmed by brave and
brilliant men, now derided and ridiculed by academia and the effete
as "Irrelevant Dead White Males." Our rights have been stolen by the
unworthy. To them we must say, "Your way has not, does not, will not
work. Sit down and SHUT UP!"

 

[W.E.G.]

**************************************************
14. JMU weapons policy Q&A
**************************************************

This would make me laugh if it didn't make me want to cry. No doubt
James Madison is hanging his head in shame at what this university is
doing.

http://tinyurl.com/2cw78p

Questions
January 2007

GiGi, Dr. Waldo, and Joe all have permits to carry a concealed weapon
issued by the Commonwealth of Virginia. GiGi is a student, and she
carries a pistol in her Gucci purse. Dr. Waldo is a faculty member,
and he has a hunting rifle in the cab of his truck under the seat.
Joe is a staff member who is a part-time commissioned police officer
for the city, and he wears his service revolver strapped to his waist
under his jacket. Which does not violate JMU policy?

Answers
C. Joe. Only he can carry a weapon, because he is a commissioned officer.

JMU Policy 1105, Prohibition of Weapons, states: "No person shall
carry, maintain, or store a weapon, concealed or otherwise, on any
property owned, leased, or controlled by James Madison University.
This policy applies to weapons carried about the person and
maintenance or storage of any weapon in any university facility or
within any parked vehicle on university premises." "This policy does
not apply to law enforcement officials duly authorized to carry such
weapons."

**************************************************
15. Sen. Warner, citing his grandfatherhood, supports Brady expansion
**************************************************

Senator Warner, in true smarmy politician fashion, tries to play it
both ways in this form letter response to inquiries about HR2640.
Whenever a politician claims he or she "strongly supports the right
to bear arms," but then follows with a "but" or a "however," watch
out for what comes next:

--

[Dear Constituent:]

As a gun-owner and hunter, I strongly support the constitutional
right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms. However, as a
father and grandfather, I also support public policies that ensure
the responsible and appropriate use of guns. [So, as a father and
grandfather Senator Warner is free to urinate on the Constitution? -
PVC]

Thank you for contacting me to share your thoughts on the National
Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) and the purchase of
firearms. I appreciate the benefit of your views on this matter.

Established by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, the
NICS serves as a name check system for Federal Firearms Licensees to
conduct background checks on potential buyers of firearms or
explosives. Administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI), the NICS contains records, provided by federal and state
agencies, on individuals who: have been dishonorably discharged from
the Armed Forces; are lawful users of or addicted to a controlled
substance; have been adjudicated as a mental defective or have been
committed to a mental institution; are illegal or unlawful aliens; or
have renounced their United States citizenship.

Regarding mental health specifically, twenty-two states submit mental
health information to the NICS related to individuals determined to
be "mental defectives." In accordance with the regulations set forth
by the Brady Act, supporting documentation must be provided to prove
that an individual was adjudicated as a mental defective or
involuntarily committed for treatment. Currently, if state
legislation or privacy laws prohibit the sharing of mental health
information, states may provide information for inclusion in the NICS
without mental health specifics.

You may be interested to know that, as of April 1, 2007, the
Commonwealth of Virginia has entered over 80,000 mental health
records into the NICS index, along with more than 104,000 entries
into the Denied Persons File. Virginia is the leading state in
reporting mental defective entries for the NICS index.

On April 21, 2007, in response to the tragic shootings at Virginia
Tech, President George W. Bush directed the Attorney General, the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of
Education to travel across the nation and gather input on issues
related to mental health and campus security. On June 14, 2007, the
three Cabinet members made their report on this issue to the
President. This report included a recommendation that the Department
of Justice, through the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms, and Explosives, should continue to encourage state and
federal agencies to provide all appropriate information to the NICS
so that required background checks are thorough and complete. The
report also recommended that states re-evaluate existing state laws
to ensure that relevant information is made available to the NICS.

On June 13, 2007, the House of Representatives passed H.R.2640 by
voice vote. H.R.2640 would amend federal law to require the head of
each federal agency that has records relating to persons for whom
receipt of a firearm would violate federal or state law to provide
such information to the United States Attorney General for inclusion
in the NICS. However, this bill would exclude from use in the NICS
the name or other identifying information of any person adjudicated
or determined to be mentally defective unless such determination
included a finding that the person is a danger to him - or herself or
to others or that the person lacked the mental capacity to manage his
or her own affairs. H.R.2640 would also direct the Attorney General
to make grants to state and to Indian tribal governments for the
establishment or upgrade of information and identification
technologies to determine firearms eligibility.

In the Senate, matters involving firearms generally fall under the
jurisdiction of the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which I am not a
member. However, I appreciate your thoughts on this issue, and I will
be certain to keep them in mind should H.R.2640 or related
legislation come before me in the Senate.

As a gun-owner and hunter, I strongly support the constitutional
right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms. However, as a
father and grandfather, I also support public policies that ensure
the responsible and appropriate use of guns.

Again, thank you for contacting me.

With kind regards, I am

Sincerely,
John W. Warner
United States Senator

**************************************************
16. Anti-gun judge gives Bloomberg green light to sue GA gun shops
**************************************************

YAWWWWNNNNN! Wow - what a surprise. VCDL has been saying Weinstein
would do this from the beginning.

Judge Jack Weinstein has never seen a lawsuit against a gun
manufacturer or a gun store that he did not love. He passes them
forward as a matter of course.

If nothing else, he is predictable.

He also gets overturned regularly ;-)

http://tinyurl.com/27un4k

Federal lawsuit against Georgia gun dealers clears hurdle New York
City accuses merchants of illegal sales

By BILL RANKIN, RHONDA COOK
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/15/07

A federal judge on Wednesday kept alive a lawsuit accusing Georgia
gun dealers of illegally selling firearms that end up being used in
crimes in New York City.

In a 99-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein in Brooklyn
said he found ample evidence the gun dealers "have been responsible
for the funneling into New York of large quantities of handguns used
by local criminals to terrorize significant portions of the city's
population."

The judge rejected motions filed by a number of gun shops, including
Adventure Outdoors in Smyrna, that sought to dismiss the lawsuit
filed by the city of New York. Adventure Outdoors and other gun
stores in Ohio, Virginia and South Carolina argued they couldn't be
sued in federal court in New York.

In a statement, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg applauded the ruling.

"Today's decision affirms that New York's courts do indeed have
jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit against out of state gun dealers whose
guns most often end up in the hands of criminals," Bloomberg said.
"And it shows that cities can hold those who cause harm to innocent
people and the police who protect us accountable."

Eric Wallace of Adventure Outdoors referred questions about the
ruling to the company's lawyers. They could not be reached for
comment.

The city of New York filed its lawsuit in May 2006 against numerous
gun dealers, including five in Georgia.

Three of the Georgia gun shops -- Welsh Pawn Shop in Savannah, AAA
Gun & Pawn Brokers in Hephizbah and A-1 Jewelry & Pawn in Augusta --
have reached settlement agreements, according to court records. A
special master, assigned by the court, is monitoring their gun sales
and business practices. Another Georgia dealer, the Gun Store in
Doraville, did not join in the motions to dismiss the case and
remains a defendant in the lawsuit.

Two months after the city of New York filed the lawsuit, Adventure
Outdoors filed a $400 million libel suit against the city and
Bloomberg. That case is pending in federal court in Atlanta.

In his ruling, Weinstein noted that between 1995 and 2005 there were
at least eight federal prosecutions for illegal purchases in which
Adventure Outdoors was the source of the guns. He also cited five
crimes committed in the city between 1996 and 2001 involving guns
purchased at Adventure Outdoors. Weinstein set a Jan. 7 trial date.

The judge said New York has a strong interest in the safety of its
residents from handgun violence. "The activities which the defendants
are alleged to be involved in are illegal and against the public
interest in all states," the judge wrote.

**************************************************
17. RTD: Only good gun shop is a closed gun shop
**************************************************

Of course, Ray McAllister claims "legitimate gun dealers should be
able to operate," but the question is, what does he consider
legitimate? Probably only those operating under Bloomberg's "Special
Masters."

http://tinyurl.com/2ojydr

No one wants blame for crimes with illegal guns

Thursday, Aug 16, 2007 - 12:08 AM
By RAY MCALLISTER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST

Call it the tale of two gun shops.

Tuesday's column reported that Cole's Gun Shop of South Boston, which
settled a lawsuit initiated by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
alleging illegal gun sales, has closed.

Don't expect a settlement from the Bob Moates Sport Shop in
Chesterfield County.

The Chesterfield business is another of the 27 gun shops in several
states, including six in Virginia, sued for allegedly contributing to
New York City's crime with illegal gun sales. Twelve shops have
settled, including two in Virginia.

But Moates said he will fight.

"When you're right, you're right," Moates said yesterday from his
sister shop in Charlotte County. "And when you're wrong, you're
wrong, and [Bloomberg is] definitely wrong. He's violating my rights
with a frivolous suit."

But Bloomberg's sting operation brings up this key question: Are
dealers doing all they can to curb illegal sales?

How much should we expect them to do?

Michael Cole, brother and lawyer of the South Boston gun shop owner,
said: "Essentially, the [suit's] claim was that we were supposed to
read what was in people's minds based on cues that were vague or
ambiguous."

He said the shop has turned down suspicious sales by the hundreds.

Mark Cole, the shop's owner, said his own ill heath and the store's
dwindling business were the major factors in its closing.

But the Bloomberg lawsuit contributed, he said. Mark Cole said he has
always respected the law; his father, the store's founder, was a
police officer.

"To have this come along and smear what good name I've built up is
very unsettling," he said.

He said a boycott of his shop by the Virginia Citizens Defense League
gun-rights group had no effect on his business or his decision.

In fact, he said he supports groups and shops that want to fight Bloomberg.

The irony here is that no one wants guns sold illegally. Mark Cole
said he does not believe a gun dealer is responsible for a crime
involving a weapon he sells if the sale was not "knowingly illegal."

But is that the best standard?

A gun-control group has said Moates' shop sold 22 guns that were
recovered by New York City police between 1994 and 2002 and that
several allegedly were used in homicides.

Moates was adamant yesterday that he's not responsible, equating his
role to a car dealer's role in a crash.

"If anybody is responsible," Moates said, "New York is responsible
for not enforcing their laws. They send their dope down here, that's
what really causing the trouble . . . fighting over turf for drug
control."

Meanwhile, Mark Cole said he likely won't reopen his South Boston
shop, but if he does, he will sell only sporting goods, fishing
equipment, archery equipment and such.

"The political climate these days is not conducive to gun business,
which is a shame," he said.

It is a shame. Legitimate gun dealers should be able to operate.

But a bigger shame is illegal gun sales that lead to crime.

Gun-rights advocates may believe nothing's worse than keeping guns
from deserving owners.

But there is something worse -- the carnage that results when guns
fall into the wrong hands. [Oh, please. Guns don't just fall out of
the sky into the criminal's hands. Criminals seek out guns and WILL
get them, no matter what. Ray simply doesn't understand the real
world. Too bad - PVC]

 

[W.E.G.]

**************************************************
18. Gun Talk broadcast on XM radio
**************************************************

Thanks to Michael Dreher for the info:

Gun Talk is also broadcast on XM radio channel 166.

**************************************************
19. Gun shop manager charged with selling guns on the street
**************************************************

http://tinyurl.com/34a7ka

Gun shop manager charged with selling guns on the street

WVEC.com
10:46 PM EDT on Monday, August 13, 2007
Reported by: Shannon Sims

Police have charged the manager of a Va. Beach gun shop with stealing
guns from the store and selling them on the streets.

According to an affidavit obtained by our partners at The
Virginian-Pilot, Marcus McCall was a manager at A&P Arms Store for a
year and a half, but worked in the gun shop for four years.

An investigation started in April revealed McCall had given or sold a
number of rifles and handguns to employees of A&P and friends.

According to the affidavit, the owner was tipped off about two rifles
sold and given away by McCall. When inventory didn't match up with
paperwork, the business owner contacted authorities.

Police searched McCall's Virginia Beach home and recovered thirty
handguns and rifles.

In a police interview, McCall claims he purchased the weapons from
the store, but could not explain why the weapons were not logged into
inventory or why there was no record of him ever paying for the
weapons.

Witnesses told federal agents McCall sold them guns ranging in price
from $160 to $400 for a Panther Arms AR-15 rifle.

McCall's father says the guns were purchased, not stolen, and this is
all a misunderstanding that will have to be cleared up through the
legal system.

McCall has been charged with embezzlement. He is presently behind
bars awaiting a bond hearing.

**************************************************
20. Rookie SF cop accidentally kills self
**************************************************

This officer was apparently counting on his gun having a 'magazine
safety,' where the gun won't fire if the magazine is removed.
Unfortunately, either his gun didn't have that feature OR the safety
malfunctioned.

Either way, NEVER POINT A GUN AT SOMETHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO
DESTROY AND KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL READY TO SHOOT.

http://tinyurl.com/yv9q6d

San Francisco Chronicle
Rookie cop who killed himself removed clip, left bullet in chamber

Jaxon Van Derbeken, John Cote, Chronicle Staff Writers
Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The San Francisco rookie police officer who accidentally shot himself
to death fired his weapon while displaying for a female friend how
officers are taught to avoid having their guns used against them, law
enforcement authorities said Tuesday.

The incident happened at 1:40 a.m. Saturday during a gathering of as
many as 15 people at the San Mateo apartment of the 23-year-old
officer, James Gustafson Jr.

According to those familiar with the incident, Gustafson was showing
his Police Department-issued semiautomatic pistol after removing the
clip that stores the rounds. He explained that there are ways an
officer can disable a weapon in close proximity to keep it from being
fired.

It apparently was part of a demonstration of the department's
"weapons retention" procedures. However, there was still a bullet in
the chamber.

Gustafson pointed the weapon at his neck and pulled the trigger,
shooting himself, according to authorities.

San Francisco Police Department policy is never to point a gun at a
target that an officer does not intend to shoot, authorities said.

San Mateo police Capt. Kevin Raffaelli, whose agency is leading the
investigation of the incident, declined to comment Tuesday other than
to say that police do not believe other officers were present at the
time of the shooting.

Some of those at the party apparently were drinking, authorities
said. Toxicology results from Gustafson's autopsy will not be
available for several weeks.

Gustafson graduated from the San Francisco Police Academy in January
and had just finished a six-month stint in the Mission District under
a field training officer. He had recently been assigned to the
department's Central Station.

E-mail the writers at [email protected] and [email protected].

**************************************************
21. Washington Times OP-ED on bearing arms
**************************************************

http://tinyurl.com/ypsnkl

WashingtonTimes.com
Article published Aug 13, 2007

Bearing arms
Scott McPherson

August 13, 2007


The men who founded our nation understood that government was
necessary to preserve the people's freedoms. But they also knew that
government agents could not always be trusted to use their authority
justly, and that government remains the single greatest threat to the
rights and liberties of the people.

