Virginia allows government to conceal concealed gun permits

MoonHowler
Conceal us! Conceal us!Don't tell anyone!
Conceal us! Conceal us!
Don’t tell anyone!

Washingtonpost.com:

The Virginia General Assembly on Thursday passed legislation that would seal the records of all concealed handgun permits, handing a victory to gun owners who said the  measure would ensure their privacy and perhaps their safety from criminals who might use such information to target them.

“We’ve been wanting this for years,” said Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. “It wasn’t as much about guns as it was about privacy.”

The bill – which began in the evenly divided Senate as a measure that would shield only the identities of permit holders who also had protective orders – was later amended in the GOP-led House to prohibit disclosure of information on anyone with a concealed handgun permit.

The House’s version carried by a 76 to 23 vote. On Thursday, the Senate passed the amended bill by a vote of 31 to 9. It now heads to the governor’s desk.

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Stand and Fight? LaPierre goes for the fear factor

MoonHowler

Wayne LaPierre issued a statement to the Daily Caller in the form of an essay:

(excerpt)

Before I tell you how the NRA and our members are going to Stand And Fight  politically and in the courts, let’s acknowledge that all over this country,  tens of millions of Americans are already preparing to Stand And Fight to  protect their families and homes.

These good Americans are prudently getting ready to protect themselves.

It has always been sensible for good citizens to own and carry firearms for  lawful protection against violent criminals who prey on decent people.

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Nugent and Sheila Jackson Lee–NOT soul mates

MoonHowler

I thought Rep. Jackson-Lee was going to hurl. However, she was very gracious.
Nugent was oily, put his hands on her when not invited to do so, and was oh so full of himself, but other than those tings, was polite, engaging and yes, braggiose.  He kept his opinion of Hillary to himself.

He did suck up and try to entice her by with his remarks about black musicians in the early days of Rock n Roll which predated even Nugent. However the dig about Peter, Paul and Mary was just stupid. They were an entirely different genre of music.

So to all those who asked “Where’s the Nuge?” I hope I have answered your question. He really should have worn a tie. That’s just what you do. Hell, he could have even worn a bolo tie. A bolo would have allowed him to keep his Texas cred.

Gayle Trotter’s Big skeery gun

MoonHowler

———————————————————————————————

Gayle Trotter appears about minute 4.

“An assault weapon in the hands of a young woman defending her babies in her home becomes a defense weapon,” said Trotter, a mother of six. “And the peace of mind she has … knowing she has a scary-looking gun gives her more courage when she’s fighting hardened violent criminals.”

For all her concern over the little woman, it seems that Gayle Trotter didn’t even get the right weapon. The Little Woman fired a shotgun, not an AR-15. Additionally, Trotter has worked against the Women Against Violence Act WAVA) that is before Congress now.
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LaPierre testimony…extremist driven

MoonHowler

LaPierre sounds like a survivalist.  His attempts to explain himself actually made him sound like a jackass.  The “It won’t work” mentality just doesn’t cut it.

LaPierre speaks for himself.  He has convinced me of nothing.  I would be curious why LaPierre says  that that armed security words at schools.  What is he basing that blanket statement on.  What are the metrics?

Federal gun prosecutions are down?  His conclusions are absurd and unfounded.   He is grasping.

Background checks don’t work?  Give me a break.  Non-logic used on that one.

My fight is not with the concept of the NRA.  My fight is with the folks who were trotted out today with the worst analogies in the world.

 

Just out of curiosity, why is the NRA training our military, as suggested by LaPierre?

 

Connecticut Task Force On Gun Violence Holds Hearing At Newtown High School

MoonHowler

An excerpt:

Huffingtonpost.com:

 

Dave Wheeler, whose son Benjamin died at Sandy Hook Elementary on Dec. 14, quoted a founding father at a public hearing in Newtown, Conn., on Wednesday. “Thomas Jefferson described our inalienable rights as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Wheeler said. “I do no think the order of those important words was haphazard and casual. The liberty of any person to own a military assault weapon and high-capacity magazine and to keep them in their home is second to the right of my son to his life.”

Wheeler was one of more than 100 parents, police officers, clergy members and Newtown residents who spoke at the fourth and final public hearing held by the Connecticut legislature’s Bipartisan Task Force on Gun Violence and Children’s Safety. While the first three hearings covered school safety, gun violence and mental health, respectively, Wednesday’s hearing provided an opportunity to address any of those subjects.

Response?

To read other parent remarks, go to Connecticut Task Force On Gun Violence Holds Hearing At Newtown High School .

Vermont gun club bars Burlington police from range practice

MoonHowler

 

Huffingtonpost.com:

A Vermont shooting range has banned Burlington police in protest of a city council gun control proposal.

The national debate over gun control got very local for police in Burlington, Vt., earlier this month, after an area shooting range barred officers from practicing on its premises. The move came in protest of the city’s proposed ban on certain assault weapons.

The resolution, which the Burlington City Council recently voted 10-3 in favor of, would ban assault-style firearms and large-capacity magazines within city limits. Similar initiatives have gone before city governments across the United States even as President Barack Obama met with law enforcement officials to discuss gun control measures Monday.
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The background check

MoonHowler

guns lots

Politico.com:

Here’s how the system is supposed to work: Before buying a gun from a federally  licensed dealer, you are required to fill out a federal form with basic questions about criminal history.  The seller calls the information into the FBI’s National Instant Criminal  Background Check System (NICS), in Clarksburg, W. Va, and on the spot your name  is run through the database. In a matter of minutes, you can complete your  purchase if no red flags pop up.

