The whole deal, 38 Minutes 124mb:
http://www.mcgeedigitalmedia.com/images/video/VCDL/BBGG_ALL.wmv
Edited highlights with 2 news clips, 13 minutes 42mb:
http://www.mcgeedigitalmedia.com/images/video/VCDL/BBGG_Edit.wmv
Podcast versions:
http://www.mcgeedigitalmedia.com/images/video/VCDL/BBGG_ALL_iPodVideo.m4v
http://www.mcgeedigitalmedia.com/images/video/VCDL/BBGG_Edit_iPodVideo.m4v
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The background:
The turnout was about 300 people last night (we handed out 298
tickets)! We filled the meeting room to capacity and an overflow
crowd of about 150 had to stand outside, having to listen to the
meeting through open windows.
The media packed the room. In fact we had to ask nine volunteers to
leave the room and go outside so that the fire marshal would let all
the reporters in the room! Thanks, by the way, to those nine
volunteers who stepped up to the plate, giving up their nice seats to
go stand outdoors. And speaking of that…
‘PETTY’ PENNY STRIKES AGAIN
There are two large meeting rooms at the Mason District Government
Center. We had reserved more spartan one with better acoustics. The
other meeting room was not being used and had a nice podium and lots
of extra chairs.
When we asked if the overflow crowd could be placed in that smaller
room, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors member Penny Gross said,
‘No!’
Talk about being vindictive and mean-spirited! Ms. Gross likes free
speech if you agree with HER, otherwise she will stomp her feet and
stick out her lower lip and do anything she can to interfere.
In my opening remarks I took Petty Penny to task for her inexcusable
and inhospitable actions and told the packed room, “Welcome to
Fairfax!,” which drew a strong response.
I think that Ms. Gross’s denial of our use the the other meeting room
embarrassed many of the County employees present.
A real class act that Ms. Gross.
Petty Penny wasn’t the only unhappy member of the Fairfax County
Government present. The County Attorney was there, too. He stood
outside the front doors looking at the lobby area of the building,
well maybe more like GLARING at the lobby area. It was quite clear
that he wasn’t happy and he was just waiting for something, anything,
to go wrong so he could shut the whole meeting down.
The fire department was also being extremely picky about making sure
we had no more than 150 people in the room (which by the way didn’t
have the maximum capacity sign posted until that morning, putting
Fairfax County in violation of it’s own fire code for years!).
On a bright note, the police were polite and professional as were the firemen.
The front part of the parking lot was cordoned off for the press and
their vehicles.
I was interviewed continuously from 6 PM until 8 PM., as were other
VCDL members.
Also present were around 20 or so ‘protesters,’ which included small
children. A few of them were families of two of the murdered
Virginia Tech students. The protesters were isolated behind a rope
on the left of the building’s front doors, with two watchful Fairfax
Police officers standing nearby. For the most part the protesters
were quietly holding signs.
With one exception. A woman who was with the “Million Mom March” was
acting obnoxious and doing some heckling (anyone surprised by that?).
The police kept an eye on her. At one point she went around the rope
and rushed into the building, right up to the door of the meeting
room. Dennis O’Connor followed her and was prepared to alert the
police if she began disrupting the meeting, but she listened for a
few minutes and then returned back outside.
One lesson I learned from the protesters was LEARN HOW TO SPELL
before making protest signs! Signs said, “Blumberg has my vote -
no illegal gun sales!” and “VA Supports Gun Contol.” Another
sign said, “Who needs an automatic pistol?” When Bruce Jackson told
the protester that the sign should have said, "Who needs a
semi-automatic pistol?, " the protester got flustered and whined
that the sign couldn’t be changed now because the new wording was too
long. 
Paul Moog, VCDL’s founder, spoke for a few minutes and lambasted some
of the media for eating up whatever baloney that the Fairfax
Government dished out. The Washington Post was pounded on the
hardest.
VCDL attorney, Richard Gardiner, updated the crowd on the status of
the Bloomberg lawsuits.
