1) THOUGHTS FOR OUR FELLOW OUT-OF-STATE CHP HOLDERS
First, I’d like to offer an apology to our fellow CHP holders from the 25 states that are about to lose recognition on February 1st.
All of you who have visited Virginia over the years have been exemplary and have not caused any problems within the Commonwealth.
This is NOT about you or anything you have done that was wrong.
It’s about our Governor, Terry McAuliffe, and our Attorney General, Mark Herring, who were both elected by a very small margin, and are a great embarrassment to Virginians. Neither of these individuals are reflective of the attitudes toward liberty and freedom and the values that we cherish here in Virginia. In fact, both have been referred to as “lawless” by some of our own General Assembly members, many of who are going to work to fix the situation we find ourselves in.
Here in the Old Dominion, the anger of gun owners at what our Attorney General has done is palpable, and I cannot remember anything to match it. Herring and McAuliffe have endangered your lives when you travel here and our lives when we travel outside of Virginia. SIX MILLION CHP holders in half the country are affected!
And all this treachery was done as political payback to Michael Bloomberg for campaign contributions.
VCDL will be working to fix this problem from various angles and we will be trying to do so as expeditiously as possible. We want Virginia to be a welcoming state again for our fellow gun owners. We ultimately want to recognize ALL out-of-state permits.
Sadly, we understand if you decide you can’t visit us until we can honor your permits. I’d be a hypocrite if I said I would do so if the tables were turned.
HOWEVER, you do have a few options if you still want to come visit us:
1. Open carry is legal in Virginia - no permit required and you can open carry in most places in Virginia. Our police don’t bat an eye. VCDL's website has a list of the places that you cannot carry. And, here’s another good reason to open carry: McAuliffe and Herring HATE open carry. But, hey, it was THEIR brilliant idea to prohibit concealed carry, so they will have no choice but to get used to a whole lot more people open carrying in Virginia! wink emoticon
2. You can have a LOADED handgun in a CLOSED, but not necessarily locked, compartment or container in a vehicle. That includes a glovebox, console, and trunk as long as the compartment or container has some kind of latch. Optionally the loaded handgun can be in plain sight, on the seat or on the dashboard. Again, if concealed it MUST be in a compartment or container and nowhere else. Upon exiting the vehicle, the loaded handgun can be holstered and carried in plain view or you can unload the gun and put it in a carrying case.
3. You can get a Utah non-resident concealed handgun permit or you can get a Virginia non-resident concealed handgun permit. For the money and the fact that Virginia’s permit has now been degraded by the Attorney General, I’d go for the Utah permit.
Whatever you do, please don’t judge our great Commonwealth based on our current Governor and Attorney General.
2) WHAT CAN BE DONE?
VCDL is working to fix "Herring’s Folly" from several angles.
a) A bill on VCDL’s behalf has been introduced by Delegate Lee Ware and will be considered by the General Assembly, which convenes on January 14th (Lobby Day is on the 18th, BTW). This bill will change Virginia law to honor the CHPs from ALL states! Expect a matching bill to come from the Senate.
Yes, McAuliffe will probably veto it, but with your help, we will work to get as large a majority as possible to pass it. More on this in future legislative updates in January.
In the meantime, here is a link to the bill:
http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?161+ful+HB12b) The General Assembly’s “Power of the Purse” can be used in different ways to help with this battle
c) We can possibly use the courts to override Herring and McAuliffe’s actions
d) There is a petition you can sign. Yes, Herring will ignore it, but it will make a great PR item, when I say something like, “X thousand of people signed a petition against Herring’s actions.” 7,283 have signed it so far and you guys are just learning about it! Here is the link:
http://tinyurl.com/pajlh9xd) Since Herring is making our lives miserable, we can return the favor. More on this next week. Oh, and Herring is going to run for Attorney General again in 2017. I’ll bet he’ll be surprised at just how good our memories can be!
3) DON’T FORGET TO KEEP PUSHING PEOPLE YOU KNOW TO COMMENT ON MCAULIFFE’S STATE-AGENCY BAN
As of 8 PM on December 23rd, 2,818 comments have been posted. All but a handful, if that many, are against McAuliffe’s gun ban!
That's nice, but we can do better. Get this link into the hands of others you know and get them to leave a comments opposing the ban. If you haven’t commented yet, now is a great time to do so. Click on the link and then click on “Enter a comment” to get started:
http://www.townhall.virginia.gov/L/Comments.cfm?StageID=7379Here’s an article on McAuliffe’s state-agency gun ban and VCDL:
http://bearingdrift.com/…/abc-goes-gun-free-before-holiday…/
or
http://tinyurl.com/gpmf2nu4) DETAILS ON THE BUSES COMING TO LOBBY DAY WILL BE READY VERY SOON
The buses are now confirmed and I will let you know where the pickup points will be, the times, and how to make a reservation. Please make this the biggest Lobby Day VCDL has ever had!
5) MARK YOUR CALENDARS: VCDL MEETING IN RICHMOND AREA ON DECEMBER 29!
VCDL will be holding a long awaited membership meeting in the Richmond area. We will meet at the Glen Allen Library on Tuesday, December 29th at 7:00 p.m. The meeting room will be open to us at 6:30 p.m. for fellowship and the meeting will begin around 7:00.
We will be discussing strategy for Lobby Day and the implications of the recent "audit" by AG Mark Herring and the Executive Order #50 issued by Gov. McAuliffe.
We will adjourn at 8:30 and those who care to will go to the Nuevo Mexico restaurant for continued fellowship.
The meeting is open to all, regardless of your membership status. In fact, we encourage you to bring people who have never been to a VCDL meeting before.
Location:
Glen Allen Library
10501 Staples Mill Road
Glen Allen, VA 23060
Time:
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Continued Fellowship:
Nuevo Mexico Restaurante
10282 Staples Mill Road
Glen Allen, VA 23060
www.nuevomexicorestaurante.com FINALLY - MERRY CHRISTMAS AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU!
