Here's the update Phil sent out last night. It was a great day, I was glad to see so many of you there!
We estimate that almost 400 gun owners showed up at the General
Assembly today!
There was a SEA of orange "Guns Save Lives" badges on all floors.
It was truly impressive. The cavalry had arrived!
The metal detectors were going off almost continuously at times and
the overwhelmed police had to bring in extra people to handle the huge
load to check CHPs!
Once inside, people were assigned to a team. The teams went through
the building talking to Delegates and Senators and leaving VCDL
Legislative Analysis documents with aides. I talked to some aides who
were quite impressed with the quality of the VCDL people and the sheer
number of members that seemed to be everywhere.
Elevators were jammed with people and even the stairs were jammed!
GUN SHOW BILL
I arrived at 8:30 AM for the hearing of SB109, Senator Marsh's "Gun
show loophole" (AKA, the private sales registration) bill in the
Senate Courts of Justice. Testimony on the bill began at 10 AM. The
antis got 35 minutes to speak, as did our side. Only two or three VT
parents spoke, the rest of the speakers were either police (disgracing
the badges on their uniforms) or lobbyists.
The antis brought up their usual baloney and misleading "facts."
Colonel Massengil and the Superintendent of State Police (who was in
uniform) spoke in favor of the gun show bill. Massengil tried to
tout himself as being pro-gun.
When asked by one of the Senators how many criminals got their guns at
a private sale at a gun show, the Superintendent had to admit that he
didn't know.
While the antis spoke, all the gun owners were quiet and did not
disrupt or heckle them.
But, when our turn came to talk, things were different.
Joel Patridge, the NRA lobbyist for Virginia, was heckled and applause
at the heckling drowned him out at one point. He looked at Senator
Marsh, the committee chairman, to bring order. But Marsh, who had
been running the meeting with an iron fist before, just sat there for
a while and then weak-wristedly brought down the gavel and the room
finally came to order.
I spoke after Joel, and it was even worse. Again, as I spoke the
antis heckled and were very unruly, clapping loudly and long at the
heckling. When there was an outburst, I would stop speaking and wait
patiently for Marsh to get around to bringing order. The suddenly
weak-wristed Marsh would eventually get around to bringing order.
When I started pointing out that the bill would be onerous on dealers,
gun shows, and private sellers, Democrat Senator Saslaw shamelessly
playing to the hecklers, ask me if the VT parents had been
inconvenienced. ( More on Senator Saslaw other antics in an upcoming
alert.)
Again unruly applause and heckling took over the room as Marsh sat
there impotently.
In the end the committee decided to vote on the bill on Wednesday at
the 2 PM meeting. I will be there for the vote. I am optimistic -
delaying the vote was probably done because Marsh didn't have the
votes to pass his bill. But it isn't over until the fat lady sings.
***If you have NOT contacted your representatives on SB 109, PLEASE DO
SO NOW!***
Our side presented itself well and the antis showed themselves to be
their usual rude and inconsiderate selves.
THE "LIE"-IN
At 12:45, EM Dave Vann was taping signs on member's backs with
messages like, "Freedom is NOT a loophole." The members then headed
over to stand around the antis when their protest started at 1 PM.
We had about 200 people show up at the protest, dwarfing the
approximate 100 antis!
As I approached the protest, I was taken aback by the image of all
those white VCDL signs blanketing the protest, drowning out the antis'
messages.
And the antis got mad. They tried to get us kick out, but the police
told them that their protest was a spectacle, which draws spectators.
He pointed out that we weren't doing anything but standing and
observing, all of which is protected by the First Amendment.
The antis, fuming, walked away from the police officer to pout
somewhere else.
We had one member assalted by an anti who shoved him out of the way,
saying, "This is OUR protest!"
Nice people, aren't they?
--
It is 10:30 PM as I write this and I am STILL at the General Assembly
listening to key mental health bills. Activist Roy B. Scherer was
kind enough to loan me his computer to type this alert while I am
waiting for a bill to come up.
It looks like we may well end up with a good, supportable, mental
health bill. But the Devil is in the details and we will be looking
at the final wording to see if it satisfies our concerns and watching
the bill to see that bad wording isn't slipped in.
I will be at the General Assembly again on Tuesday (tomorrow) the
Senate is going to hear the library ban bills, amongst other anti-gun
bills.
I will advise the outcome of those bills.
ANY INTERESTING LOBBY DAY STORIES?
I am collecting interesting stories of things that happened on Lobby
Day. Either interaction with the antis or perhaps with Delegates and
Senators. If you have such a story, email it to me.
I have not seen the news, but we should have been all over it. I was
interviewed by the AP, WRVA (radio station in Richmond) and TV stations.
Thanks to leadership and many of our EMs for their help making Lobby
Day a success!