Bob Moates spoke briefly, thanking everyone for the financial and
moral support he and his store has received from VCDL members. Bob
brought with him the handgun that was being given away and we had it
on display.
Finally Andrew Dysart spoke about his efforts to organize GMU
Students for Concealed Carry.
There were three large cakes at the front of the room - the middle
one was still covered so the writing could not been seen. At that
point I uncovered the cake and four VCDL members tilted the cake
forward so the room could see the decoration:
http://www.vcdl.org/BGG/Cake2.jpg
Cameras flashed as the room broke out in laughter!
EM and retired D.C. Police Officer Dave Vann drew the winning
tickets. The first ticket was held by someone in the meeting room, a
VCDL member who originally hails from New York City of all places!!!
The winner chose the handgun instead of the rifle. When asked by a
New York reporter what message did he wish to send to Michael
Bloomberg, the winner made a gesture that any New Yorker would
understand indicating that Bloomberg could shove, er, well, never
mind. The room exploded in laughter. (I do encourage our members to
keep comments to the press short and to the point, but THAT was not
quite what I had in mind. )
Interestingly even the anti’s wanted tickets to the drawing and were
given one ticket each. The MMM protester got angry when Dennis
wouldn’t give her two tickets!
Tickets were handed out to the press, too! One reporter really
wanted a ticket saying that she wanted to have a handgun.
When the winner had been drawn, the MMM protester yelled in an
obnoxious voice that all the winners were going to be inside the
building and that the whole thing was rigged.
Dave Vann drew the second place ticket. And the winner was…
OUTSIDE right next to Dennis!! The MMM protester shut up at that
point. The second place winner was not a member and hadn’t even
heard of us (!) until that day.
I called the meeting at that point so everyone could get some cake.
The reporters made a mad rush toward the winners, lighting up that
part of the room like the sun.
After the drawing I encouraged everyone with a losing ticket to mail
the ticket to Bloomberg. I also pointed out we had an anti-Bloomberg
poster that could be signed and that poster will be mailed to
Bloomberg after the Bloomberg gun GiveAway I drawing is finally held.
I want to give my heartfelt thanks to Dennis O’Connor for
coordinating the flow of people and the handing out of tickets.
Dennis found some wonderful volunteers: Bob Ham masterfully
controlled access to the meeting room so that there were never more
than 150 people in it (we would have been shut down instantly if it
had ever hit 151 
) Michael Johnson handed out tickets. Justin
Spears kept an eye on the lobby and main doors so that they were
never blocked. Robert Herron, VCDL’s Fredericksburg gun show
coordinator set up the VCDL banner and display table and helped with
organization. Dennis’ job and the job of his four volunteers was
absolutely critical in keeping the County from shutting us down.
Also a big thanks to Jim Snyder for arranging to get the cakes and
lots of other key materials. He also played a critical role in
interfacing with the police and fire marshal to make sure both were
happy.
Matt Gottshalk will have video of the drawing that will be posted on
the VCDL web site soon.
In the meantime, here are some photos care of Scott Kreidler:
http://skreidle.phpwebhosting.com/gallery/BloombergGG2
Check the VCDL web site for more pictures and video of the event!:
http://www.vcdl.org/BGG/BGG.html
More of the media coverage will follow in upcoming alerts.
Great job, VCDL! Congratulatory emails (and some hate-emails) are
streaming in from across the country!
Now back to finishing the Bloomberg Gun GiveAway I…
–
Fox News coverage:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,273217,00.html
Virginia County Gun Rights Group Holds ‘Bloomberg Gun Giveaway’
Thursday , May 17, 2007
ANNANDALE, Va. . -
More than 200 firearms enthusiasts - most of them openly armed -
packed a normally sedate government building Thursday night, hoping
to win a pistol or rifle and at the same time send a defiant message
to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other gun-control
advocates.
The Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group, organized
the “Bloomberg Gun Giveaway” in large part to thumb its nose at New
York’s mayor. Bloomberg drew gun owners’ ire by launching a series of
out-of-state stings against gun shops suspected of allowing illegal
straw purchases of firearms.
Two guns were awarded, a Para-Ordnance pistol and a Varmint Stalker
rifle, each worth about $900. The winners did not immediately receive
the weapons - they will still be required to undergo federal and
state background checks.
The first winner, Jay Minsky of Fairfax, responded with an obscene
hand gesture when asked what message he hoped to send to Bloomberg.
“If he doesn’t like people in New York having guns, he should deal
with New York,” said Minsky, who grew up in Brooklyn. “Just keep out
of Virginia.”
The event drew an overflow crowd at a Fairfax County government
building, with the fire marshal aggressively enforcing an occupancy
limit of 150 for the meeting hall. Others stood outside and peered in
through open windows.
The event also drew protests from gun-control advocates and the
parents of those killed in last month’s shootings at Virginia Tech.
Peter and Cathy Read of Annandale, whose daughter Mary was one of
those killed, silently held a photo of their daughter outside the
building.
“We’re not here to have a debate. We’re here to witness for our
daughter,” Peter Read said. “The victims need to be witnessed to.
People of the commonwealth can make intelligent decisions about
what’s right.”
Philip Van Cleave, the league’s president, said he is sympathetic to
the families, but maintained that some of the deaths might have been
prevented if somebody had been armed.
“We don’t want another Virginia Tech,” Van Cleave said.
Most of those in attendance said they were motivated not by the
chance of a free gun, but to make a point to Bloomberg and express
support for the Second Amendment.
“It’d be nice if I win, but that’s not what this is about. It’s about
my constitutional right to defend myself,” said Ron Stuebing of
Sterling, a VCDL member.
The event had been planned for months as a fundraiser for two gun
shops being sued by New York City. A raffle ticket was awarded for
every $100 in purchases at the two gun shops, Bob Moates Sport Shop
in Richmond and Old Dominion Gun and Tackle in Danville.
But officials said that giveaway violated state gambling laws, so the
league quickly organized a new giveaway, open to anybody who showed
up at its Thursday night meeting.
Most but not all in attendance carried holstered handguns. In
Virginia, individuals need a permit only to carry a concealed weapon.
Openly visible, holstered guns are permitted without a permit.
Anybody who showed up at Thursday’s event was eligible for the
drawing - except Bloomberg and his immediate family, who were
explicitly excluded from the contest by VCDL organizers.
New York City officials have sued more than two dozen gun dealers
from Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia in
federal court. The lawsuits were filed after private investigators
went into the stores with hidden cameras and simulated an illegal
straw purchase - in which one person fills out the paperwork and buys
the gun for somebody else.
Justice Department officials have said that the private investigators
conducting the stings may have been breaking the law themselves, and
that none of the gun dealers caught in the stings would face federal
prosecution.
Bloomberg and Virginia Attorney General Robert McDonnell also traded
barbs after McDonnell told Bloomberg the stings were unwelcome and
illegal under a new Virginia law that takes effect in July.
Asked Thursday about the giveaway, Bloomberg said, “I think it’s
sick, is the nicest ways to phrase it.”
Van Cleave responded that the members of his organization are
law-abiding citizens, including many retired military, police
officers and firefighters.
“If you’re saying these are sick people, then I’m proud to be sick,”
Van Cleave said.
–
And with all the interviews I did there was one major misquote. Not
sure where we crossed wires, but the Richmond Times-Dispatch has the
following quote attributed to me:
–
Defense League President Philip Van Cleave of Chesterfield County
said before the meeting that he feels sorry for the Tech families but
added, *** “At some point, they’ll get over their pain.” ***
–
I used a standard quote for that question with all the reporters.
The correct quote was reported pretty much like this in all the other
media: “Philip Van Cleave, the league’s president, said he is
sympathetic to the families, but maintained that some of the deaths
might have been prevented if somebody had been armed.”
Here’s the link to the RTD story: