Patriots Day

Jim's Quote of the Day

"By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled;
Here once the embattled farmers stood;
And fired the shot heard round the world."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
SurvivalBlog.com

Open Carry Deters Bank Robbery

Lately I have been debating folks who say concealed carry has a tactical advantage over open carry. Often these people overlook the deterent value of an openly carried pistol. or dismiss it altogether. Well I received a VA-ALERT on this very subject and it confirmed that in at least some cases open carry has a criminal deterent value.

VA-ALERT: VCDL Board member thwarts bank robber!

The event that VCDL Board member Dennis O'Connor describes below happened in a SunTrust branch a couple of days ago.

SunTrust does not ban their law-abiding customers from legally carrying a firearm for self defense.

Had this been a Wachovia or a BB&T, both of which ban guns, the outcome would probably have been very different.

This event also underlines something that both Dennis and I believe - open carry, in and of itself, can be a strong deterrent to crime. Yes, I know - the criminal COULD do a preemptive strike against someone he sees carrying openly. But in practice such an event is extremely rare. The outcome described below is the usual case.

In analyzing the encounter, the only thing I can flaw Dennis with is not being aware of the significance of what has happening around him. But I have a law enforcement background and was trained to be on the lookout for certain behaviors and do so automatically.

The tellers at the bank, who are probably trained in how to handle a robbery, certainly knew what had just happened!

The other lesson is that crime almost always happens when you least expect it. In this case Dennis was busy getting some deposits taken care of and was focused on that task, something he has done for years routinely without a hitch. So when something unusual happened, his mind was a little slow switching gears.

Looking at it from a criminal's point of view, it was the perfect time for a holdup - the bank had just opened and there were few customers. (You can imagine that it would be much more difficult to rob a bank with, say, thirty people inside.)

In the end, this worked out as it usually does when a criminal finds himself face-to-face with an armed citizen - the criminal flees without a shot being fired.

In this more unusual case, Dennis's gun wasn't even touched or brandished!

Dennis's report:

On Tuesday the 26th of December I went down to the Sun Trust bank in Hopewell to complete some financial transactions. I got there just as they were opening and entered with a woman who had been waiting outside. There were three tellers in position to the left, one customer service associate at a desk to the right, and the manager was seated in his office to the rear right, so there were seven of us in the bank.

I have been banking there for years and know the tellers fairly well, who are quite used to me walking in with my holstered 1911 government model .45 and two reserve magazines. As I was transacting business with my teller, a man came in through the front door on this warm December morning wearing a full ski mask, with only his eyes showing. He was wringing his hands and glanced furtively toward the office and then swept his eyes across the room, finally towards me and the tellers. At that, he turned and BOLTED back out the door!

The teller next to my position was the first to recognize the implications of what had just happened, and yelled for the manager who came rushing out from his office. He glanced toward me before sticking his head out the front door, looking both ways down the sidewalk, and pronouncing that the suspicious character had apparently left the area. The same teller then expressed her relief that I had been there, and mentioned that the next Sun Trust down on Route 10 (Iron Bridge Road) had just been robbed the week before.

I regret to say that I was pretty oblivious to anything but the business I was immediately conducting, and walked out thinking no more about it as a non-incident at the time. In fact, even later that evening I only mentioned it as a casual after-thought in a conversation with Philip. He urged me to write up this account of what had transpired, and I will leave it to him to dissect and analyze the facts, psychologies, probabilities and possible alternative outcomes.

FOLLOW UP

I went by the bank again today to make a deposit - same three tellers on duty. I asked them if the police were called over the ski-masked intruder. They said no, but they had all discussed the incident yesterday afternoon and agreed that it was me standing there with a gun at Sharon's window (first one from the door) that spooked him into changing his plans, and they all thanked me again (although I didn't DO anything).

Arming Passengers on Commercial Flights

This looked like something that I could get behind.

http://mysite.verizon.net/armedpassengers/framepage.htm

The mission of the Armed Passengers Project is to advocate for legalizing the possession of weapons on commercial carriers - planes, trains, buses and ships. It does so by raising public awareness of the dangers created by not allowing people to defend themselves while traveling. It is intended to continue the work of, but is not affiliated with, Project Safe Skies, a website created several years ago on the same topic that is no longer available.
This website was created by Michael Bane, a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His activism and community involvement involves participation in various nonprofit organizations, including membership on the board of directors of his local civic association. He also has had letters and political cartoons published in major Philadelphia newspapers. In 2004 he traveled by private automobile on a three week vacation to attend a well known firearms training school. He planned the routing of the trip to only go through states that his various CCW licenses were honored. After completing the training, he qualified for and was granted several additional states' CCW permits.
Michael's ultimate goal is the creation of a national organization that specializes in lobbying for this agenda.

Webb vs Allen

My personal analysis on the elections is that either of the likely winners will be good for the right to keep and bear arms. Which is rather refreshing to have a choice of good candidates. Webb has had the most aggressive campaign to get the 'gun vote' that I have ever seen from a democrat. He is a gun owner and has a concealed handgun permit. Yet originally he said he was not seeking an NRA endorsement. Regardless he has an A rating from the NRA.

Senator Allen's record has been good on firearms. As governor he signed our shall issue concealed handgun permit law. While he had made some disconcerting statements in 2000 such as support for renewal of the Assault Weapons Ban, he seems to have found religion on the RKBA and has consistently voted 'pro-gun' in the senate. He has also introduced a bill to force CHP reciprocity among the states. Webb has stated he is for a 'national permit bill' which could mean the same thing as reciprocity or perhaps not. On the issue of lifting the ban on carry at national parks Allen has been somewhat helpful in the effort, and Webb has promised to bring a bill to the floor. NPS timeline at Bighammer.net

Senator Allen has also garnered the NRA endorsement and a comparison of the surveys shows a slight advantage for Allen. He would reject background checks on private sales at gun shows, while Webb would support such checks.

Allens Survey and NRA endorsement

Webbs Survey and Sportsman Letter

There is also the issue of Webb whispering his gun credentials on his website versus Allen putting his NRA endorsement on the front of his website.

There was also an ominous statement by Webb that "as a member of the National Rifle Association, he expects to take the organization to task for supporting Allen".Times News.net I have been critical of the NRA myself at times, however if Webb is locking out the 600 lb gorilla that the NRA is for RKBA, Webb may be not be so good for gun owners after all. Webb has also failed to produce his Gun Owners of America survey, which Allen did and was A rated.

My conclusion that compared to the entire population of politicians, both men are good for the RKBA. However with the possibility of largely antigun Democratic majority in the Senate, Webb's pro gun positions would be irrelevent and his ability to move positive legislation neutered. As Allen holds better positions than Webb and has the track record to back it up, I will be supporting Senator Allen at the polls tommorrow.

Busy Week of Gun Rights Meetups

Went to an Opencarry.org meetup on Friday at Dixiebones BBQ in Woodbridge.
Wednesday went to the VCDL meeting in Annandale. Listened to Mark aka The Donkey talk about Jim Webbs position on RKBA. I call him the Donkey because that is the handle he goes by over on opencarry.org where me, him and others have been debating Webb vs Allen on RKBA. Afterwards went to Fuddruckers with about 20 other open carrying folks.
Thursday went to Staunton to attend a city board meeting where gun owners addressed the board about their police officers treatment of lawfully armed folks back in July.
Gun owners take aim at police action
Gun owners slam police
A violation of constitutional rights?

Florida Deputy Sheriff Shoots Self at Party

Goes to show, that alcohol and guns do not mix and failure to obey the 4 safety rules can lead to tragedy. No one is invincible or immune to the consequences.
http://www.fox30online.com/
Deputy Dies
10/1/2006 4:25:26 AM
Assignment Desk
The shooting happened last night in his home as he was celebrating his 27th birthday. Now his family and co-workers are coming to grips with his death. In front of the St Johns County Sheriff's Office, a flag at half staff flutters in the wind as a department tries to heal after losing one of their own.

"At the end of the day you have a 27 year old deputy who could of went on to do a lot of wonderful things in his life and he's not going to have the opportunity", says St Johns County Sheriff David Shoar.

Investigators say Deputy Matt Barnes was supposed to work last night, but took the night off to celebrate his birthday with his fiancé and several friends. Witnesses at the party say they were drinking and at some point, Barnes picked up what he thought was an unloaded handgun.

Shoar says, "he was pulling the trigger on it, kind of showing it to some guys…” But the gun was loaded and fired, hitting barnes in the face. He died instantly. Investigators don't plan to file any charges and are calling the shooting accidental.

Sheriff Shoar says his staff goes through extensive weapons training and says there's a lesson to be learned from what happened. He just wishes the price wasn't so high. "Sure we can Monday morning quarterback and I wish we could turn the clocks back but we can't and Matt was a wonderful young man and a wonderful public servant."

Serving the public runs in Barnes’ family. His father works with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and his fiancé works with St Johns County Fire and Rescue.

Grief counselors have been called in to help deputies deal with the loss.

Glock kB

Caught on video no less, being that it is in the PI and at the home of Armscor, I'm guessing it was an ammunition issue. Didn't look to bad for the shooter, I wonder what condition the pistol is in.

Colonel Jeff Cooper, R.I.P.

I was very sorry to read of the Colonels passing yesterday. I think just about everyone who carries a pistol for self defense has been tangently affected by the work of Jeff Cooper and its safe to say his work has saved and will save lives for a long time to come.


Vaya con Dios Sir, Semper Fi.

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Cooper_(colonel)

John Dean "Jeff" Cooper (10 May 1920 - 25 September 2006 ) is recognized as the father of what is commonly known as "The Modern Technique" of handgun shooting, and considered by many to be the world's foremost expert on the use and history of small arms.
Born John Dean Cooper, but known to his friends as "Jeff", Cooper was a former Marine Lt. Colonel who served in World War 2 and in Southeast Asia during the Korean War. In addition to his expertise in firearms, he had been a history instructor, philosopher, adventurer, and author. He is also known as "the Guru."
In 1976 Cooper founded the American Pistol Institute (API, also known as "Gunsite") in northern Arizona to train law enforcement and military personnel, as well as law-abiding civilians. He sold the firm in 1989 but continued living on the ranch. He was well-known for his cogent and thoroughly researched advocacy of large caliber handguns for personal defense, especially the 1911 Colt.

VCDL Meeting 9/21/06

Just got back from another monthly VCDL meeting. Nothing really earth shattering happening at the moment but the meeting had a pretty good turn out. VCDL President Philip Van Cleave brought a beamhit laser marksmanship practice unit and demonstrated it for the crowd. Pretty neat device for practice that I will have to consider purchasing in the future.

Interestingly and unannounced to VCDL both a Sportsman for Allen and a Sportsmen for Webb representative showed up. VCDL by choice doesn't participate (make endorsements) in federal elections so courting for an endorsement won't do those candidates much good. However, PVC did say that the VCDL would publicize and educate its membership about any relevant 2nd Amendment information regarding the candidates.

Other topics in the meeting included plans for the upcoming legislative session, this weekends Gun Rights Policy Conference in Charlotte NC, National Park carry issue, and the National Reciprocity Concealed Carry Bill before the Senate. The meeting closed with a little Q & A with the membership and adjorned to fellowship at Fuddruckers.

Eating at Fuddruckers has become an after meeting tradition for VCDL. It has also become a little bit of grassroots activism at the same time. Due to Virginia's ban on concealed carry in restaurants that serve alcohol, most of the membership will legally open carry their firearms in the restaurant. Tonight as with most meetings there were about 20 people carrying their firearms openly with no problems at all.

Beer Cannon

Good Picture

Silly Quiz

Written by a counterstrike commando, but a fun waste of time. Needs a Main Battle Rifle category though.

You scored as Assault Rifle. You are soldier. Or you want to be a soldier. Or you just love military-type firearms. You need assault rifle. M16 or AK-47 will do good. Assault Rifle 94% Sniper Rifle 94% Shotgun 75% Pistol 56% Revolver 50% Machinegun 31% SMG 19% What Firearm Fits You Best? created with QuizFarm.com

Open Carry.org Meetup

On Friday night the 8th of Sept., about 25 people including myself attended an Open Carry.org get together for dinner at the Hard Times Cafe in Woodbridge, Va. We had a pretty mixed group including a few children and of the group of adults about 90% were openly carrying handguns. We had few looks but no one seemed overly concerned. There were no problems with anyone calling the police, trying to grab our weapons or bad guys shooting us first because they wanted to rob the place. I would say everyone enjoyed themselves, I know I did and its good to have fellowship with like minded folks.
This was the second NOVA Opencarry.org meetup, and it had about twice the attendance of the previous meetup. However, a group of gun owners getting together like this is not new to Northern Virginia. For over a decade VCDL meetings have been going on about monthly in Annandale, with increasing numbers of open carriers as the practice has had increased acceptance among gun owners.

Wow

Just reading Anarchangels post on open carry in Arizona. I seems there what would be considered concealed carry here is open carry.http://anarchangel.blogspot.com/2006/07/lawful-open-carry.html

Safety Tip

Treat every weapon as if it were loaded. Do not point a weapon at anything you don't intend to shoot and keep it pointed in a safe direction. Keep your finger of the trigger until ready to fire. Know your target and what is beyond it. If the gun owner in the following incident had followed these rules he wouldn't have nearly killed his neighbor in the next appartment. http://antiotter.livejournal.com/144625.html

Ravnwood's OC encounter with Leesburg PD

http://www.ravnwood.com/archives/005832.php

Lately I have been feeling this way myself

From the Michael Bane Blog http://michaelbane.blogspot.com/

as a "gun guy," I'm not really really a conservative. No wait, it's an election year, so I'll be warmly accepted into the Republican fold sometime around September. Of course I'll be excommunicated by Christmas along with all the other Second Amendment "zealots" who don't understand the real issues facing America, such as Britney Spears' carseat, alligators and gay marriage.

Somebody's aluminum chapeau is on to tight.

Or is it? The following could be a laughable attempt to further divide the President's base, but then again John Ashcroft ordered the Justice Department to stop doing this very thing years ago, and he is long gone now. Could be plausible but I question the source.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/15/14361/9178
BREAKING: NSA collecting gun ownership records...
by DaleNC
Mon May 15, 2006 at 11:36:01 AM PDT
I just heard from a friend who had a frightening story to tell. Turns out he has a friend who works for the NSA. Apparently, the NSA has been getting the records of gun buyers from the FBI. I guess the program works like this...

Person enters gun shop,

Person files background check paperwork,

Gunshop sends background check info to government,

Government fun on the flip...

VA-ALERT: Dancing in the blood of a detective and a mother

Longwatch here, I had been considering writing on these 2 items today because they sure made my blood pressure go up. As usual the VCDL and Philip Van Cleave hit the nail on the head with the following VA-Alert. Personally I long for the day when this country begins to realize that we need to focus on the criminal offenders and not the tools they use. Unfortunately the government in my home county, Fairfax, can't seem to recognize that the legislation they want, would not have prevented last weeks tragedy. There is no evidence it would have denied Michael Kennedy a weapon, or detered him from his infamous deeds in the slightest degree. As the title of this post suggests, these actions by politicians seem to me to be nothing more than to serve the personal gain and agendas of these politicians, by appearing to be tough on crime without actually doing anything about it. The full text of the latest VA-Alert follows.

I had the following breaking news items that I did not want to hold
until the weekend. Things continue to explode in Virginia.

1. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Congressman Jim Moran owe
Detective Vicky Armel's family an apology!
2. Bloomberg declares war on Virginia gun dealers

*********************************************************
1. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Congressman Jim Moran owe
Detective Vicky Armel's family an apology!
*********************************************************

In one of the most disgusting acts of disrespect for a fallen officer
and her family I have seen in a great while, both the Fairfax County
Board of Supervisors (BoS) and Congressman Jim Moran have rushed
forward to start dancing in Detective Armel's blood so that they can
push their gun-control agendas!

In the case of the Fairfax County BoS, they are trying to get
Congress to reenact the defunct and so called 'Assault Weapon Ban.'

Never mind that the ban wouldn't have made a lick of difference - it
was only a ban on cosmetics, as anyone who has looked at the law
knows. No, it's not about Fairfax saving lives. It's about Fairfax
callously pushing this issue strictly to get publicity at the expense
of that brave officer and her grieving family.

I am INCENSED at such behavior.

And it gets WORSE, believe it or not.

Not to be outdone in the disrespect department, Congressman Jim Moran
ran forward hoping this tragedy would pump life into his attempt to
ban .50 caliber rifles! No, I'm NOT kidding. Not a single .50
caliber rifle was used in the Fairfax shooting, nor have .50 caliber
rifles been used in any other crime that I have ever heard of. But
what do the truth and facts matter to Moran?

Moran has now sunk to a completely new low, even for him.

I say that Congressman Moran and the Fairfax County Board of
Supervisors owe Detective Armel's family an apology for stepping on
her body before it was even cold.

Here are some of the stories - take a deep breath before reading on.

First, here is Moran selfishly pushing his gun hatred at all costs.
Notice who else is stepping up to the plate with him:

http://tinyurl.com/rupd7

Congressman Calls for Tighter Gun Control Laws
May 15th - 11:03am

WASHINGTON -- The deadly shooting outside of a Fairfax County police
station a week ago has prompted many to call for tighter gun control
laws.

Virginia Congressman Jim Moran and Virginians Against Handgun Violence
are stepping up efforts to ban 50-caliber sniper rifles.

Congressman Moran has introduced legislation, H.R. 654, that would
prohibit the sale or transfer of 50-caliber sniper rifles, and require
those types of rifles already in private collections to be registered
under the National Firearms Act.

The bill would exempt members of the military and law enforcement.

The Congressman and Virginians Against Handgun Violence are also
trying to reinstate the assault weapons ban that lapsed in September,
2004.

The assault weapons ban, signed by President Clinton in 1994, outlawed
19 types of assault weapons. A clause directed that the ban expire
unless Congress specifically reauthorized it, which it did not.

Moran says laws would help keep certain types of weapons out of the
hands of criminals and terrorists.

In a statement made on their website in March, 2005, the National
Rifle Association spoke out against Representative Moran's push to ban
50-caliber rifles.

"Anti-gunners are just trying to manufacture an issue to rejuvenate
their gun-banning agenda, which collapsed last year when Congress
allowed the Clinton Gun Ban to expire, after independent studies for
Congress showed that the ban had been a mistake," the NRA website
says.

WTOP Radio is waiting to hear back from the NRA about the comments
Representative Moran made most recently on Monday.

--

And here comes another disgrace - the Fairfax County Board of
Supervisors. Did they bother to check their facts? There is nothing
to show that the rifle used in the attack was fully automatic. But
even if it was, the assault weapons ban the County is endorsing did
NOT apply to fully automatic firearms -- it only applied to
SEMI-automatic firearms that had certain COSMETIC features. In
addition, there is no evidence that had the assault weapons ban
continued in force after 2004, that it would have prevented this evil
crime. But there I go again talking about facts and truth in the
same sentence as the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. When will
I learn?

http://tinyurl.com/kn3f9

Supervisors Ask Congress to Limit Assault Weapons

From today's Metro section:

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, citing the May 8 shooting
death of Detective Vicky O. Armel, called yesterday on Congress to
reinstate the ban on assault weapons it allowed to expire in 2004.

