Author Topic: NRA hit bull’s-eye with Va. lawmakers  (Read 424 times)

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Offline Dali Llama

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NRA hit bull’s-eye with Va. lawmakers
« on: August 10, 2004, 12:53:34 PM »
NRA hit bull’s-eye with Va. lawmakers

 The Virginian-Pilot
© August 8, 2004

Northern Virginians can be forgiven for thinking that Virginia’s tourism slogan needs an update.

“Virginia Is For GUN Lovers” looks more and more like the appropriate theme. Lately, members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League have been turning up at restaurants and shopping centers wearing guns strapped to their hips.

Nothing in Virginia law prevents such public displays, even in establishments where alcohol is served, so long as the tavern owners don’t overtly object. But according to news accounts, it’s been an unsettling sight for some of the clientele.

No kidding.

Maybe law-abiding gun-owners feel safer when they’re packing heat. But fellow diners have no idea whether they’re seated next to Wyatt Earp or Billy the Kid.

Then last weekend, Fairfax County witnessed its first major gun show in decades. Since the 1940s, the populous county has had a local ordinance requiring a three-day wait for gun purchases. That pretty much put an end to gun shows, which are typically two-day affairs.

Thanks to Virginia’s gun-friendly General Assembly, however, the waiting period is kaput. Last winter, lawmakers overturned a grandfather clause that protected the Fairfax law and some others. The result was a weekend gun show described by The Washington Post as “a thousand tables covered with enough guns to arm a militia.”

The locals won’t be reassured to know that many of those guns were probably sold without background checks. The 2004 General Assembly defeated a bill closing the so-called “gun-show loophole” in a Virginia law that requires police checks on most gun purchasers.

While that worthy bill was failing, more than a dozen proposals loosening Virginia’s handle on firearm sales enjoyed a different fate. In its August magazine, the National Rifle Association boasted of “an extraordinary legislative session in Virginia.” Gov. Mark Warner, who cultivates his distinction as an NRA-tolerant Democrat, even merited a picture. Fortunately, the gun news from the 2004 session wasn’t all bleak. Gun-control advocates almost got a bill closing the gun-show background-check-loophole through the Senate — though it surely would have been drawn-and-quartered in the House.

Virginia Beach Sen. Ken Stolle led a successful effort to keep guns out of airports. And one of the NRA’s favorites — allowing patrons to carry concealed weapons in restaurants that sell alcohol — got nowhere.

That mixed bag illustrates how divided Virginia remains over gun issues.

Unfortunately, the stronger hand still appears to rest with the House Committee on Militia and Police. Even a bill prohibiting individuals convicted of stalking or sexual battery from owning a gun failed 13-8 in that stronghold.

One advantage of the growing gun-rights activism in Northern Virginia is that it may open eyes to the extent of the NRA’s influence in Virginia.

Without vigilance, the next target could be Virginia’s much-heralded, one-gun-a-month purchase limit. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, pictured next to Warner in the NRA magazine “American Rifleman,” recently signed into law repeal of the nation’s first such purchase limit.

Virginia’s law, enacted in reaction to gun-running from Virginia to New York and other northeastern states in the early 1990s, passed close on the heels of South Carolina’s.

Fairfax County residents are getting a firsthand taste of the NRA’s success in repealing old gun-control laws.
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Offline jh45gun

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NRA hit bull’s-eye with Va. lawmakers
« Reply #1 on: August 10, 2004, 08:06:51 PM »
The NRA could do a lot more if they could get a lot of the ho hum gun owners who figure the Second Amendment will protect their deer rifle or scatter gun forever. The anti's are too strong to ignore with some powerfull folks on their side. If the NRA could even get half of the gun owners in this country to join its ranks instead of the token few who realize how important the NRA is The NRA would really be able to get the job done. While it is a powerful pro gun lobby it could be better if it could get more members. Those that quit because the NRA ask for money all the time should be ashamed as it takes money to fight a war and that is what we are in a war against the anti gunners! Jim
Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use it.

Offline dukkillr

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NRA hit bull’s-eye with Va. lawmakers
« Reply #2 on: August 10, 2004, 08:35:46 PM »
Now this is a great topic.  You said, "The NRA could do a lot more if they could get a lot of the ho hum gun owners..."  That is exactly right, 100% perfect.  Unfortunately the "ho hum" gun owners (such as myself) don't want to sign on to some of the more agressive pro-gun beliefs... for instance there was recently a post by Mikey, moderator for the Second Ammendment section that said:

"Knowing that I have never committed any crime that work make a police home invasion justified, I would fight. I would rather have my home burned to the ground and lose all my possessions than to give up the fight. And brother, if I have to take the fight to my lands I am gonna take it all the way right back to the damned police station. They will know no rest and I will not stop until the threat has been eliminated."

I, quite honestly, think this is crazy talk.  If the police show up at my door and want in, i'll let them.  i have nothing to hide, and i don't believe that their presence is some sort of giant consipiracy by the government to take all my guns away.

Do I think there are issues that gun owners should be concerned about, Yes.  Absolutely.  Do I want to associate myself with the most adament, inflexible, pro-gun group?  No, I don't.  I don't believe the government is out to get me.  I don't believe that even the most liberal politician is going to take my huntinng guns.  I don't understand the mentality of saying something like, "I am gunna take it all the way right back to the damned police station."  

For the same reason that moderate environmentalists don't join greenpeace, I won't rejoin the NRA... I left several years ago when the published a fundraising letter comparing police to nazis... i'm not going to allow my name to be associated with that set of beliefs...  it's too bad too, because the wacko stances hurt all the good things they do.  I'm glad they helped Bush get elected.  The safety training the do is great.  I think concealed statutes are good thing... I'm just not going to sign on to the anti-government crazy talk.

Offline Dali Llama

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NRA hit bull’s-eye with Va. lawmakers
« Reply #3 on: August 11, 2004, 01:34:55 AM »
Quote from: dukkillr
I don't believe that even the most liberal politician is going to take my huntinng guns.  
:roll:  :roll: Dali Llama suggest that dukkillr need to wake up and smell the roses.  Dali say that most Jews in Germany most likely early on thought that "not even the most wicked Nazi is going to kill my parents." :twisted:  :x  :evil:
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