America's Founding Fathers knew that freedom required that the people
always retain the ability to take government out of the hands of
abusive officials, "to throw off such Government, and to provide new
Guards for their future Security." This was far from just some lofty
theory to the Founders. They had witnessed oppressive government
firsthand and had seen this principle unfold in dramatic practice as
thousands of armed citizens took up their muskets and drove the
king's soldiers -- their government's soldiers -- back to Boston on
April 19, 1775. The United States was born out of the fight against
tyranny.

Most important, the Framers remembered this when they created a new
Constitution. To ensure that government remains in the hands of the
people, the Second Amendment guaranteed that the citizen militia
would remain sacrosanct.

The right of the people to keep and bear arms is the least understood
of all rights mentioned in the Constitution. Few today have any idea
of the true meaning and intent of this provision, and most people are
more likely to deride this right either as an archaic and unnecessary
remnant of an embarrassing past, or at best merely some benign
assurance that "sportsmen" will be able to go hunting. Neither is
true.

The right of the people to keep and bear arms is an important and
integral part of what it means to be an American. In fact, it could
be said to represent the most important and integral part of being an
American. When our ancestors followed the example of half the state
governments and included a "right to arms" provision in the Federal
Bill of Rights, they unapologetically and irrefutably established a
nation of free and autonomous individuals.

By granting legal and moral recognition to the right to keep and bear
arms in the Constitution -- "the law of the land" -- Americans made
concrete in practice that every single free citizen would remain the
final repository of political power. Early American statesmen were
following the sage advice of such men as the Scottish philosopher and
militia advocate Andrew Fletcher, who argued that "arms are the only
true badges of liberty," providing "the distinction of a free man
from a slave."

Without arms, the people's rights could too easily become prey to the
whim of an ambitious executive, the edicts of a corrupt legislature
or the proclamations of false-hearted judges. Under an armed
citizenry, this becomes much more difficult. Government must proceed
carefully when exercising power, lest a "long Train of Abuses and
Usurpations" inspire the people to again water the "tree of liberty .
. . with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

In no other culture and under no other government has the importance
of an armed citizenry been made so explicit or as carefully
guaranteed as it has under the American constitutional order. While
both ancient Rome and the British Parliament paid statutory lip
service to the value of being armed, only in the United States was
being armed recognized as an inviolable right protected by the
Constitution. What started with gunfire at Lexington and Concord
ended with the words of Tench Coxe, a friend of James Madison: "Their
swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the
birth-right of an American. . . . [The] unlimited power of the sword
is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but,
where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people."

James Madison also understood the ultimate, fail-safe role of the
citizen militia. In Federalist 46, he dismissed fears of a standing
army being used against the people because it "would be opposed [by]
a militia. . . with arms in their hands." A few years later he would
write what became the Second Amendment, with its promise that "the
right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed."

If the average person today wonders about his relationship to his
government, the Second Amendment provides ample guidance. It
represents the ideal of American political and social life: the
individual, self-governing, self-motivated, self-respecting,
dignified, free citizen -- who takes these virtues so seriously that
he will maintain the personal power to back them up.

Scott McPherson is a policy advisor at the Future of Freedom Foundation.

**************************************************
22. CT paper admits 'gun nuts' right, but author still contradictory
**************************************************

At least it's a big step in the right direction...

These comments relate to Item #5 in the 8/13/07 Update. The URL for
the editorial is: http://tinyurl.com/32rqby

Member Paul Fraser writes:

--

In response to the editorial about the Connecticut brutalities, I had
a thought I wanted to add: This writer seems to contradict himself.

"Might the Second Amendment matter almost as much as the First? I
think the answer is yes. And just like the First, the Second is
practical, newly relevant, and far wiser than the watered-down
alternatives."

and then...

"Mind you, we are talking about arming people who are trained and
know how to use a weapon.

No one should have a gun who has not been trained.

Just as one gets training in handling a boat, motorcycle, or car, one
must learn how to use and safely store a gun. (The National Rifle
Association maintains an extensive national network of programs in
firearms training and education.)"

Do people have to get training before being allowed to write or speak
before the public? Do people have to get training before they are
protected from unlawful searches and seizures? In one breath he says
that they are equal amendments, and in another breath he contradicts
himself. Driving a car or handling a boat are privileges, not
constitutionally protected rights. There is a distinct difference.

 

[W.E.G.]

**************************************************
23. Daily Press reports on bank robber, formerly one of their own
**************************************************

I finally understand the strong anti-gun attitude of the editorial
staff of the Daily Press! It's self preservation. They don't want
to get shot while moonlighting as bank robbers! ;-)

All kidding aside, they did 'fess up by running the story:

http://tinyurl.com/2uutut

dailypress.com
Newport News man arrested in Gloucester bank robbery

BY MATHEW PAUST 757-247-4760
Daily Press
8:10 PM EDT, August 14, 2007
GLOUCESTER

Gloucester County's sheriff and several deputies helped pull a
Newport News man out of the York River before arresting him in
connection with a lunchtime bank robbery on Route 17.

Mario Anthony Orlikoff of Main Street in Newport News was arrested
shortly after noon by Sheriff Robin P. Stanaway and several deputies,
according to information released by the Gloucester County Sheriff's
Office.

Employees of Chesapeake Bank, on Route 17 in the Wicomico community,
called police emergency dispatchers about 12:15 p.m. to report a
robbery in progress. The callers said the robber, who wore a ball cap
and a dark jacket, handed a teller a note demanding money.

The teller complied, and the robber dashed out of the bank with an
undisclosed amount of cash.

According to the news release, an "alert citizen" at the bank's
drive-through window witnessed the robbery and followed the suspect
after he fled the bank and drove off.

The citizen kept telling the 911 dispatcher information until
deputies could reach the area.

The man then abandoned his car and ran off. Deputies eventually
spotted him swimming in the York River. Stanaway and members of his
criminal investigations division helped the man ashore and arrested
him, the statement said.

Investigators recovered what they believe was the note used in the
robbery, a toy gun and clothing similar to that used in the robbery.

The money was not recovered.

***Orlikoff is a former Daily Press assistant sports editor.***

The robbery was the second bank robbery in Gloucester this year.

**************************************************
24. LTE on guns in national parks in UT paper
**************************************************

http://tinyurl.com/ynlvec

Guns in parks
Article Last Updated: 08/13/2007 12:12:56 AM MDT

Congressman Ron Paul's bill, HR1897, will allow law-abiding gun
owners to be able to carry a handgun for self-defense in a national
park. The U.S. Constitution is very clear that the federal government
(including bureaucrats and politicians) has no authority to deprive
Americans of the right to keep and bear arms, even in national parks.

The bureaucracy of the Department of the Interior has arrogantly
refused to seriously consider changing its current regulations to
allow citizens the right to self-defense, even though crime is on the
rise in national parks.

There is substantial evidence that criminals do not respect gun-free
zones such as national parks and schools. There are sufficient
existing laws to punish those who commit a crime with a gun in
national parks. So there is no need to criminalize the possession of
a self-defense tool in these locations.

Congress and the president must act immediately to allow innocent
persons to protect their own lives, and those of other innocent
persons, in national parks.

Blaine Nay
Cedar City

**************************************************
25. Parker v. DC now known as DC v. Heller for appeals process
**************************************************

Jeff Knox of The Firearms Coalition writes:

Activists should be aware of the fact that as the "Parker" case heads
to appeal at the Supreme Court, it is no longer known as Parker v. DC.

