Senator,
Nice grouping on the 2nd amendment and Gun rights issue... Looks like we need some work on the other issues in the immediate future...
Looks like the junior Democratic Senator has found himself between a Rock and a Hard place with his stance on gun rights and the second amendment and that of his "Party"...
The Hill has an interesting report on this:
http://thehill.com/content/view/65181/70/
Senate Republicans yesterday reintroduced their bill to roll back the District of Columbia’s gun ban, capping a week of heightened focus on constitutional rights and personal protection in the capital.
The Senate measure has appeared in the last three Congresses, but this week’s version comes in the wake of the arrest of an aide to Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) on handgun possession charges as well as a GOP motion to repeal the gun ban that threatened to split the majority and torpedo the District’s voting-rights bill.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), chief sponsor of the gun-ban repeal bill, said her timing was inspired by a third propitious event.“What spurred my timing was the court opinion,” Hutchison said, referring to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’s March 9 ruling to strike down the ban, which the city is appealing. “I thought the court was right-on … it is a violation of individual rights.”
The measure’s 41 cosponsors include two Democrats, Sens. Ben Nelson (Neb.) and Max Baucus (Mont.). Webb has not signed on, although he said at a Tuesday press conference on his aide’s arrest that he is “a strong supporter of the Second Amendment” and declined to address directly whether he personally follows the gun ban. Hutchison said she would “love to have [Webb] as a cosponsor.” Webb’s office did not have further comment on the gun ban measure.
Looks like some very good work got done down in Richmond and the Representatives from the Valley did a great job in keeping Virginia the strong State it is... A friend forwards these releases from the House of Delegates Speakers office, Speaker William Howell (R-Stafford), and thought it would be good to post it here for people to see before the local media gets their "Spin" up and going...
Commonwealth of Virginia Speaker's Office Virginia House of Delegates RICHMOND FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
House Republican Initiatives Win Final Approval During General Assembly’s Reconvened Session
-- Landmark Transportation Legislation Wins Final Approval with Strong Bi-partisan Support -- --
Legislators Strengthen Public Safety by Overriding Three of Governor’s Vetoes on Death Penalty -
- -- Strong Protections from Eminent Domain Seizures by Government Pass Final Hurdle
–RICHMOND, VA April 4, 2007 – Virginia House of Delegates Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) today heralded the success of the House Republican reform agenda at the conclusion of the 2007 Reconvened Session of the Virginia General Assembly.
“With the final approval of a landmark transportation reform and funding bill, strong protections for individual property holders from government eminent domain abuses, and budget amendments that expand our commitment to core services, including transportation, the 2007 Session of the General Assembly will be remembered for being one of the most productive in Virginia history,” Speaker Howell declared. “Those positive actions, coupled with the successful efforts to override the Governor’s vetoes on the sensible application of the death penalty, make this an especially successful session of progress for the people of Virginia.”
House Bill 3202, the Comprehensive Transportation Funding and Reform Act of 2007, was approved by the General Assembly on February 24. The most significant legislative initiative on transportation offered since 1986, House Bill 3202, sponsored by Speaker Howell, won support from both parties in the House of Delegates and was subsequently approved in the Senate.
After a lengthy tour of the Commonwealth, Governor Timothy M. Kaine offered amendments to the transportation plan that accepted the basic framework of the Republican-controlled General Assembly. As Speaker Howell and many others have long been advocating, the Governor dedicated moneys from the tax on insurance premiums and the recordation fee – General Fund revenue sources – to fund transportation. In addition, the Governor’s amendments increased the portion of future General Fund surpluses – from one-half to two-thirds – that would be allocated to transportation. The Governor’s amendments also increased from the $2.5 billion to $3.0 billion the amount of debt authorized by the plan.
The Governor’s amendments to House Bill 3202 were accepted by the House by a vote of 85-15, and 29 to 10 in the Senate. The Governor’s vetoes of House Bill 2347 and House Bill 2750, and Senate Bill 1116 were overridden by both the House and Senate. As Kaine’s expressed opposition to the death penalty was a major focus of the 2005 campaign, the possibility that legislators might override these vetoes generated much coverage over the last several weeks. The bills won widespread support from law enforcement groups, including the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys and the Virginia Sheriffs’ Association, which vigorously opposed the Governor’s decision to veto the bills. The Governor’s vetoes of House Bill 2348 and Senate Bill 1288, Virginia Crime Commission bills that allowed for the application of the death penalty in cases where individuals were responsible for the crime but did not physically commit the act that (ending the so-called “triggerman rule”) were sustained by the Virginia Senate. Four Senators switched their previous votes in support of the measure, resulting in a vote of 25 to override, two short of the necessary two thirds.
House Bill 2954 was one of the primary initiatives of the House Republican Caucus, which had initially pledged to enact this measure in 2005, immediately following the highly controversial decision of the United States Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London. The legislation would dramatically strengthen the private property protections of individual citizens. Although approved by the House during the 2006 session, this year marked the first time the measure passed the Senate. With the approval of the Governor’s amendment to the bill, a technical change pertaining to one project pending in Hampton Roads, final passage of the new protections is assured.
House Bill 2048 limited the amount the Commonwealth could charge parochial schools for fire inspections. In 2004, the legislature approved legislation enabling the State Fire Marshall to enforce the Statewide Fire Prevention Code in areas where the locality does not enforce the code. Under this measure, the Commonwealth was allowed to charge a fee – estimated at the time by the Warner Administration to not exceed $250 – for this service. Several religious schools have subsequently received bills from the state three to five times larger than the initial estimate. This legislation, approved by a 78 to 18 vote in the House and a 35 to 5 vote in the Senate, would exempt religious educational institutions from those fees. Governor Kaine subsequently vetoed the legislation. The House voted to override that veto by a vote of 68 to 31. The Senate failed to garner the votes necessary to override the veto, with 23 Senators voting to override and 16 voting to sustain.
Citing undue burdens on communities and individuals in Virginia, the House rejected the Governor’s recommendations on House Bill 1908 and House Bill 2261. To ensure the integrity of Virginia’s elections, the House also rejected the Governor’s amendment to House Bill 2707.
In all, the General Assembly overrode three of the Governor’s eight vetoes that were contested by lawmakers.
The House of Delegates voted to override the Governor on four of the House Bills he vetoed, with the Administration narrowly sustaining a contested veto only on House Bill 1755. The Senate voted to override the Governor on one of the three Senate Bills he vetoed, Senate Bill 1116. The House also voted to override the Governor’s veto of this bill, bringing its total to five successful votes to override. The Senate joined the House in voting to override the vetoes of House Bills 2347 and 2750. It sustained the Governor’s veto on House Bill 2348, which was identical to Senate Bill 1116, and on House Bill 2048. Delegates who sponsored House Bills 1979 and 2128 decided against contesting the Governor’s vetoes.
In addition, the House of Delegates rejected the Governor’s recommendations on 10 House Bills and six Senate Bills – a high percentage of the bills contested by members – during its single-day Reconvened Session, the first held in Virginia’s newly-restored State Capitol building.
Son, it’s good to see you acknowledge and practice your second amendment rights, (You sure you’re a Democrat?) but it’s time to become a man and lose that sissy 9mm and get yourself a Colt 45...
As I continue in trying to keep up on the Webb\Thompson handgun incident last week, I ran across some interesting information about past handgun incidents in Washington D.C.
The media reports have dropped off a bit since it happened last week and I am sure the Mainstream media has more important issues to push, but has anybody heard talk of what penalties Phil Thompson faces? I believe I heard that he faces 1 to 5 years in jail for posessing a loaded handgun in the nations capitol but unable to locate a reliable source on that. If anybody has that information please post it and provide source...
I have also seen several comments about how us members of the "Vast Right-wing Conspiracy" should be defending Senator Webb and his gunrights. The interesting thing is that YES most of the Conservative blogs and Republican sites are defending the Senators gun rights as do I... I believe Webb, as well as all legal Americans who qualify, should be able to carry and protect themselves and their families.. But where are the comments, statements, and mainstream media articles on how the Democratic party is responding to the Junior Senator's incident?...
But in searching I did find the following information:
"In 1976, Washington, D.C., enacted one of the most restrictive gun control laws in the nation. Since then, the city's murder rate has risen 134 percent while the national murder rate has dropped 2 percent."
http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st/st176/s176c.html
Another thing is that Senator Webb (D) is not the first member of Congress to have issues with the gun laws:
"You see, when Washington D.C. enacted their gun ban in 1976 they did not exempt members of Congress or their staffs from the ban. The only handguns permitted were those owned prior to 1976 that were registered with the city". .
Regarding the Webb incident:
"There were three cars in his entourage and several bags were in his car. In a mix up somehow Thompson wound up with the bag containing the Senator’s pistol. When Thompson returned to work at the U.S. Capitol he attempted to enter the Capitol without the Senator in tow. He was also carrying the bag with the pistol in it. The Capitol Hill Police found the loaded handgun along with two additional loaded magazines. Thompson was arrested on the spot and was forced to spend the night in jail. Thompson claims the handgun belongs to Senator Webb."
And did you know?:
"The interesting thing is the Capitol Police will allow a member of Congress to carry a gun into the Capitol building. Never mind that getting it to the Capitol building means they have committed a felony transporting it across gun-banning Washington D.C. Had the Senator carried the gun unloaded “wrapped” into the building that would have been fine with the Capitol Police. Members of Congress can also wave their staff around the metal detectors, so one wonders how often Thompson actually carried the Senator’s gun in to the Capitol Building without going through the metal detectors. Which brings into question, how many times did the Senator commit a felony by crossing through Washington D.C. armed with a pistol? I doubt that question will be pursued by the press.The Senator says he did not give his handgun to Thompson..Senator Webb is not alone in this elitist attitude, of course."
Interestingly the worst offenders are also Democrats." In 1986 Democrat Senator Ted Kennedy’s bodyguard Chuck Stein was arrested in the U.S. Capitol building for carrying an unregistered handgun, two submachine guns, and 146 rounds of ammunition. Senator Kennedy attempted to use his clout to have the charges dropped as he needed a body guard. Never mind that Teddy Kennedy has been the poster boy for gun bans for decades. He needs protection, but in his view we don’t. It has always nauseated me to watch some sanctimonious arrogant scion like Ted Kennedy spout the virtues of gun prohibition for us, while he needs his armed body guards. In this he is much like that bloated glittering jewel of ignorance, Rosie O’Donnell. More annoying is the press giving them a pass on it."
"Some years back Senator Jay Rockefeller, Democrat of West Virginia, was caught in an interesting hypocrisy concerning guns. When he voted to ban “semi-automatic assault rifles” he admitted he kept a Colt AR 15 in his home in Washington D.C. for protection. When it was later pointed out to him that it was illegal for him to have that rifle in Washington, he said he misspoke and that he kept the gun in his home in West Virginia. Never the less the hypocrisy of the man voting to ban you or I getting a new Colt AR 15 while it was alright for him to have one stinks of a belief in “Senatorial Privilege” most foul."
"Another offender of the D.C. gun ban is Representative Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota). At least he is pro-Second Amendment. However. he admits to keeping a gun in his Capitol Hill office in Washington D.C. When asked how he gets it there, he replied “It’s not very far to the Virginia line.” He ignores that it is nevertheless a felony to transport it there."
Thompson, like Kennedy’s man Stein, will face the brunt of the law. Their bosses evade punishment for encouraging these illegal actions, of course. I look forward to the day that travesties of justice such as this end and the men who encouraged the crime are held to account too. Better yet I look forward to a restoration of all of our rights nationwide to bear arms for our defense. No need for worrying about reciprocity. As a Citizen of the United States you could simply carry nationwide. I wonder if that can be done in my life time. It would be nice."
Tim Inwood is the current Legislative Liaison and Past President of the Clinton County Farmers and Sportsmen Association, an Endowment Member of the NRA, Life Member of OGCA, and a volunteer for Buckeye Firearms Association.
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/article3631.html
I also found it interesting how "Loaded" the gun Thompson was carrying. I believe we all know that it was Senator Webb's (D) handgun that Thompson was carrying and it truely was "Loaded for Bear"... loaded with a full clip and two additional clips of ammunition...
