ZeSpectre
Member
I'm aiming this specifically at Virginians, we need to GET active and STAY active! Please write your representatives and let them know how you feel. Please join the VCDL for Lobby Day! (www.vcdl.org)
If nothing else send in some $$$ and join the VCDL and give 'em some leverage to work with.
As for those of you not in Virginia, take heed! This sort of stuff is most likely going on in YOUR STATE as well weather you know it or not.
From the VCDL Newsletter...
If nothing else send in some $$$ and join the VCDL and give 'em some leverage to work with.
As for those of you not in Virginia, take heed! This sort of stuff is most likely going on in YOUR STATE as well weather you know it or not.
From the VCDL Newsletter...
A heap of bad gun bills have come in today. Bills will continue to
flood in until January 18th.
I need to make a general statement here, because many of the bills
fall in a category that is a knee-jerk reaction to the Virginia Tech
tragedy.
VCDL will STRONGLY OPPOSE ***any*** bill that takes away gun rights
from someone who is involuntarily committed to OUTPATIENT treatment.
If a person is a real danger to themselves or others it is absolutely
ludicrous and a dereliction of duty for the courts to assign them to
outpatient treatment! Would mass-murderer Charles Manson have been
assigned outpatient treatment? Of course not! He was a true danger
to society and was segregated from society as he should be.
If a person has been assigned outpatient treatment, our view is that
he cannot be considered a legitimate danger to himself or others,
unless government has screwed up again, like they did with Cho.
Here's how it really works: If a judge thinks a person is not a
danger, but wants to force him to get some treatment, the judge will
rule the person is a "danger" so that the judge can legally commit the
person to get outpatient treatment. Thus, games are being play with
the term "dangerous" solely to get a legal ability to force someone to
get treatment.
You should not lose your rights if you are not adjudicated to be truly
dangerous to yourself or others.
Here are the bills that came in today. Out of 18 bills we oppose all
but one, and that one we are neutral on. Still think you don't need
to come to Lobby Day on January 21st?:
HB 588, Delegate Marsden, makes BB guns fall under concealed weapons.
BB guns were removed from this category just a few years ago. VCDL
STRONGLY OPPOSES this bill.
HB 592, Delegate Marsden, private sales at gun shows must have a
background check (the infamous, but imaginary, "gun show loophole").
VCDL STRONGLY OPPOSES this bill.
HB 608, Delegate Eisenberg, takes away the right of someone to protect
themselves in their own home with a firearm if they have a protective
order issued against them. VCDL STRONGLY OPPOSES this bill.
HB 653, Delegate Wright, makes CHP information so that it cannot be
released. VCDL IS NEUTRAL on this bill, pending a better bill that we
believe is coming.
HB 657, Delegate Griffith, makes a person who is found incompetent to
stand trial unable to possess a firearm. We would support this bill,
BUT it also says a person who is "involuntarily committed to an
outpatient facility" is also banned from possessing a gun. That makes
it a non-starter. VCDL STRONGLY OPPOSES this bill.
HB 697, Delegate BaCote, allows localities to ban guns in libraries.
VCDL STRONGLY OPPOSES this bill.
HB 709, Delegate Janis, bans someone who has been involuntarily
committed to inpatient or **outpatient** mental health facilities to
be banned from getting a gun. Again, we could support this bill but
for the outpatient wording. VCDL STRONGLY OPPOSES this bill.
HB 734, Delegate Caputo, bans guns in libraries. VCDL STRONGLY
OPPOSES this bill.
HB 741, Delegate Caputo, bans someone who has been involuntarily
committed to inpatient or **outpatient** mental health facilities to
be banned from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a gun FOREVER.
VCDL STRONGLY OPPOSES this bill.
HB 745, Delegate Caputo, private sales at gun shows must have a
background check (the infamous, but imaginary, "gun show loophole").
VCDL STRONGLY OPPOSES this bill.
HB 746, Delegate Caputo (who else?), bans guns in child day centers.
VCDL STRONGLY OPPOSES this bill.
HB 810, Delegate Ward, requires the State Police to be notified with
24 hours if a machine gun is permanently at a new address. Just one
more unneeded law to trip up a law-abiding citizen. We think the
machine gun registration with the State Police needs to be abolished,
not enhanced. VCDL STRONGLY OPPOSES this bill.
HB 814, Delegate Ward, wants questions about firearm ownership to be
asked of protective order respondents. Gun owners are yet again
vilified with no gain on preventing crime. VCDL STRONGLY OPPOSES this
bill.
HB 815, Delegate Albo, makes a person who has been temporarily
detained, but subsequently agrees to voluntarily admit themselves for
mental help to be denied their gun rights. Who would want to
voluntarily seek help if they have their rights taken away from
them? VCDL STRONGLY OPPOSES this bill.
HB 835, Delegate Moran, takes away the right to have a gun for anyone
held to be incompetent to stand trial. VCDL could support this bill,
but it slips in wording about "involuntary treatment" (outpatient)
being a disqualifier for gun ownership. A non-starter. VCDL STRONGLY
OPPOSES this bill.
SB 222, Senator McDougle, takes us down a slippery slope. Virginia
law used to allow a juvenile 14 or older to have felonies removed if
they stayed model citizens until their 29th birthday. Then they took
certain violent felonies out of that mix: murder, kidnapping, robbery
if firearms were used as a threat, and rape IF the person was found
guilty before July 1, 2005. This bill strikes that language and will
disarm people who have stayed clear of crime and have successfully
owned guns for many, many years. It's retroactive nature is
particularly egregious. VCDL OPPOSES this bill.
SB 226, Senator McDougle, bans someone who has been involuntarily
committed to inpatient or **outpatient** mental health facilities to
be banned from getting a gun. Again, we could support this bill but
for the outpatient wording. VCDL STRONGLY OPPOSES this bill.
SB 231, Senator McDougle, bans someone who has been involuntarily
committed to inpatient or **outpatient** mental health facilities to
be banned from purchasing, transporting, or possessing a gun FOREVER.
VCDL STRONGLY OPPOSES this bill.
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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
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