The pleading for certiorari will be titled "District of Columbia v.
Heller" since Heller was the only plaintiff in the original case who
was actually found to have legal standing and the roles have switched
for the appeal.

This change has made it difficult for many people trying to keep up
with the case to locate information since they were searching for the
wrong case title. The Supreme Court did grant the Districts request
for more time to file their appeal and that time runs out on
September 5.

One of the primary reasons for the requested delay -- and probably
for the decision to appeal itself -- is the fact that DC has managed
to hire a prominent anti-gun law professor to head up their case. The
Professor only became available in the past month or so and they
wanted him to be able to supervise the whole shebang. (Or at least
that's what I think.)

I am currently writing a short piece on this subject for inclusion in
the upcoming edition of the Hard Corps Report which we hope to have
in the mail next week. If you do not currently receive the HCR, all
it takes is a donation (or really just a request, but we much prefer
requests that are accompanied by a donation to help defray our costs.)

Remember that your CongressCritters are home this month; make sure
they get voting advice from you while they're in town.

**************************************************
26. Steep decline in firearms dealers across the U.S.
**************************************************

VCDL EM and corporate attorney, Richard Gardiner, has been warning
about this for quite a while now:

http://tinyurl.com/2t9fp6

Houston Chronicle (Chron.com)
Steep decline in firearms dealers across the U.S.
Reasons include tougher laws, strict enforcement
Aug. 15, 2007, 8:29PM

By MICHAEL DOYLE
McClatchy-Tribune

WASHINGTON -- Tougher laws and stricter enforcement cost nearly
200,000 U.S. gun dealers their licenses since the mid-1990s, a new
study shows.

Led by remarkably sharp declines in states including California,
Florida and Washington, the number of federally licensed firearms
dealers has fallen 79 percent nationwide since 1994. In that year,
Congress adopted new gun-control measures that still spark fiery
debate.

"The sharp drop in gun dealers is one of the most important, and
little-noticed, victories in the effort to reduce firearms violence
in America," declared Marty Langley, a policy analyst with the
Violence Policy Center, a gun-control advocacy group.

The decline is undeniable. What it means is more controversial.

===================
GUN DEALERS DECLINE
In 1994, 245,628 U.S. residents held federal licenses allowing them
to sell firearms. In California alone, the nation's most populous
state, there were 20,148 license holders. Now, there are 50,630 of
the so-called Type 1 federal firearms licenses nationwide. In
California, the number of licenses fell to 2,120 this year.
===================

"They're trying to pump their stats up," complained Bill Mayfield, a
longtime gun dealer in Fresno, Calif. "It looks good, but what
they're doing is pursuing an anti-gun, anti-American point of view."

The number of firearms licenses is down more than 80 percent since
1994 in Florida, Washington, Louisiana and Georgia, for example. Even
the state with the smallest reduction in licensed dealers -- Montana
-- saw a 68 percent decline.

"As the number of licensed dealers has dropped, it's become more
manageable for the (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives) to enforce," Langley said.

The decline in licenses began after Congress approved in 1993 the
so-called Brady Bill, named for former White House press secretary
James Brady, who was wounded in a 1981 assassination attempt on
President Reagan. The 1993 law, and a subsequent 1994 anti-crime law,
imposed new restrictions.

The firearms licenses that once cost $10 a year now cost $200 a year
for the first three years.

License applicants now must submit photographs and fingerprints and
inform local police of their plans. In many cases, those losing
licenses were so-called "kitchen table" dealers, who operated from
their homes rather than from formal storefronts.

"Smaller shops simply can't afford some of that," said Ashley Varner,
a spokesperson for the National Rifle Association, and "people in
rural areas have a harder time getting firearms if they aren't near a
large store."

Nonetheless, Varner said Justice Department records indicate total
firearm sales have remained roughly even in recent years.

Gun-related crimes have fallen over the past year, as have the
percentage of Americans who say they own firearms. In 1993, for
instance, the Justice Department recorded more than 1 million
non-fatal crimes involving firearms. By 2005, the number of nonfatal
gun-related crimes had fallen to 419,000.

"The fact that there are fewer gun dealers out there means there are
fewer sources of guns for street criminals," Langley said.

**************************************************
27. August 28 is National Exercise Your Rights Day! Buy something!
**************************************************

The gun blogging world is organizing this to counter Jesse Jackson's
national protest against guns.

Links to blogs about National Exercise Your Rights Day:

http://tinyurl.com/3y4ygt

http://tinyurl.com/2loz6f

http://tinyurl.com/2bpc22

http://tinyurl.com/3xmf2c

http://tinyurl.com/2u4oz8

**************************************************
28. VCDL & OpenCarry.org team up for Gun Rights Policy Conference
**************************************************

VCDL will be co-hosting a hospitality suite at the Gun Rights Policy
Conference (GRPC) in Cincinnati, Ohio area this year, so if you make
the conference, come by the suite and say, 'hello!'

Details will follow as the October 5th, 6th and 7th event draws near.

GRPC is **free** and a 'must' for those of us in the fight to protect
our right to keep and bear arms.

More info on the GRPC is at:

http://www.saf.org/default.asp?p=GRPC

 

[W.E.G.]

**************************************************
29. Who needs a gun at home?
**************************************************

Apparently this guy doesn't; he seemed to do OK without one! Although
he might have avoided that head wound had he been able to return fire.

The article shows just how vicious a life-and-death struggle can be:

http://tinyurl.com/2zgfgj

Courant.com
'Basically I Was In Shock ...' Homeowner Puts Up Fight After Arriving
Home To Find A Stranger Aiming A Gun At Him

By DON STACOM And LARRY SMITH
Courant Staff Writers
August 15, 2007
ENFIELD

Taking a break from work at his roadside farm stand, Richard
Ouellette Jr. walked into his Washington Road house early Tuesday
afternoon and suddenly faced a genuine nightmare: a 6-foot-8,
280-pound stranger aiming a gun at his head.

The intruder demanded Ouellette open a small wall safe, but the
40-year-old produce farmer - who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 170 -
wasn't going to oblige.

"Basically I was in shock. I don't know if I did the right thing or
the wrong thing, but I thought, `He's not telling me what to do in my
home.' I pushed his arm away," Ouellette recalled from his parents'
home Tuesday evening.

Even after the hulking man tried to shoot him three times - the gun
misfired - and then opened a deep wound on Ouellette's head by
whacking him with a heavy glass, Ouellette fought back.

"He tried to shoot, then he grabbed me, I grabbed him and we fought.
We finally fell down a full flight of stairs, breaking everything in
the way. Then he hit me with this thick glass, I saw stars. He was
choking me, he had a fork and he was going to stab me, I couldn't
take much more," Ouellette said.

The attacker finally ran out of the house - and Ouellette ran after
him, climbed into a golf cart and followed the man toward the woods.

"I was stopping traffic, yelling to everyone to call 911," Ouellette
said. Within three minutes, police cars were screaming up Washington
and officers began chasing the man. Ouellette had nothing but praise
for them: "They were right on it. I'll tell you, all my taxes are
worth paying this year."

William V. Marks, a 30-year-old Chicopee, Mass., man, was arrested
without a fight, police said. He was being held with bail set at $1
million, pending arraignment this morning on charges of attempted
felony murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary,
third-degree larceny and illegal possession of a handgun.

Lt. Duane Tompkins said Marks apparently had broken into the home and
was trying to force open a safe when Ouellette returned. Marks hid
behind a refrigerator until Ouellette walked into the kitchen, then
held a .25-caliber gun to Ouellette's head and ordered him to open
the safe, police said.

Police are investigating why the house was targeted. Someone had
burglarized the house a day earlier, police said, and Ouellette
suspects Marks learned of the safe and figured it had valuables. It
didn't, Ouellette said.

"I'm a family man, a normal farmer. I grow corn and tomatoes - it's a
living, but I work for everything I have," he said.

Police believe the gun involved misfired because it was loaded with
the wrong ammunition and jammed.

"I'm just happy and blessed," said Ouellette, who needed several
staples to his scalp to close the wound from the fight. He said he
was relieved that his wife and young children weren't home.

"We've lived here 22 years; it's a very normal, simple life. I'm just
dumbfounded this happened. I guess you've got to keep your guard up
all the time," he said. "I was a musician, I lived in New York for 10
years - Manhattan, the Bronx, subways at 3 a.m., and nothing
happened. Now this happens here?"

**************************************************
30. Who needs a gun in a church?
**************************************************

Anti-gunners, like Van Zandt (item #10 above), are forever telling us
that all we need to do is what the criminal asks. We are told to
reason with the criminal, rather than defend ourselves. Apologize to
the criminal, if appropriate. Let the police come and handle it. Do
these things and all will be OK.

As one might expect, that advice can get you killed:

http://tinyurl.com/2l34z6

Mo. Church Shooting Stuns Community
Aug 14 05:23 AM US/Eastern
By CHRISTOPHER LEONARD
Associated Press Writer
NEOSHO, Mo. (AP) - A community of Pacific islanders made their dreams
come true in this rural Missouri town, far from the sandy atolls and
turquoise lagoons they call home.

Authorities say those dreams were threatened by one of the
Micronesian community's own, when a man entered a Micronesian church
service and gunned down community elders as worshippers watched.

"This guy ruined the Micronesians' name in America," said William
Wolbhagen, an immigrant from Pingelap who moved to Neosho in 2004.

Neosho Mayor Howard Birdsong disagreed. He said hundreds of
Micronesian immigrants have integrated seamlessly into Neosho in the
last 20 years.

"These are citizens of Neosho, and these are our brothers and
sisters," Birdsong said.

Police have not said what drove the gunman into the First
Congregational Church on Sunday. The man shouted, "Liar, liar!" as he
opened fire, killing three people and wounding five others, Sheriff
Ken Copeland said.

Eiken Elam Saimon, 52, pleaded not guilty Monday to three charges of
first-degree murder, four counts of assault, one count of felonious
restraint for holding the congregation hostage and one count of armed
criminal action. A fifth charge of assault was pending.

Bond was set at $1 million for Saimon, who was not a member of the
church. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Sept. 18.

Saimon also is a suspect in a reported sexual assault on a
14-year-old female relative on Saturday, prosecutor Scott Watson
said. No charges have been filed in that case, and investigators are
looking into whether the two cases are related.

The shootings shocked the Micronesian community, known for valuing
family and friends above all.

Birdsong said large Micronesian barbecues are common in the
summertime. A softball league plays regularly, and several church
services are held in the islanders' language of Pingelapese.

During the 1990s, thousands of Micronesians immigrated to southwest
Missouri and northwest Arkansas, drawn by plentiful jobs in the
poultry and manufacturing industries.

Micronesians can live and work in the United States without getting
visas because of their home countries' unique relationship with the
United States.

Island nations throughout the Pacific fell under U.S. control after
the area was wrested from Japanese control after World War II. The
nations were run as colonial outposts called trust territories. When
countries such The Federated States of Micronesia gained independence
in the 1980s, they entered pacts with the U.S. that gave Micronesians
the right to live and work here.

Neosha Police Chief David McCracken estimates there are 300
Micronesians in the city. The front doors of their homes are marked
by piles of shoes left outside according to island custom.

Wolbhagen arrived years ago and got a factory job. He saved enough
money for his two daughters to move in with him and remains in Neosho
to put them through public school, giving them an education only the
richest could afford back home.

Still, Wolbhagen dreams of returning to his homeland. "I'm really
going to go back someday," he said.

Relatives of the dead gathered Monday night to mourn. Dozens met in
Goodman at the home of victim Kernal Rehobson, 43, who headed the
church congregation that was attacked.

"He was a very generous, outgoing person," said Rehobson's sister,
Lou Rehobson-Manuel, 41. "He was kind of a shepherd for all our
sheep."

The other victims were Kernal Rehobson's uncle, Intenson Rehobson,
44, and a family friend, Kuhpes Jesse Ikosia, 53. Intenson Rehobson
and Kuhpes Jesse Ikosia were also from Goodman. All three were
pastors or associate pastors in the church, family members said.

Police and prosecutors declined to discuss a possible motive for the
shootings. Watson said it appeared that the gunman deliberately
targeted leaders of the congregation of about 50 people.

Rehobson-Manuel, who was at the service, said the gunman shot her
brother first.

"I was right next to my brother and I told the shooter, `Shoot me
next,'" she said. She said Intenso Rehobson started apologizing to
the gunman in general, trying to defuse the situation. Then he was
shot.

Police said the suspect had two guns, one small-caliber handgun and a
9 mm semiautomatic pistol, as well as extra ammunition. Saimon
surrendered after about 10 minutes of negotiations.

Nobody answered the door at his house outside Neosho on Monday
evening. A neighbor said Saimon, his wife and two children had lived
there for less than a year.

"They're good people. I'd talk to him outside. I can't believe it of
him," said Lloyd Leonard, 66.

**************************************************
31. Police chief corrects record in Missouri church shooting
**************************************************

[VCDL Board member John Fenter to Chief McCracken via email]

Chief McCracken,

I just read the news story on the church shooting, and my sympathies
to the families and the congregation. I did want to ask a question:
you didn't really tell reporters that the suspect had a
"semiautomatic machine pistol," did you? There's no such thing since
a machine pistol, by definition, is either full auto or burst
capable. And the shooter almost certainly did not have the $200 BATFE
federal tax stamp and background check required to possess a machine
pistol.

I assume the reporter was just ignorant of firearms terminology or
misheard you. I also assume that the shooter did NOT have a Missouri
concealed weapons permit and probably obtained the firearms through
illicit means. I know that churches are off-limits to firearms carry
in Missouri, but that doesn't seem to stop the criminals and the
crazies. I hope you can make a good case and put this guy away for a
LONG time.

Thanks for your time, and once again, my sympathies.

[Chief McCracken to John Fenter, in a quick response]

I have corrected this today. I misspoke and they ran with it. I find
that anytime they can discredit gun ownership they will. I appreciate
your concern for gun rights, which I fully support.

 

[W.E.G.]

**************************************************
32. Clarification on Goochland zoning ordinance
**************************************************

As you know, VCDL has been fighting Goochland on their attempts to
deny Oropax, Virginia's largest hunting preserve, the ability to have
a sporting clays range in the middle of Oropax's huge amount of
acreage.

There has been some confusion about whether Goochland County
reinstating the requirement for a "conditional use permit" (CUP) for
a commercial shooting range is harmful or not.

In the case of Oropax, the requirement for a CUP was harmful, as the
Board of Supervisors has denied Oropax just such a permit in the
past. The denial seems to be politically motivated, based on
opposition to the idea by a nearby wealthy landowner.

Oropax should NOT need a CUP because it is already a shooting
preserve and the sporting clays range should simply be considered a
"accessory" use of the land, with no permit required. The Goochland
County Attorney has stated publicly, however, that the CUP
requirement will NOT interfere with Oropax's court case on the range
being a valid accessory use.

By forcing Oropax to get a CUP, the Board of Supervisors could simply
deny Oropax yet again and stop the range from opening.

For new commercial ranges having CUPs is necessary, however, as the
County does not consider a commercial range as a 'permitted use' of
the land. Thus, in theory, reinstating the CUP ordinance for
commercial ranges is a good thing, BUT since commercial ranges are
always denied in Goochland County, it actually makes no real
difference to such ranges.

VCDL believes that Goochland, with its history of denying commercial
ranges, should eliminate the CUP requirement, which is a farce in
Goochland, and simply allow ranges as a permitted use: let freedom
ring.

**************************************************
33. Williamsburg City Council video shows importance of preemption
**************************************************

http://tinyurl.com/2nn9ja

The link above will allow you to watch the August 9th meeting of the
Williamsburg City Council where they changed their ordinance on
fingerprinting. To see that part of the video, select "City Attorney
Report" and watch the whining and complaining about the General
Assembly's enactment of preemption.

Dennis O'Connor is unfortunately off-camera, so he cannot be seen in
the video raising his hand and making eye contact with the Mayor.

The Mayor denies that she saw him raising his hand.

I'm not buying it.

About Councilman Haulman's comments referring to a shooting, a member noted:

"FYI, I attended William & Mary when the incident Haulman references
occurred. I followed the case, and the student had the charges thrown
out in court as the judge ruled he acted in self defense. And he
fired at no one. He fired into the air. [NOT a good idea to fire a
warning shot, ever - PVC] Haulman needs to get his facts straight."

**************************************************
34. Crunching the numbers on permit holders
**************************************************

Bill Heath emailed this to VCDL:

--

How law-abiding and safe are concealed handgun permit holders?

I have recently been debating long and hard with my oldest brother
about the benefits of concealed carry and the law-abiding nature of
those with permits. He considers himself an independent thinker, but
I feel that without him even realizing it, his judgment has been
obscured by the constant bombardment of anti-gun propaganda. My
attempts to convince him with facts and reason have all but failed.
He said I needed to provide him with facts and statistics from an
official government source.

With this challenge in mind, I present him (and you) with the following:

Data and quotes taken from the "Second Amendment Project" website.
http://tinyurl.com/2ey6vw

Using Florida Concealed Weapons Permits as an example:

"How many permits were issued?
From October 1, 1987, when the new law went into effect, to December
31, 1993, there were 205,631 applications received. A total of 986
applications were denied (572 for criminal history, 414 for
incomplete application). A total of 188,106 licenses were issued, of
which 105,214 were valid as of December 31 1993. (Many licensees did
not renew.) Several thousand applications were either in process,
denied and under appeal, suspended, or withdrawn by the applicant.
[36]

A total of 350 licenses have been revoked. The revocations were for:
clemency rule change or legislative change (66); illegible prints
(10); crime prior to licensure (74, of which 4 involved a firearm);
crime after licensure (182, of which 17 involved a firearm); and
"other" (18). Thus, of the 188,106 licensees, approximately 1 in
10,000 (1/100th of 1%) had a license revoked for a crime involving a
firearm. [37]

36. Florida Department of State, Concealed Weapons/Firearms License
Statistical Report for Period 10/01/87 - 12/31/93 (Tallahassee,
Florida).

37. Florida Department of State, Concealed Weapons/Firearms License
Statistical Report for Period 10/01/87 - 12/31/93 (Tallahassee,
Florida)."

Based on this, we see that 17 people out of 188,106 had their permits
revoked because of a crime involving a gun. It doesn't break it down
any further than that. We do know, however, that gun crimes are made
up of both violent (robbery, murder, assault) and non-violent (not
properly registered, possession or carry where guns are banned, etc).

To put the 17 number into normal crime rate statistics, we convert it
to crimes per 100,000. In this case, that translates to 9 of 100,000
permit holders got their permits revoked for some kind of gun crime.

Now to compare this to the average citizen in Florida. I would use
the same period, but the Florida Department of Law Enforcement does
not go back that far. Their most recent data is for 1997 to 2006. If
we take the average, per 100,000, for this time period we get 172 per
100,000 for Firearms Used in Violent Crimes and Manslaughter.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/3azg43

So to compare: 9 per 100,000 for concealed carry permit holders 172
per 100,000 for all citizens.

172 / 9 = 19, thus revealing that concealed carry permit holders are
approximately 19 times less likely than the average citizen to commit
a gun related crime.

Now, to see if concealed carry permit holders do more good than bad.

Accurate stats for how many times those with concealed carry permits
use their weapon to lawfully defend themselves are not available.
Therefore, I will use results from the closest available studies.

The best available data has to do with "How many citizens in the U.S.
use a firearm each year to legally defend themselves or others?" The
most conservative estimates show that people in the U.S. use a
firearm for legal self-defense about 500,000 times per year. The most
liberal estimates put the number at 2.5 million per year.

Converting these number to per 100,000 we get (assuming 300 million
people in the U.S.):
Low End: 167 per 100,000
High End: 833 per 100,000

Thus, between 167 and 833 people per 100,000 people use a firearm in
self-defense per year in the U.S. Since these were not studies on
just concealed carry permit holders, we have to assume that these
numbers fairly represent what they would be for those with concealed
carry permits.

I don't think we should have a problem making this assumption because
those with concealed carry permits are much more likely to have a
firearm with them than the average citizen. Thus it makes sense that
they would at least have an average as high as (or much higher than)
the average citizen for use of a firearm in self-defense. Can we
agree that these numbers are probably accurate then for those with
concealed carry permits? Let's assume that they are. (In all
likelihood their number per 100,000 is probably much higher.)

So, using all this data, we see that those with concealed carry
permits are 18 (167/9) to 93 (833/9) times more likely to legally and
safely defend themselves with a firearm than they are to use a
firearm to commit a gun crime. Or, to put another way, each time a
concealed carry permit holder commits a gun crime, 18 to 93 concealed
carry permit holders use their gun legally to deter crime.

This is why I feel that those with concealed carry permits are
stellar, trustworthy, and law-abiding citizens and that we should not
fear their presence, but embrace it. Not only are they 19 times more
law-abiding than non-permit carrying citizens, but they are at least
18 times more likely to use their weapon for good.

**************************************************
35. Armed citizen aids Texas officers in shootout
**************************************************

Sarah Brady is running for some Pepto Bismal about this time.

As you read the story, you are reminded why you should carry the gun
ON YOU and not leave it in the CAR!!! This citizen was lucky he had
the chance to even get to his car.

http://tinyurl.com/395pws

nbc5i.com
Officer Wounded, 3 Dead In Interstate Shootout

POSTED: 8:17 am CDT August 12, 2007
UPDATED: 9:33 am CDT August 13, 2007
DALLAS -- Three people were killed and a Dallas police officer
wounded in a bizarre shootout on Interstate 35 early Sunday morning.

Police were called to what they thought was an accident on the
interstate about 2:15 a.m. When they arrived, they saw two people
laying on the freeway, several feet apart, suffering gunshot wounds,
police said.

As one officer aided a person on the ground, his partner, Senior Cpl.
Jerry Poston, was shot by someone from inside a nearby car.

Several passersby who had stopped to help told police that they, too,
were fired on when they tried to approach the car. As bullets
continued to fly, one of those passing motorists went to his car,
grabbed a gun and began returning fire.

