A travesty of justice in VA - gun rights

General General Discussion
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Va. gun bills sent to special subcommittee
By the Associated Press
March 1, 2010
RICHMOND, Va. - Senate Democrats have found a way to block passage of several bills to loosen the state’s gun laws.

Senate Courts of Justice Committee Chairman Henry Marsh on Monday announced the creation of a subcommittee to handle bills concerning guns and other issues. The subcommittee is stacked with four anti-gun Democrats and one Republican.

Democrats hold a 10-5 majority in the full committee, but at least three party members regularly vote with Republicans on pro-gun legislation. That means bills such as repealing Virginia’s one-gun-a-month law and allowing guns in restaurants that sell alcohol likely would have passed without creation of the subcommittee.

Republicans complained, saying allowing the subcommittee to kill bills would be "contrary to our traditions.

Henry Marsh did this. Let him know how you feel.

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Vote them out…:cool:

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November is coming…

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Time to expand unemployment to the government.

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Now that’s change I can believe in.

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…

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what’s left?
1 gun a month and Castle Doctrine?

While I agree there’s a lot of stuff on it’s way to the gov that will not be affected by this subcommitee, it just seems like more evidence that it’s about winning and not about representing your constituants.

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From the VCDL email:

I have been expecting this to happen for about 3 days now, but I was
hoping it wouldn’t.

Gun-hater Senator Marsh, who is the chairman of the Senate Courts of
Justice committee, has created a special subcommittee to “deal” with
gun bills.

Who is on this “death star” committee?

Senator Toddy Puller (Democrat) - anti-self-defense - chairperson

Senator Henry Marsh (Democrat) - anti-self-defense

Senator Janet Howell (Democrat) - anti-self-defense

Senator Louise Lucas (Democrat) - anti-self-defense

Senator Frederick Quayle (Republican) - pro-self-defense

–

First, the good news: the restaurant ban repeal (SB 334), guns in
locked containers and compartments in vehicles (SB 408), CHP renewals
through the mail (SB 3), and the right to an ore tenus hearing for
first time CHP applicants who are turned down (SB 533) ARE ALL SAFE
from this subcommittee and, unless the House somehow really fumbles
the ball, should be heading to the Governor’s desk in the near
future. Also, the firearms safety education program for elementary
schools (HB 1217) is being heard in a different Senate committee:
Health and Education - it passed out of a subcommittee by 3 to 2 this
afternoon.

Now, the bad news: the rest of the pro-gun bills that passed the
House are probably headed to Marsh’s death star subcommittee,
which is scheduled to meet on Thursday. Here is my analysis on the
fate of those bills that could end up in that subcommittee:

BILLS THAT ARE GOING TO REQUIRE THE MOST EFFORT TO GET PASSED OUT OF
SUBCOMMITTEE

HB 1070, Delegate Athey, allows CHP holders to carry in emergency
shelters

HB 108, Delegate Cole, requires localities to sell firearms purchased
in a “buy up”

HB 79, Delegate Ware, prohibits Circuit Court Clerks from
disseminating CHP applicant information

HB 870, Delegate Cline, repeals the option for localities to
fingerprint first time CHP applicants

HB 69, Delegate Carrico, Virginia Firearms Freedom Act, guns made and
sold in Virginia not subject to federal regulations

HB 854, Delegate Morefield, Castle doctrine

BILLS THAT SHOULD REQUIRE LESS EFFORT TO GET PASSED OUT OF SUBCOMMITTEE

HB 191, Delegate Griffith, allows Circuit Court Clerks to issue CHPs

HB 490, Delegate Lingamfelter, requires the State Police to put
together a proposal for lifetime CHP permits

HB 505, Delegate Gilbert, restaurant ban repeal - probably conformed
to SB 334, which has already passed out of the Senate

HB 109, Delegate Cole, repeals the authority for counties to tax
handgun sales and get a list of handgun purchasers

HB 885, Delegate Athey, allows a non-CHP holder to have a loaded gun
in an unlocked container or compartment in a vehicle - probably
conformed to SB 408, which has already passed the Senate

HB 52, Delegate Cole, creates a $25 civil penalty if a CHP holder does
not present his CHP when asked to do so by a LEO

BILLS THAT SHOULD PASS OUT OF SUBCOMMITTEE EASILY

HB 1092, Delegate Crockett-Stark, allows retired police to carry
everywhere they go

HB 1379, Delegate Sickles, allows NoVA localities to control storage
of firearms in small child-care facilities

Elections, like the one tomorrow in the House District 41 (Bolognese/
Filler-Corn), have consequences.

In 2011 the entire Senate is up for election and we must replace the
Senate’s bad actors on both sides of the aisle with pro-self-defense
candidates.

But that by itself probably won’t be good enough. Since the
LEADERSHIP of the Senate is controlled by anti-self-defense Democrats,
the only way to stop the Senate leadership from continuing to play
games with our rights is to take them out of power or to reduce their
power considerably.

The loss of three Democratic Senate seats, for example, would turn
leadership of the Senate over to the Republicans, while a loss of only
two Democratic seats would give both parties joint control.

*** This might be a good time to begin filling the VCDL-PAC’s coffers
with a lot of money. ***

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No self-respecting Republican should be willing to sit on a stacked committee like that. Sounds more to me like Virginians should lean on Senator Quayle to publicly denounce Marsh and his “Star Chamber” type committee. :frowning:

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The gun-grabbers are getting more & more desperate and hysterical everyday. Seems like Mr. Marsh wants to commit career suicide. That guy needs to be Daeschle’d and de-Foley-ated .
Good luck to the people in Virginia on this one.

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I am not happy about this development. Pro-gun momentum had been building quite nicely in the legislature and then the Marsh comes up with this nonsense.

I was paying particularly close attention to HB 171 which would have made it illegal for an employer to prohibit me from keeping a gun in my car in a company parking lot. I thought it was an important first step towards being allowed to carry while at work. HB 171 was passed to this committee today, and is all but dead.

Call them and let them know these tricks won’t be tolerated. Remind them who they work for. Vote them all out.

ETA: This story from the Washington Compost sheds a bit more light on the possible politics behind this. And makes me even madder. VOTE THEM ALL OUT.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2010/03/senate_special_panel_likely_to.html

Senate special panel likely to kill House bills expanding gun rights The chairman of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee this morning announced that he was creating a special subcommittee to hear a collection of bills dealing with guns that have passed the House of Delegates, including a proposal to repeal Virginia’s law limiting handgun purchases to one a month.

The committee’s membership leaves little doubt as to the outcome: Chaired by Democrat Sen. Toddy Puller (D-Fairfax), the committee will also include Democrats Sen. Janet Howell (D-Fairfax) and Sen. Louise Lucas. Each have a long history of opposing such bills. The only Republican serving on the subcommittee will be Sen. Fred Quayle, who said recently he does not favor repealing the one-gun-a-month law.

Sending the bills to a subcommittee takes advantage of a new practice of the Senate to allow the smaller group of senators to kill bills without requiring a vote of the full committee. The House has long operated under such rules. After years of moaning about how the House often failed to give its proposals the consideration of full
committees, the Senate this year decided to follow the House lead and adopt a similar practice.

Sending the gun bills to a subcommittee ensures the bills will be killed by senators from safe districts, whose voting history on gun issues is well established. It spares Democrats on the full committee who sometimes vote for such bills a tough vote that could hurt their reelection efforts.

Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D), the party’s former gubernatorial nominee, for instance, will likely not have to cast a vote on the one-gun-a-month issue. He had said during the campaign that he would not veto a repeal of the bill but as a delegate in the 1990s, he had backed the adoption of the measure.

Sen. Chap Petersen (D), who represents a swing Fairfax district, will also not have to weigh in. Petersen supported a measure earlier in the session to allow restaurant patrons to carry concealed weapons in establishments that serve alcohol, as long as they do not drink. Petersen said recently that he opposed repealing the one-gun-a-month law.

Courts Committee Chairman Henry Marsh (D) denied protecting Senate voting records was a motivation for creating the subcommittee. Instead, he said he was aiming to “expedite” the work of the committee. Without sending the bills to subcommittee, he said the committee would not be able to complete its docket this year.

The special subcommittee is scheduled to meet Thursday.

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The Dems are very unpopular right now, but they seem hell bent on making life harder for those that choose to exercise their Constitutional rights. They know this, hence the dirty tricks and double talk…

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I don’t understand how they can get away with crap like that.

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Democrats, and these Virginia Democrats, seem to have a very short memory. I think all Virginians should contact their legislators, whether Democrat or Republican and let them know that this tactic is fooling no one. Make sure you let the Dems know that they will all pay come election day, and thank the deserving Repubs for not playing these games.

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OMG what a political maneuver, I cannot believe it!

Hope you guys can bring some “change” to your legislature soon!

Crap like this should be outlawed!

Buckaroo

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Courts Committee Chairman Henry Marsh (D) denied protecting Senate voting records was a motivation for creating the subcommittee. Instead, he said he was aiming to “expedite” the work of the committee. Without sending the bills to subcommittee, he said the committee would not be able to complete its docket this year.

What a load of horse shit! Does he really think anyone on the planet would buy this crap? :rolleyes:

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hrm… looks like I’m going to have brush up, I was under the impression that there was an obligation to retreat.

Toddy Puller is from my district. for now.

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