Still Time to Donate Meat to Hunters for the Hungry

We are in the final five days of the deer hunting season and if you have a freezer full of meat but still have unfilled tags, how about considering donating that next deer to Hunters for the Hungry.  There are a number of meat processing locations around Virginia that serve as drop off points for donated meat.  You can also make a tax deductable donation before the end of the year to help defray the cost of processing.  You can find a list of meat processors here.  You can find out how to donate financially by clicking here.

New Bills Filed for 2011 General Assembly

Two new pro-rights bills have been prefiled at the Virginia General Assembly for the coming session, one related to discharging air guns on private property and one having to do with purchasing or transporting a firearm for those subject to preliminary protective orders.

First is Senate Bill (SB) 757, patroned by State Senator Roscoe Reynolds.  This bill requires that any ordinance which prohibits the shooting of pneumatic guns in certain areas shall have, among its exceptions, an exception to allow the firearm to be discharged on private property with permission of the owner when discharge is conducted with reasonable care to prevent a projectile from crossing the bounds of the property.  Localities are increasingly restricting the ability of residents to shoot air rifles on their private property in suburban areas, even when these residents have set up safe ranges that do not allow the BBs or pellets to leave the property.  This bill is a welcome remedy for these situations.

Next is SB 758, another bill patroned by Senator Reynolds.  This bill makes the prohibition on purchasing and transporting a firearm applicable to persons subject to preliminary protective orders that contain a finding of abuse or neglect. Under current law, persons subject to a preliminary protective order are prohibited from purchasing or transporting a firearm regardless of any court finding.

Prefiling of firearm bills has been slow to this point.  It is hard to tell if this is an indication that there will be fewer firearm bills this year than in the past.  Keep checking the blog for more information on the coming legislative session.

Roll Call Rates Webb Seat Toss Up

While Virginia will be electing a new House of Delegates and State Senate in 2011, the prognosticators are already looking at the 2012 U.S. Senate race.  More and more it is looking like former U.S. Senator George Allen, a true friend to gun owners, is going to run.  There are other Republicans that have also indicated an interest. As of yet, incumbent Democrat Jim Webb, who defeated Allen in 2006 in a stunning upset, has not indicated whether he will run.  Webb has voted the right way on bills directly related to gun rights but voted for both Sonia Sotomayor and Elana Kagan for the Supreme court.  Roll Call had this to say in moving its rating from Leans Democrat to Tossup:

Democrats could have a difficult time holding this seat even if Webb decides to run. In the past year, Republicans ended a streak of disappointing election cycles. The GOP swept the statewide offices in 2009 and won back three House seats in 2010.

 Allen has been very visible since the beginning of the 2010 election cycle too. 

Allen has made his intention to run clear for months by speaking to any Republican gathering around the state that invited him. He also made a big splash at the party’s annual meeting at a Northern Virginia hotel last month by renting out the entire restaurant to host a party — while most potential candidates rented suites.

Allen signed Virginia's concealed carry reform into law as Governor and has been a strong proponent of the right to keep and bear arms.  Webb carried some water on the Thune Amendment (National Reciprocity) in 2009.  But Webb voted for two of the most anti-gun Supreme Court nominees in recent memory.  Gun owners need to focus on the 2011 General Assembly races for now but 2012 is getting an early start none-the-less.

Another Bill Prefiled

On Monday, Senator Roscoe Reynolds (D- Martinsville) prefiled SB 755, a bill that would allow a person who has received mental health treatment or substance abuse treatment in a residential setting within five years from the application to petition the court for a permit to carry a concealed handgun. Currently, such persons are disqualified from obtaining a permit within five years of receiving residential treatment. This brings the total so far to three bills.  VSSA previously reported on November 12th, that three bills had been prefiled but one of those bills, HB 995 was actually a carryover bill from last session.  HB 995 would have allowed a prospective purchaser to present a current or retired military identification card or a concealed handgun permit in order to establish citizenship or lawful admission for permanent residence in order to purchase an "assault firearm." On December 3rd, the bill was left in Militia and Police and must be reintroduced if it is going to be considered in 2011.

Amtrak Lifts Firearm Ban

Late in 2009, congress attached a rider to an appropriations bill requiring Amtrak to allow passengers to be able to travel with their firearms, much as they currently can by air carrier.  On December 15th, the new law takes affect and the Richmond CBS affiliate (WTVR CBS6) did a story on the new law as part of it's 11:00 PM news last night.

VSSA had the opportunity to participate in the story.  Reporter Catie Beck was knowlegable about Virginia's current gun laws and we had a good interview and general conversation about Virgina's firearms laws before and after the filming.  It was clear however that the passenger bound for Chicago that was interviewed as part of the story had no clue about the law - that it was taking affect, nor what it required of gun owners to comply with the new law.

 

  The requirements under the new law are:

• All firearms transported must be unloaded and locked in an approved hard sided case;
• Firearms may only be transported on trains that have checked baggage compartments and baggage must be checked;
• Passengers transporting firearms must make their reservations by phone;
• Passengers transporting firearms must declare to Amtrak 24 hours prior to travel that they will be transporting firearms;

The passenger interviewed tossed out the usual red herrings such as someone could place a gun in their carry-on and not declare it or someone could put an explosive in the locked case and no-one would know.  The fact is, that could occur now and this new rule change does nothing to change that fact.  Amtrak currently has signs posted informing customers that all bags are subject to inspection.

The new Amtrak rules bring the rail carrier more in line with the airlines when it comes to transporting firearms.  Amtrak spent $2 million to make their baggage compartments more secure and the trains are likely more secure for firearms transportation than they were prior to September 11, 2001, when Amtrak stopped passengers from transporting firearms in response to the terrorist attacks. 

As with all of the claims of the gun ban lobby, the probability that this new change in the law will result in violence is slim.  But that has never stopped the gun ban crowd from making mountains out of mole hills.