Dallas police identified the shooting victims as Robert Daniel
Langston, 22, of Duncanville, and Jesus Reyes Terrazas, Jr., 24, of
Dallas. They had apparently stopped at what appeared to be an
accident on a freeway by downtown Dallas.

The suspected gunman who started it all, 20-year-old Nick A. Salinas,
of Cedar Hill, killed himself with the gun used in the shootings,
authorities said.

Beyond that, "we do not know who shot who," said Lt. Vernon Hale, a
Dallas police spokesman. The officers said they did not shoot anyone,
Hale said.

Poston, a 17-year veteran of the department, was hospitalized in
serious condition, police said. He has since been upgraded to stable
condition. His family has asked that no other information about him
be released, said Lynette Wilkinson, a spokeswoman for Methodist
Dallas Medical Center.

Detectives remained on the scene late Sunday morning, still trying to
sort out exactly what happened and identify the people killed. All
were men, they said.

Police also said they recovered a shotgun at the scene.

One of the three people killed in the shootout was a good Samaritan
who had stopped, police said.

Southbound I-35 remained shut down between Oak Lawn Avenue and
Colorado Boulevard for several hours Sunday morning.

 

[W.E.G.]

**************************************************
36. Concealed carry permit reciprocity bill introduced (again) to fix
'loopholes'
**************************************************

http://tinyurl.com/2d6mqh

Reprinted from NewsMax.com
Loopholes Could Land You in Jail for Carrying a Gun

Clayton B. Reid Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007

If you're a law-abiding citizen licensed to carry a gun in your
vehicle - perhaps just to keep your family safe while you're
traveling - you could become a felon just by crossing the state line.

The reason: America has become a patchwork quilt of contradictory,
often conflicting, laws on concealed weapons.

Some states accept all other states' permits, so if a police officer
stops you with a permitted weapon it's no big deal. Some accept some
out-of-state permits, but not others. And some recognize no
right-to-carry licenses at all.

Frustrated with efforts to obtain a federal, nationwide reciprocity
bill that would allow properly permitted gun owners to carry their
weapons across state lines, the National Rifle Association is turning
to state legislatures to address the problem.

"The effort has been focused on the states," NRA spokeswoman Rachel
Parsons tells NewsMax. "That is where we have been the most
successful." One by one, states are rebelling against federal inertia
to enact reciprocity laws. To date, 35 states have right-to-carry
laws that provide some degree of reciprocity. Some states only accept
permits from certain others, however. Minnesota is one example. It
only recognizes as valid permits from Arkansas, Louisiana, Utah,
Wyoming, and West Virginia.

Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., has been trying to fix the problem on a
federal level since 1996, by sponsoring the Stearns/Boucher
Right-To-Carry Reciprocity Bill.

For 11 years, the bill has gone nowhere.

"Should your national right to self-defense and your constitutional
right to bear arms end when you cross a state line? I don't believe
so," Stearns tells NewsMax.

"It doesn't make sense for Americans to forfeit their safety because
they happen to be on vacation or on a business trip," he adds. "This
legislation would greatly enhance the safety of this nation's
ever-increasing mobile society."

Despite the fact that the bill has 74 co-sponsors, Stearns doesn't
envision it passing while Democrats control Congress.

The NRA is blunt in assessing the problem, stating on its Web site:
"A patchwork of state laws regarding the carrying of firearms can
make criminals out of honest folks, especially those who frequently
must travel the states to make a living."

"We don't believe in false boundaries," Parsons tells NewsMax. "A
law-abiding person does not suffer a character change by crossing a
state line, but the laws are different in every state. It doesn't
make any sense. We believe a carry permit should be as nationally
recognizable and acceptable as a driver's license. In fact, a
driver's license is a privilege. You don't have a right to drive. But
it is a God-given right to bear arms to protect yourself. It is
supported by the Constitution.

Former Congressman Bob Barr, representative from Georgia from 1995 to
2003 and a board member of the NRA, is a longtime warrior in the
reciprocity battle.

"The NRA has been very wise in addressing this issue at the state
level, because you obviously can have more success there," Barr tells
NewsMax. "The legislators are closer to the people.

"The Second Amendment doesn't say you have a right to possess a
firearm only in those states that allow it. It is a right to we enjoy
by virtue of being born free people in this country."

Where Can You Carry?

If you are licensed to legally carry a gun in your home state, your
rights in other states will vary widely, according to the National
Rifle Association.

Never - 15 states

These states never accept out-of-state gun permits:

California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode
Island, and Wisconsin.

Always - 12 states

These states accept legal carry permits from all other states, or,
like Alaska and Vermont, require no permit of any kind to carry a
firearm:

Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri,
Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah or Vermont.

Sometimes - 23

The following states accept some states' permits, but don't accept others:

Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kansas,
Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New
Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South
Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

To find out whether a state you're traveling to will accept your
state's right-to-carry permit, check out the NRA's Guide To
Interstate Right To Carry Reciprocity and Recognition, at
http://tinyurl.com/2vhwem (PDF).

**************************************************
37. Cartoon: The right to own a bazooka
**************************************************

This 4 page cartoon set covers all the issues on the right to keep
and bear arms - the good, bad, and ugly.

Reason.com

http://tinyurl.com/22holk

**************************************************
38. Frito Lay profiles anti-gun group on Doritos packaging
**************************************************

Christian Cartner sent me this email. Looks like no more Frito Lay
products for me:

--

Hello Philip,

From time to time I have written with observations regarding parks
and carry, police stops, etc. Today I'm writing to ask if you were
aware that Frito Lay, Inc., the owners of Doritos, have apparently
taken an anti-gun position.

Today I purchased a bag of Doritos, unfortunately before looking at
the back of the bag, which had a "recognition of achievement" on it.
The recognized achiever is Theo Milonopoulos (I had never heard of
him) and features his picture as well as the following:

'VOX POPULI: At age ten, Theo witnessed the kind of gun violence a
boy his age wouldn't be allowed to watch on TV. Bank Robbers armed
with assault rifles terrorized his community in a standoff with the
police. The news of nationwide school shootings further inspired Theo
to take action against gun violence. At age 11, he petitioned the
City of Los Angeles to enact an ammunition ban. Now 20, Theo has
lobbied for a federal ban on assault weapons and created Vox Populi,
an organization that empowers teens to combat violence in their
communities."

I don't know how other consumers feel but I certainly take offense to
celebrating an anti-Constitutionalist lobbyist interested in
stripping the rights of law-abiding citizens and gun owners. I will
be writing to Frito Lay, Inc. and letting them know how I feel and
that this is the last bag of their product I will ever purchase.

Just thought you might be interested! Thanks for taking the time to
keep all of us updated and fighting for all of our rights!

Thank you,
Christian Cartner
Alexandria, Virginia

**************************************************
39. VCDL picnic on 9/15
**************************************************

We are having our annual celebratory picnic in just a few weeks now!

The picnic is free and open to everyone!

If you can come, please RSVP to [email protected] so we know how many
hot dogs, hamburgers, and other food and drinks to purchase.

At the picnic VCDL will thank Delegate Bill Carrico for successfully
carrying TWO of VCDL's bills earlier this year and seeing them both
signed into law.

Delegate Carrico will also address the group.

The picnic will be held from 11:30 to 1:30 at the New River Trail
State Park picnic shelter at Foster Falls -- same site as last year.
It is a gorgeous area and definitely worth the trip.

I hope that we have a big turnout to thank Delegate Carrico.

http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/new.shtml#picnicshelters

It is a state park, so concealed carry with a CHP is allowed, but
open carry is not. (We are working on fixing that problem down the
road.)

While the picnic is free, we would sure appreciate some volunteers to
help set up, cook on the grills, and clean up at the end. If you can
help, please contact Dennis O'Connor at [email protected]

 

[W.E.G.]

**************************************************
40. Gun shows and events! VCDL PICNIC IN SEPTEMBER!
**************************************************

The Virginia Citizens Defense League thanks the following
member-activists who generously gave of their time to advance and
help defend the rights of their fellow gun owners by working our
recruiting and information booth at the Virginia Outdoor Sportsman
Classic, Aug. 10-12:

Sherrill Smith, Al Steed, Jr., James Ellison, Dave Knight, Rodney
Metheny, Bruce Powers, Speedy & Terri Mercer, Herb Spangler, Paul
Henick, Ken Greek, Ken Modica, Don Beheler, and Kathy Smith.


As an all volunteer organization, VCDL depends on YOU to volunteer
your time at our area events, where we recruit new activists and keep
gun owners informed. No experience necessary; if it's your first time
we'll pair you with a veteran volunteer. To find out more about
helping at our gun show tables, go to:

http://www2.vcdl.org/cgi-bin/wspd_cgi.sh/vcdl/gs.html

and click on any of the blue links, or contact the coordinator for
the show/event listed below with which you are interested in helping.

Here are the upcoming events with which we need YOUR help:

a. HARRISONBURG http://www.showmasters.us, August 25-26

Saturday, August 25 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, August 26 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 12:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Please contact Bob Schmidt at [email protected] to help in
Harrisonburg.


b. NORFOLK (at the Norfolk Scope, http://www.showmasters.us, September 8-9

Saturday, September 8 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 9 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 12:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Please contact Ron and Jean Hyson at [email protected] to
help at the Norfolk Scope.


c. FREDERICKSBURG http://www.guns-knives.com/Fredericksburg.html, September 8-9

Saturday, September 8 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 9 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Contact Robert Herron at [email protected] to help in
Fredericksburg.


d. HAMPTON http://www.guns-knives.com, September 15-16

Saturday, September 15 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 16 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Please contact Ron Lilly at [email protected] to help in Hampton.


e. VCDL Legislative Victory Picnic, WYTHE COUNTY, September 15
http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/new.shtml#picnicshelters

Come join us at our cookout to enjoy free food and beverages and help
celebrate another victorious year in restoring rights of gun owners.

The public is invited for fun and camaraderie, and to thank Delegate
Bill Carrico for again successfully carrying one of VCDL's bills
through to signing into law. The picnic will be held from 11:30 to
1:30 at the New River Trail State Park picnic shelter at Foster Falls
-- same site as last year.

While the picnic is free, we would sure appreciate some volunteers to
help set up, cook on the grills, and clean up at the end. If you can
help, please contact Dennis O'Connor at [email protected]


f. SALEM http://www.cegunshows.com, September 22-23

Saturday, September 22 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 23 10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Please contact Al Steed, Jr. at [email protected] to help in Salem.


g. NEWPORT NEWS, 5th Annual Military Vehicle & Militaria Collector
Show, September 29-30. Mr. Robert House, President of the Hampton
Roads Militaria Society, has donated a table to VCDL for this event.

It will be held at the Virginia War Museum, 9285 Warwick Blvd (next
to the James River Bridge). All we need is YOU to help us work our
recruiting and information table. No experience necessary!

Saturday, September 29 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 30 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Please contact Ron and Jean Hyson at [email protected] to
help in Newport News.


h. Gun Rights Policy Conference, CINCINNATI, OH, October 5-7
http://www.saf.org/Images/grpc2007flyer.pdf

Come meet national gun rights leaders and your fellow grassroots
activists at the 2007 Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sponsored by
the Citizens Committee to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), the conference
affords you the opportunity to make your voice heard and get a
preview of future critical events impacting our rights.

Past speakers have included Alan Gottlieb, Philip Van Cleave, Alan
Korwin, Massad Ayoob, Tom Gresham, Wayne LaPierre, and John Lott.

We hope to see you there as part of the VCDL contingent!


i. DALE CITY http://www.olddominionshows.com, October 6-7

Saturday, October 6 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 7 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 12:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Please contact our Northern Virginia coordinator at
[email protected] to help in Dale City.


j. VIRGINIA BEACH http://www.guns-knives.com, October 13-14

Saturday, October 13 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 14 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Please contact Ron and Jean Hyson at [email protected] to
help in Virginia Beach.


k. RICHMOND http://www.cegunshows.com, October 20-21

Saturday, October 20 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 21 10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Contact Audrey Muehleisen at [email protected] to help at
the Showplace in Mechanicsville.


l. ROANOKE http://www.showmasters.us, October 27-28

Saturday, October 27 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 28 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 12:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Please contact Al Steed, Jr. at [email protected] to help in Roanoke.


m. ROANOKE 4th Annual VCDL Benefit Shoot, November 3, 2007.
Contact Al Steed, Jr. at [email protected] to help or participate.


n. DALE CITY http://www.olddominionshows.com, November 3-4

Saturday, November 3 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 4 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 12:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Please contact our Northern Virginia coordinator at
[email protected] to help in Dale City.


o. CHANTILLY http://www.cegunshows.com, November 16-18

Friday, November 16 3:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 17 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 18 10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Please contact our Northern Virginia coordinator at
[email protected] to help in Chantilly.


p. HAMPTON http://www.guns-knives.com/Fredericksburg.html, November 24-25

Saturday, November 24 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 25 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Please contact Ron Lilly at [email protected] to help in Hampton.


q. RICHMOND http://www.cegunshows.com, December 1-2

Saturday, December 1 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 2 10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Contact Audrey Muehleisen at [email protected] to help at
the Showplace in Mechanicsville.


r. HARRISONBURG http://www.showmasters.us, December 8-9

Saturday, December 8 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 9 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 12:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Please contact Bob Schmidt at [email protected] to help in
Harrisonburg.


s. SALEM http://www.cegunshows.com, December 15-16

Saturday, December 15 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 16 10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Please contact Al Steed, Jr. at [email protected] to help in Salem.


t. FREDERICKSBURG http://www.guns-knives.com, December 15-16

Saturday, December 15 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 16 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Contact Robert Herron at [email protected] to help in
Fredericksburg.


u. VIRGINIA BEACH http://www.guns-knives.com/Fredericksburg.html,
December 29-30

Saturday, December 29 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 30 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Please contact Ron and Jean Hyson at [email protected] to
help in Virginia Beach.


v. HAMPTON http://www.guns-knives.com, January 26-27, 2008

Saturday, January 26 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, January 27 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Please contact Ron Lilly at [email protected] to help in Hampton.


w. VIRGINIA BEACH http://www.guns-knives.com, March 22-23

Saturday, March 22 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 23 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Please contact Ron and Jean Hyson at [email protected] to
help in Virginia Beach.

-------------------------------------------
***************************************************************************
VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization
dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to
Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.

VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org
***************************************************************************

 

[brickeyee]

Since Virginia Tech and other universities have declared themselves 'gun free' zones by restricting law abiding persons from possessing weapons there are obviously no guns on campus.
The various campus police departments should also be restricted from having firearms.
If there are no guns on campus why should they further endanger the safety of all by bringing a firearm to the scene of any public disturbance?

 

[W.E.G.]

alert in .pdf format at
http://www.geocities.com/rkba2da/20070820vcdl.pdf