VCDL - good turnout, good work - I'm proud of you guys!
We estimate that almost 400 gun owners showed up at the General
Assembly today!
There was a SEA of orange "Guns Save Lives" badges on all floors.
It was truly impressive. The cavalry had arrived!
The metal detectors were going off almost continuously at times and
the overwhelmed police had to bring in extra people to handle the huge
load to check CHPs!
Once inside, people were assigned to a team. The teams went through
the building talking to Delegates and Senators and leaving VCDL
Legislative Analysis documents with aides. I talked to some aides who
were quite impressed with the quality of the VCDL people and the sheer
number of members that seemed to be everywhere.
Elevators were jammed with people and even the stairs were jammed!
GUN SHOW BILL
I arrived at 8:30 AM for the hearing of SB109, Senator Marsh's "Gun
show loophole" (AKA, the private sales registration) bill in the
Senate Courts of Justice. Testimony on the bill began at 10 AM. The
antis got 35 minutes to speak, as did our side. Only two or three VT
parents spoke, the rest of the speakers were either police (disgracing
the badges on their uniforms) or lobbyists.
The antis brought up their usual baloney and misleading "facts."
Colonel Massengil and the Superintendent of State Police (who was in
uniform) spoke in favor of the gun show bill. Massengil tried to
tout himself as being pro-gun.
When asked by one of the Senators how many criminals got their guns at
a private sale at a gun show, the Superintendent had to admit that he
didn't know.
While the antis spoke, all the gun owners were quiet and did not
disrupt or heckle them.
But, when our turn came to talk, things were different.
Joel Patridge, the NRA lobbyist for Virginia, was heckled and applause
at the heckling drowned him out at one point. He looked at Senator
Marsh, the committee chairman, to bring order. But Marsh, who had
been running the meeting with an iron fist before, just sat there for
a while and then weak-wristedly brought down the gavel and the room
finally came to order.
I spoke after Joel, and it was even worse. Again, as I spoke the
antis heckled and were very unruly, clapping loudly and long at the
heckling. When there was an outburst, I would stop speaking and wait
patiently for Marsh to get around to bringing order. The suddenly
weak-wristed Marsh would eventually get around to bringing order.
When I started pointing out that the bill would be onerous on dealers,
gun shows, and private sellers, Democrat Senator Saslaw shamelessly
playing to the hecklers, ask me if the VT parents had been
inconvenienced. ( More on Senator Saslaw other antics in an upcoming
alert.)
Again unruly applause and heckling took over the room as Marsh sat
there impotently.
In the end the committee decided to vote on the bill on Wednesday at
the 2 PM meeting. I will be there for the vote. I am optimistic -
delaying the vote was probably done because Marsh didn't have the
votes to pass his bill. But it isn't over until the fat lady sings.
***If you have NOT contacted your representatives on SB 109, PLEASE DO
SO NOW!***
Our side presented itself well and the antis showed themselves to be
their usual rude and inconsiderate selves.
THE "LIE"-IN
At 12:45, EM Dave Vann was taping signs on member's backs with
messages like, "Freedom is NOT a loophole." The members then headed
over to stand around the antis when their protest started at 1 PM.
We had about 200 people show up at the protest, dwarfing the
approximate 100 antis!
As I approached the protest, I was taken aback by the image of all
those white VCDL signs blanketing the protest, drowning out the antis'
messages.
And the antis got mad. They tried to get us kick out, but the police
told them that their protest was a spectacle, which draws spectators.
He pointed out that we weren't doing anything but standing and
observing, all of which is protected by the First Amendment.
The antis, fuming, walked away from the police officer to pout
somewhere else.
We had one member assalted by an anti who shoved him out of the way,
saying, "This is OUR protest!"
Nice people, aren't they?
--
It is 10:30 PM as I write this and I am STILL at the General Assembly
listening to key mental health bills. Activist Roy B. Scherer was
kind enough to loan me his computer to type this alert while I am
waiting for a bill to come up.
It looks like we may well end up with a good, supportable, mental
health bill. But the Devil is in the details and we will be looking
at the final wording to see if it satisfies our concerns and watching
the bill to see that bad wording isn't slipped in.
I will be at the General Assembly again on Tuesday (tomorrow) the
Senate is going to hear the library ban bills, amongst other anti-gun
bills.
I will advise the outcome of those bills.
ANY INTERESTING LOBBY DAY STORIES?
I am collecting interesting stories of things that happened on Lobby
Day. Either interaction with the antis or perhaps with Delegates and
Senators. If you have such a story, email it to me.
I have not seen the news, but we should have been all over it. I was
interviewed by the AP, WRVA (radio station in Richmond) and TV stations.
Thanks to leadership and many of our EMs for their help making Lobby
Day a success!
VCDL - good turnout, good work - I'm proud of you guys!