Supervisor Catherine M. Hudgins (D-Hunter Mill), who sponsored the
resolution, said, "We all understand that automatic weapons are
weapons that shouldn't be in our community."

Hudgins initially asked that the board endorse passage of new
legislation sponsored by Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) that would
prohibit the sale or transfer of 50-caliber sniper rifles and require
that such weapons currently in private collections be registered with
the federal government.

But other board members said they were reluctant to endorse the Moran
bill without a better understanding of what weapons should be banned.
As a compromise, Hudgins agreed to a resolution calling for the
return of the federal assault weapons ban, first passed in 1994.

--

If you are a resident of Fairfax County, you SHOULD contact your
supervisor. Anyone else who would like to contact the Fairfax County
Board of Supervisors to share your thoughts in a polite but firm
manner, here is their web page:

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/government/board/

And here is Jim Moran's page:

http://clerk.house.gov/members/inter_mem_list.html?statdis=VA08

*********************************************************
2. Bloomberg declares war on Virginia gun dealers
*********************************************************

Like Rosie O'Donnell blaming spoon manufacturers for making her fat,
here comes Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg from New York blaming
Virginia for his inability to control his own violent criminals.

Bloomberg, according to his press release, used a New York
investigative firm to go to Virginia and several other states and
pretend to be doing a 'straw' purchase. The investigators did
actually purchase handguns in some cases apparently. However,
determining if a straw purchase is being performed is NOT a science.
It is often a simple judgement call. And therein lies the rub that
can get a law-abiding gun dealer in inadvertent trouble during a
badly run 'string' operation.

Four dealers are being sued in Virginia. One, Patriot Services here
in Richmond, has sold me several guns over the years. The people
from Patriot Services have always seemed to be very conscientious in
following the law.

I'll be curious to see the evidence that Bloomberg claims to have on
the Virginia gun dealers in question. Particularly I want to know if
there are cases of dealers willfully selling guns illegally or if
those dealers were set up and entrapped.

I'm leaning towards entrapment. I do know that the woman that was
doing the purchases at Patriot Services showed a Virginia concealed
handgun permit suggesting that the holder is someone who has had a
thorough background check and is a trusted person that simply doesn't
commit crimes, such as straw purchases. Any person who has been
convicted of a straw purchase cannot have a concealed handgun permit.
If the woman did indeed complete the straw purchase, upon conviction
her permit should be revoked.

If Bloomberg thought laws were being broken in Virginia, why didn't
he work with the Virginia State Police or the BATFE? Under what
authority did he send private investigators to Virginia to set up
straw purchases? Were laws violated in doing so?

Senator Schumer's slip is showing.

ROFLMAO: In the first video below Senator Chucky Schumer says,
"Whether it is a member of NYPD or an innocent child who is slain at
the hands of a gun..." That about sums it up. Criminals don't kill
people, guns have hands and they kill people all on their own.

Senator Schumer, that tinfoil hat becomes you!

Schumer also sees law-abiding gun owners clumped together with gun
runners, criminals, and terrorists when he says, "We have gun owners,
gun runners, gun criminals who terrorize urban and rural communities."

What terrorizes ME is the thought that this guy is in a position of
power.

Here are some of the stories:
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060516-123723-3183r.htm

Gun suit targets shops in 5 states
Published May 16, 2006

NEW YORK (AP) -- The city is suing 15 out-of-state gun shops it says
supply a significant portion of the guns that flow into New York,
including some that end up in the hands of criminals.
The lawsuit being filed yesterday asks the federal court to order
supervision and extra training for the dealers in Georgia, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia. It also seeks some damages
and compensation.
"By and large, most gun dealers respect and follow the law, but
the small group of dealers that do not should be held accountable,"
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said in a statement.
The city's law department singled out the 15 gun shops after
hiring private investigators who fanned out to dealers in the five
states over the past several weeks.
Wearing hidden cameras, the investigators entered stores in teams
of two and attempted "straw purchases," in which the buyer completes
the paperwork and passes the background check, but later hands over
the weapon to someone else who is not allowed to own a firearm.
The scam, prohibited by federal law, is typically used by people
who are under 21 or felons. The 15 dealers named in the suit sold
guns to the undercover investigators. The city said the sales were
refused at about 30 other shops.
The owners of two Georgia gun stores named in the lawsuit denied
Monday that they did anything wrong.
Earl Driggers, the owner of A-1 Jewelry and Pawn, said he was
aware that his store had been the target of a police sting in the
past, but he thinks he has always complied with the law.
"We certainly do everything we can to make sure guns don't leave
our store illegally," Mr. Driggers said. "I don't know what you're
supposed to do. If a guy comes in and meets all the criteria, and you
comply with the law, I don't know what you do."