So who can’t get a gun? The federal law instituting instant  background checks was activated in 1998 and bars convicted killers from being able to buy firearms, as  well as anyone imprisoned for more than two years; those convicted of domestic  abuse; fugitives from justice, illegal immigrants; soldiers who have been  dishonorably discharged; and people who are under indictment for a crime  punishable by more than a year behind bars.

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Stephen King: Whoop-ass call for greater gun control

MoonHowler

guns stephen king

Amazon Kindle has a new format out called Kindle Single.  It is a way that authors can respond quickly to current events in a format that is a little longer than what a newspaper, magazine, or blog can accommodate.  Stephen King finished his essay entitled, “Guns” last Friday late morning and  submitted it.  By Friday night, Amazon had accepted it and had it ready to publish today.

Washingtonpost.com:

Determined and at times profane, the 8,000-word essay confronts NRA members straight on: “In the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings,” King writes, “gun advocates have to ask themselves if their zeal to protect even the outer limits of gun ownership have anything to do with preserving the Second Amendment as a whole, or if it’s just a stubborn desire to hold onto what they have, and to hell with the collateral damage.”

“I have nothing against gun owners, sport shooters, or hunters,” King writes, but “how many have to die before we will give up these dangerous toys? Do the murders have to be in the mall where you shop? In your own neighborhood? In your own family?

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Tom Selleck and the NRA: Do I have to hate Blue Bloods?

MoonHowler

tom_selleck_2

Tom Selleck is a spokesperson for NRA.

From wiki:

Political views and the NRA

To promote his film The Love Letter, Selleck was invited to be on The Rosie O’Donnell Show on May 19, 1999. However, he found himself defending an ad in which he appeared supporting the National Rifle Association (NRA) and his position on gun ownership. Selleck said, “It’s your show, and you can talk about it after I leave.” O’Donnell was highly criticized; it was criticism which led her to make an apology to Selleck by saying, “For him feeling embarrassed and humiliated by me, I strongly do apologize to him personally, but I do not apologize for my feelings about the issue of gun control.”[24]

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Cho: A study in what’s wrong

MoonHowler

Most of my information comes from wikipedia under VA Tech Massacre.

So many things were wrong in the Cho case that I am surprised something like the VA Tech Massacre doesn’t happen monthly.

In the first place,  Cho was disturbed when he lived in Fairfax County and went to Westfield  High School.    He was diagnosed with selective mutism and major depressive disorder.  He was treated for these illnesses and he received special ed services for at least 2 years of high school.

Tech was never told about this.  Apparently it violates a student’s privacy to pass this information along to a receiving school.  This law needs to change.  A receiving school should have every right to know this about a student.  He graduated in 2003.

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No gunshow loopholes? Lawmakers prove the loophole exists

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

Two Virginia legislators pushing for stricter gun laws made an undercover video of themselves buying a gun without undergoing criminal background checks.

“You don’t look like you’re ready to go do a bank heist or something,” a gun show vendor remarks to state Sen. Adam P. Ebbin (D-Alexandria) and Del. Patrick A. Hope (D-Arlington) before they buy a handgun and a high-capacity magazine.

The sales were perfectly legal under Virginia law, which does not require background checks on gun sales between private individuals, or on any ammunition sales.

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President Obama: Executive action

MoonHowler

Let’s keep it simple.

Today, the President is announcing that he and the Administration will:

1.    Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevan tdata available to the federal background check       system.

2.  Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health InsurancePortability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from makinginformation available to the background check system.

3.  Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

Stop the Violence Measures by Obama Adminstration

Elena

(video removed because defective)

President Obama on Wednesday formally proposed the most expansive gun-control policies in generations and initiated 23 separate executive actions aimed at curbing the nation’s gun violence.

Obama signed executive orders and paperwork initiating immediate administrative actions, including steps to strengthen the existing background-check system to keep guns out of the hands of potentially dangerous people as well as to improve mental health and school safety programs.

No one has to pry your gun out of your “cold dead hands.”   This was a long time coming and  I believe it is the beginning of a comprehensive approach to a societal crisis.

The president also called on Congress to swiftly pass legislation to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines for civilian use and to require universal background checks for all gun buyers. Obama’s proposals include mental health and school safety measures, as well as a tough new crackdown on gun trafficking.

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Joe Scarborough: High cost of the NRA’s extremism

MoonHowler

From Politico.com :

By JOE SCARBOROUGH |

1/15/13 7:12 PM EST

Wayne LaPierre can’t say we didn’t warn him.

Several weeks ago, I spoke on “Morning Joe” about how the tragedy at Newtown changed everything.  On the set that morning and on many occasions since Dec. 14, we have warned that the extreme faction of the NRA will either face political reality or face political disaster.

As a longtime supporter of the Second Amendment, I had hoped their executives and lobbyists would not take an absolutist position on the issue since that would ultimately set back the cause of gun rights. Unfortunately, Mr. LaPierre chose to respond as if it were 1994.

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