I know this is kinda long, but at the least, take two minutes and send a letter to the MP&PS committee. Lets give them an ear full and let them know that we want our bills heard by the full committee.
From VCDL's VA-ALERT: Legislative Alert #2 ACTION ITEM 2/8/06
More things happened today in the General Assembly - some good, some very bad.
LET'S START WITH THE GOOD NEWS:
SB 58, Senator Reynolds' bill to remove the fingerprinting option for localities issuing CHPs (put in for VCDL) passed out of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee this afternoon. I don't have the vote tally yet.
Board member Jim Kadison spoke for VCDL as I could not make it to the Committee meeting today. EM Mike Stollenwerk was there and spoke for the bill as well. Same opposition as when Delegate Carrico's matching House bill was heard last week - their argument against passage didn't hold water.
The bill now moves to the Senate Floor.
HB 167, Delegate Lingamfelter's bill to make CHPs lifetime permits was modified in a hastily convened Militia, Police and Public Safety subcommittee #1 that had no public input. The modified bill isn't quite as good as the original - a permit holder, no later than 30 days before his permit is to expire, will fill out a form stating that he has not been convicted of any disqualifying crimes and turn that into the Circuit Court Clerk, who will then issue a new 5 year permit. There is no fee charged.
The above only applies if you are in the same locality that issued the original permit. If not, or if you apply for the renewal with less than 30 days left before expiration, you will have to apply for a new permit (and cough up another $50).
We have some heartburn with the new language - for one thing it does not specifically state that you will get the new permit before the 30 days are up and it does not specifically say that the Court shall accept renewal forms by mail.
We have seen too many judges 'misinterpret' very straight forward laws before, hence we need the law to be specific so as not to be abused.
The modified bill passed out of the subcommittee and will be heard on Friday, where I will voice the above concerns and hopefully get the bill fixed.
HB 1531, Delegate Armstrong's bill to keep doctors from asking you questions about your firearm ownership has passed out of the Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee and is going to the House Floor!
HB 829, Delegate Welch's 'castle doctrine' bill for a person in a residence (put in at VCDL's request) has passed out of a House Courts of Justice subcommittee and will be heard in full committee!
AND NOW FOR THE BAD NEWS:
If you take blood pressure pills, it's time to pop one.
The above hastily convened MP&PS subcommittee #1 also looked at two other bills (without public input):
HB 424, Delegate Nutter's bill to honor permits from all other states (put in for VCDL), WHICH HAD ALREADY PASSED OUT OF THIS SUBCOMMITTEE LAST WEEK, was reconsidered by the subcommittee and WAS GUTTED COMPLETELY!!!
The excuse was that the bill did not benefit VA gun owners, but only permit holders from out of state.
But that's NOT TRUE! There WOULD be some immediate benefits for VA gun owners, including recognition by GA and NH! But we are also trying to invest in the future so that at some point all 50 states will honor all 50 states, WHAT IS SO COMPLICATED ABOUT THAT?
Using a legislative slight of hand, the subcommittee neutralized the bill and effectively rolled a completely empty shell into the Omnibus bill HB 1577, leaving only Delegate Nutter's name on the bill!
It gets worse - HB 895, Delegate Gear's bill to allow permit holders to carry in the non-sterile area of airport terminals was killed because Delegate Gear "didn't show up." THE TROUBLE IS THAT DELEGATE GEAR WAS NEVER TOLD ABOUT THIS UNSCHEDULED SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING!!!
Delegate Gear was not pleased and neither am I. I was told by Delegate Hogan that the bill would have died in the Senate Courts of Justice and thus they didn't want to force any Delegates to vote on it.
Send it to the Courts of Justice so we can get some Senate votes on it - elections are coming up in less than 2 years and I want to see those votes!
ACTION ITEM:
We need to let all the members of the Militia, Police and Public Safety committee hear from us and in numbers. To that extent I have put together a pre-written message that you can change as desired. The message will go to all the key members of the committee:
http://www2.vcdl.org/cgi-bin/wspd_cgi.sh/vcdl/reflector.html?REF=CSPPM&PRE=HB424895-1
Let's roll - the full committee meets Friday at 9 AM!