--
http://tinyurl.com/qlz6v
VIDEO OF ILLEGAL SALE
PACKS LOTS OF AMMO
By DAVID SEIFMAN

May 16, 2006 -- Reality TV may be all the rage, but you can be sure
that a certain Virginia gun dealer isn't thrilled to be starring in a
video that landed him on New York TV last night.

"Here's an example of someone breaking the law," Mayor Bloomberg said
in introducing the secretly shot video during a City Hall news
conference.

What followed as the lights dimmed was a transaction as routine as
lemonade in summer in the South, a quick and painless purchase at
Cole's Gun Shop in South Boston, Va.

"I wonder if you could show me a 9mm," said the customer, who turned
out to be an undercover operative for the James Mintz detective
agency, hired by the city to scout out illegal gun sales.

"What kind of 9mm do you have in mind?" asked the obliging dealer.

Within the time it takes to order a burger at McDonald's, the purchase
was completed.

"Gonna need some bullets with that," added the customer.

When the required paperwork to purchase the weapon was presented,
however, the customer turned that task over to his female companion.

Although city officials say that's clearly illegal, the dealer didn't
blink.

"You are a Virginia resident, correct?" asked the dealer, explaining
that lots of prospective customers from North Carolina visit his shop
without realizing they can't buy anything because of the residency
requirements.

"I am," responded the male customer. To make it apparent that they
barely knew each other, the male customer turned to the female and
asked: "You live in the state, right?" The mayor labeled that exchange
as criminal.

"What you saw was a textbook straw purchase," he said. "The man picked
out the gun, handled it, asked questions about it and then when it
came time to do the paperwork he brought in a woman who had not been
involved at all."

The transaction was all the more striking because it was preceded by
another video where another Southern dealer refused to complete a sale
under similar circumstances.

When the undercover female agent approached to fill out the paperwork
in that case, the dealer stopped in his tracks.

"He's looking at guns for you and I didn't see you give any
indication, any inkling, about buying a gun," said the reluctant
dealer. "I'd gotta assume that you'd be buying it for him since he
can't buy one . . . . If I'm wrong, I'm sorry, but that's just the way
it has to work," he explained.

Michael Cole, the lawyer for Cole's Gun Shop and the owner's brother,
insisted it abides by the law.

"We deny that we have ever made a straw sale [to a front man]. It's
something that's just not done. We haven't seen the video so we can't
comment on that," he said.

Cole also said the shop has never gotten into trouble with the federal
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms and routinely turns away
customers.

"Sometimes there's this suspicious situation where a woman walks in
and she'll be reading off a piece of paper and you look outside and
there are a bunch of kids in the car. You know what's going on and,
yes, we turn them away."

Robert Marcus, president of the Virginia Gun Dealers' Association,
said dealers are keenly aware that they can't sell to customers who
are fronting for others.

"We have an ongoing program, 'Don't lie for the other guy.' "

--

Here is a video of the Schumer/Bloomberg press conference today,
featuring Chucky and his proposed legislation to further restrict our
rights and Bloomy doing some serious fear-mongering. If gun owners
stand together Schumer's bill and Moran's bill never see the light of
day.

Caution: there is a lot of whining, baloney and hypocrisy in these
videos, please do not throw hard objects at your computer screen - I
need you online, not offline with a broken computer:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2006a/media/pc051606-dc300k.asx

Here is a video of Bloomberg's press conference yesterday, which
shows some video of a 'straw' purchase in Cole's Gun Shop in South
Boston. The dealer appears to be asleep at the switch, but I was not
left with the impression that he was going along with an illegal
straw purchase perpetrated by the private investigators."

Based on this video, it appears that the dealer was busy getting
ready to handle the sale and didn't hear an important clue when the
man asked the woman if she was a Virginia resident. The man should
have known such a basic thing as that about his female companion.
But if the dealer didn't hear the clue, then it may as well have not
happened at all. Was the dealer careless? Probably. Malicious? I
doubt it. He made it clear he would not sell to anyone who was not a
VA resident and did not in any way hint that he would be willing to
circumvent the law to make such a sale or any other sale.

If he had said, "Psst - let's go in the back room and we can do this
off the books" or something like that, then he would have been
malicious. All they appear to have done here is tripped up an
otherwise law abiding gun dealer.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2006a/media/pc051506-ATF_presser300k.asx

Opencarry.org

This made my day. Opencarry.org is back and better than ever. The new forum format is much improved. Check it out at http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/

CCW on "The Unit"

The Unit is already my new favorite show, but it keeps getting better for me. On last nights episode, one of the female characters was shown carrying a pistol and as a permit holder. Because it was network TV I was expecting typical anti gun bias, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a positive defensive use of a gun later in the episode. Anyhow I recommend the Unit to anyone who is looking for a somewhat realistic action/drama show.

VA-ALERT: Fingerprint repeal update in Rockingham/Augusta/Chesterfield

VCDL members are already moving to get localities to repeal their CHP
fingerprinting ordinances.

Activist Robert Mortensen sent me an email stating that Rockingham
County Board of Supervisor (BoS) member Chuck Ahrend is going to
bring up Robert's request for the Board to eliminate CHP
fingerprinting. If you can attend the meeting and report back what
happens, that would be great.

I don't expect anything to happen tonight other than for the BoS to
discuss the issue. An actual vote to repeal the ordinance wouldn't
probably happen until next month at the earliest.

But this would be a great time for our Rockingham members to contact
their BoS member and encourage him or her to repeal CHP
fingerprinting.

Here is contact information for the Rockingham BoS:

http://www.rockinghamcountyva.gov/showpage.aspx?PageID=95

It is important that you contact your supervisor and let him or her
know that the Virginia State Police don't require fingerprints to do
a thorough background check and that only 25% of the localities in
Virginia fingerprint. Even Fairfax doesn't fingerprint.

If you would like to coordinate the effort to get fingerprints
repealed in Rockingham, contact member Bob Mortensen at the following
email address (I have used the word 'at' instead of '@' so Bob won't
get spammed):

rjmort at adelphia.net

--

AUGUSTA COUNTY MEMBERS - CHP Fingerprint repeal info!

Activist Steve Shifflett has volunteered to coordinate CHP
fingerprint repeal in August County.

If you live in Augusta, contact Steve via email. NOTE: I am putting
the word 'at' instead of '@' in Steve's email address so that Steve
won't get spammed:

glock27_30 at yahoo.com

Here is the Board of Supervisors member's link for Augusta County:

http://www.co.augusta.va.us/bos/bos.htm

I have talked to Supervisor Kay Frye and she is considering the
fingerprint repeal. It is important that you contact your supervisor
(especially James Bailey, who is an ex-state trooper) and let him or
her know that the Virginia State Police don't require fingerprints to
do a thorough background check and that only 25% of the localities in
Virginia fingerprint. Even Fairfax doesn't fingerprint.

--

I have a call into Supervisor Renney Humphry here in Chesterfield,
but haven't heard back from her yet. If you live in Chesterfield and
want to help get fingerprinting repealed there, send me an email
(president@vcdl.org).

Here is a link to the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors:

http://www.co.chesterfield.va.us/BoardofSupervisors/boshome.asp

It is important that you contact your supervisor and let him or her
know that the Virginia State Police don't require fingerprints to do
a thorough background check and that only 25% of the localities in
Virginia fingerprint. Let them know that Fairfax, Richmond, Amelia,
and Powhatan don't fingerprint!

In the past, the Chesterfield Police Chief has wanted fingerprinting
because he claims it has caught a few people that the background
check missed. Trouble is that no one at the PD has any records to
show how many cases there were, but as I recall there were only 2 or
3 out of thousands and thousands of permits. Henrico had less than 5
out of over 8,000 permits issued. During hearings on the the
fingerprint repeal bill in the General Assembly, Senator Reynolds
asked if anyone could show more than 1 out of 1,000 permit holders
was found to be disqualified in any locality was found to be
disqualified by the fingerprints only and no one stepped forward.

It is simply too rare to be of consequence. Also, no locality can
actually document any of these cases, either.

--

Who else is going after a repeal in the localities that fingerprint?
Time to get this off the books across the state! If you wish to
coordinate your locality, let me know.

VA-ALERT: Charges dropped, student released

Looks like the officer overreacted and falsely charged Corey Benton
with having a loaded firearm on K-12 school property (18.2-301.1).

Today the Commonwealth Attorney for Norfolk dropped the charges
against Corey and he is free.

HOWEVER, the arrest will be on Corey's record, forever blemishing it,
unless he has it expunged.

Any Norfolk area attorneys out there who would be interested in
helping Corey get the charges expunged? Or perhaps to sue Norfolk
for false arrest? Let me know if you can help.

Here is reporter Matthew Roy's story from this morning. (The article
was written last night, so Matthew did not know that the charges were
being dropped today.) Matthew emailed me this morning after the
hearing to let me know that the charges had been "nollo prossed"
(dropped). Thanks for the Virginian Pilot and Matthew for staying on
top of things:

http://tinyurl.com/og5hc

Norfolk student charged with having rifle to be freed
By MATTHEW ROY, The Virginian-Pilot
(c) May 5, 2006
Last updated: 11:04 PM

NORFOLK - A high school student charged Monday with possessing a
firearm on school grounds was expected to be freed from jail today
after people active on different sides of the gun debate questioned
his arrest.