From VCDL's VA-ALERT: Legislative Alert #2 ACTION ITEM 2/8/06
More things happened today in the General Assembly - some good, some very bad.
LET'S START WITH THE GOOD NEWS:
SB 58, Senator Reynolds' bill to remove the fingerprinting option for localities issuing CHPs (put in for VCDL) passed out of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee this afternoon. I don't have the vote tally yet.
Board member Jim Kadison spoke for VCDL as I could not make it to the Committee meeting today. EM Mike Stollenwerk was there and spoke for the bill as well. Same opposition as when Delegate Carrico's matching House bill was heard last week - their argument against passage didn't hold water.
The bill now moves to the Senate Floor.
HB 167, Delegate Lingamfelter's bill to make CHPs lifetime permits was modified in a hastily convened Militia, Police and Public Safety subcommittee #1 that had no public input. The modified bill isn't quite as good as the original - a permit holder, no later than 30 days before his permit is to expire, will fill out a form stating that he has not been convicted of any disqualifying crimes and turn that into the Circuit Court Clerk, who will then issue a new 5 year permit. There is no fee charged.
The above only applies if you are in the same locality that issued the original permit. If not, or if you apply for the renewal with less than 30 days left before expiration, you will have to apply for a new permit (and cough up another $50).
We have some heartburn with the new language - for one thing it does not specifically state that you will get the new permit before the 30 days are up and it does not specifically say that the Court shall accept renewal forms by mail.
We have seen too many judges 'misinterpret' very straight forward laws before, hence we need the law to be specific so as not to be abused.
The modified bill passed out of the subcommittee and will be heard on Friday, where I will voice the above concerns and hopefully get the bill fixed.
HB 1531, Delegate Armstrong's bill to keep doctors from asking you questions about your firearm ownership has passed out of the Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee and is going to the House Floor!
HB 829, Delegate Welch's 'castle doctrine' bill for a person in a residence (put in at VCDL's request) has passed out of a House Courts of Justice subcommittee and will be heard in full committee!
AND NOW FOR THE BAD NEWS:
If you take blood pressure pills, it's time to pop one.
The above hastily convened MP&PS subcommittee #1 also looked at two other bills (without public input):
HB 424, Delegate Nutter's bill to honor permits from all other states (put in for VCDL), WHICH HAD ALREADY PASSED OUT OF THIS SUBCOMMITTEE LAST WEEK, was reconsidered by the subcommittee and WAS GUTTED COMPLETELY!!!
The excuse was that the bill did not benefit VA gun owners, but only permit holders from out of state.
But that's NOT TRUE! There WOULD be some immediate benefits for VA gun owners, including recognition by GA and NH! But we are also trying to invest in the future so that at some point all 50 states will honor all 50 states, WHAT IS SO COMPLICATED ABOUT THAT?
Using a legislative slight of hand, the subcommittee neutralized the bill and effectively rolled a completely empty shell into the Omnibus bill HB 1577, leaving only Delegate Nutter's name on the bill!
It gets worse - HB 895, Delegate Gear's bill to allow permit holders to carry in the non-sterile area of airport terminals was killed because Delegate Gear "didn't show up." THE TROUBLE IS THAT DELEGATE GEAR WAS NEVER TOLD ABOUT THIS UNSCHEDULED SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING!!!
Delegate Gear was not pleased and neither am I. I was told by Delegate Hogan that the bill would have died in the Senate Courts of Justice and thus they didn't want to force any Delegates to vote on it.
Send it to the Courts of Justice so we can get some Senate votes on it - elections are coming up in less than 2 years and I want to see those votes!
ACTION ITEM:
We need to let all the members of the Militia, Police and Public Safety committee hear from us and in numbers. To that extent I have put together a pre-written message that you can change as desired. The message will go to all the key members of the committee:
http://www2.vcdl.org/cgi-bin/wspd_cgi.sh/vcdl/reflector.html?REF=CSPPM&PRE=HB424895-1
Let's roll - the full committee meets Friday at 9 AM!