Corey D. Benton, 19, of Tuttle Avenue, was charged when authorities
found an unloaded rifle in the trunk of his car at Lake Taylor High
School, police said. He was charged with felony possession of a
firearm on school property and has been held without bond in Norfolk
City Jail.

However, state law allows people to have unloaded guns in vehicles on
school property in a "closed container," including a locked trunk,
according to people questioning the case, and a review of the law in
question, section 18.2-308.1 of the Code of Virginia.

Pam Pouchot, chairwoman of the Virginia Committee for Gun-Free
Schools, and Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens
Defense League, which supports the right to bear arms, have contacted
Commonwealth's Attorney Jack Doyle.

"There's a grand assumption that guns are illegal on school property,"
Pouchot said . "But it's just not accurate."

Pouchot said that, based on what police have said about the case,
Benton had not broken the law. Van Cleave agreed.

"Based on what information we have, we feel this whole thing is
improper, is incorrect," he said.

"He didn't break the law," said Marsha Fink, an assistant public
defender appointed earlier this week to represent Benton.

Doyle said Benton was expected to be released today on a personal
recognizance bond. He further said that if the facts do not support
the charge, his office will move quickly to dismiss it.

Even if it is dismissed, Benton still faces possible school sanctions.
Norfolk schools do not allow students to possess weapons - not even
toy guns - and expulsion can result.

Officer Chris Amos, a police spokesman, said Monday that security
officials noticed Benton because he drove off school grounds, and then
returned around 8:30 a.m. Amos said they asked to search the vehicle,
and Benton told them he had a rifle in the trunk.

Authorities confiscated an unloaded rifle, and also found a clip of
ammunition, Amos said. Nothing indicated that Benton planned to harm
anyone, Amos said.

Amos declined Thursday to comment on the decision to charge Benton.

Benton's foster mother, Charlene Rankin, said that he's a senior. She
said he is respectful, employed and is not prone to trouble. After his
arrest, one of Benton's former teachers called her and offered to be a
character witness, she said.

Restaurant Carry 5/4/06

Carried at the Idyllwood Grill tonight in Fairfax. No problems as usual.

VA-ALERT: False Arrest in Norfolk?

I was holding a Virginia Pilot article for this weekend's VCDL Update
about a black 19 year-old high school student, Corey Benton, in
Norfolk that was arrested for FELONY possession of a firearm on K-12
property (18.2-308.1).

There was a fly in the ointment, though - the rifle was unloaded,
locked in the trunk of the student's car, and was lawfully owned by
Corey!

Corey appears to have followed Virginia law to the letter.

If those are the facts, and Corey is not a convicted felon or
otherwise prohibited from owning firearms, then Norfolk has had an
innocent person in JAIL for several days now!

All of this is not to say that perhaps Corey has broken a school rule
and could be expelled for a year (22.1-277.07), but that is a far cry
from making him a felon! The school can also decided not to punish
him at all according to the law.

The felony provisions of 18.2-308.1 need to be revisited and made to
only apply if the Commonwealth can show intent to do harm. Mere
possession of a lawfully owned firearm on school property should NOT
be a felony.

I have left a message with the Corey's Public Defender attorney
indicating that VCDL stands ready and willing to help in this matter.

I also talked to the Commonwealth Attorney for Norfolk, Jack Doyle.
He said that it was the arresting officer and not his department that
was pressing the charge. He is investigating and trying to get all
the pertinent facts on the case, including a statement from the
officer. There will be a bond hearing soon and if there is not
sufficient reason to charge Corey, then the charges will be dropped
and Corey will be released according to Mr. Doyle.

If Corey is not found to have violated state law, it sounds like he
might be in a position to sue for false arrest. Especially after
spending several days in jail!

I want to thank Matthew Roy, a reporter with the Virginian Pilot, for
bringing some of the details of the case to my attention during an
interview today. It was the Virginia Pilot that broke the story
originally (different reporter, though). Matthew may well do a story
on Corey's predicament as well.

Also, in an interesting twist, Pam Pouchot, who is trying to get laws
passed to PROHIBIT ALL firearms on school property, provided some
helpful information to me via email. Although Pam and I are on the
opposite side of the fence when it comes to law-abiding citizens
carrying guns on school property, she is consistent in her philosophy
about laws. She believes that whatever the law is, and whether she
agrees with it or not, it should be enforced correctly - hence her
involvement in trying to help Corey. I certainly respect her
dedication to that philosophy. This is the second time she has been
involved helping a student in a case where that student was
improperly charged with carrying on school property.

I will advise as this case progresses. Hopefully I will know soon if
there are any mitigating circumstances in this case that haven't come
out yet.

Here is the original article (thanks to Andy Barr):

http://tinyurl.com/p4y66

***************************************************************************
VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL).
VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization
dedicated to
defending the human rights of all Virginians. The membership considers
the
Right to Keep and Bear Arms to be an essential human right.

VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org