Virginia to Restore CCW Recipocity

[ltorlo64]

This is good news. Can't believe Governor McAullife bought into this. He is no friend of the Second Amendment.

RICHMOND — Gov. Terry McAuliffe plans to announce Friday that Virginia will restore handgun reciprocity agreements with nearly all states, in a stunning reversal of a firearms policy that had angered Republicans and gun rights advocates across the nation.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...cc8_story.html

[Dan Morris]

Nice to see this....I assure him I didn't get my CHP by mail order!
Dan

[Schuetzenman]

Yes good to here this.

[alismith]

That IS good news.

Now, if Gov. Hogan could get things started concerning CCW in MD, that would be even better news....but, with a Blue state legislature, I'm not holding my breath.

[l921428x]

Something seems very strange to me. There is no reason for him to do this
unless there is some real pressure from somewhere. And I am talking about pressure
from people like him.

[ltorlo64]

While Virginia is becoming more liberal because of the cities, a good portion of the state is still conservative. The backlash he was facing for allowing this was pretty good. Even in the more liberal voting areas this was not seen as a good thing but as an encroachment on a fundamental right. Now, he did get something from the Republicans, if someone is subject to a court ordered permanent protective order (usually issued to an abuser in a domestic violence situation) that person will lose their CCW permit and will have to give up all firearms either by selling or transferring ownership. This was something the Republicans were against, but they gave in on this point to reinstate reciprocity of CCWs.

[alismith]

While Virginia is becoming more liberal because of the cities, a good portion of the state is still conservative. The backlash he was facing for allowing this was pretty good. Even in the more liberal voting areas this was not seen as a good thing but as an encroachment on a fundamental right. Now, he did get something from the Republicans, if someone is subject to a court ordered permanent protective order (usually issued to an abuser in a domestic violence situation) that person will lose their CCW permit and will have to give up all firearms either by selling or transferring ownership. This was something the Republicans were against, but they gave in on this point to reinstate reciprocity of CCWs.

Another example of "compromise" as defined by the Left. Propose a law that outlaws something, then when a backlash occurs, give in on that law, but take something else away and call it a compromise.

The real problem here is that the Repubs didn't get anything they didn't already have BEFORE the law was introduced, while the Left gains something else they were going after.


The Repubs have to learn how to deal with the Dimocrats better then they are doing. We're still losing our rights with these "compromises."

[1 Patriot-of-many]

Another example of "compromise" as defined by the Left. Propose a law that outlaws something, then when a backlash occurs, give in on that law, but take something else away and call it a compromise.

The real problem here is that the Repubs didn't get anything they didn't already have BEFORE the law was introduced, while the Left gains something else they were going after.


The Repubs have to learn how to deal with the Dimocrats better then they are doing. We're still losing our rights with these "compromises."

SOP for the R's nowadays. Perfect call.

[skorpion]

SOP for the R's nowadays. Perfect call.

Yep, right on, alismith. Democrats: "We're going to take and kill your dog even though we know that's what nobody wants." Republicans: "We made a deal with the Democrats to at least allow you to get your dead dog back so you can bury him."

[alismith]

Yep, right on, alismith. Democrats: "We're going to take and kill your dog even though we know that's what nobody wants." Republicans: "We made a deal with the Democrats to at least allow you to get your dead dog back so you can bury him."

Yup. And then, they proclaim it's a "win-win" for everyone and pat themselves on the backs for being able to work with the Dims.

[Richard Simmons]

It would be nice if some of you actually had some facts before you form an opinion. In case some of you actually want to know what is happening here is the latest reported by the VCDL.

BREAKING NEWS: *** February 1 cutoff date for dropping recognition of 25
states has been extended to March 1 ***


THE “DEAL”

As you've undoubtedly heard from the media, there is a package deal in the works
between Governor McAuliffe and the Republicans in the General Assembly dealing
with 1) concealed handgun permit (CHP) reciprocity, 2) voluntary background
checks at gunshows, and 3) those subject to a permanent domestic violence
protection order.

To many CHP holders, CHP reciprocity is a HUGE deal, especially if they travel
out-of-state regularly and want to be able to carry discretely. For example,
there is no solution to carrying in South Carolina if we don’t have an agreement
between our two states.

There is a lot of misinformation from the media and elsewhere and a lot of
people are coming to the wrong conclusions about what the deal does and doesn’t
do. Rumors are flying that gun owners only get back the reciprocity that was
taken away by Herring and the State Police - that is FALSE. We have gained
important ground!

THE DEAL IS STILL IN THE WORKS. Things could still go south as the key bills
that make up the deal work their way through the legislature and onto the
Governor’s desk. SO, FOR NOW, NOTHING HAS CHANGED. THERE IS NO ABSOLUTE
GUARANTEE THIS WILL BECOME LAW, BUT A REASONABLY GOOD CHANCE IT WILL. If it
fails, we may not be able to fix the reciprocity situation for another
two-long-years.

VCDL has been privy to the deal for several days, as was a national group.
VCDL monitored progress of this potentially groundbreaking advancement of our
liberty from its genesis, and provided counsel and discussion points during its
evolution.

The final product was given the nod by VCDL, however we will be watching like a
hawk for any changes that negatively affect gun owners.


IMPORTANT DETAILS ON THE “DEAL”

There are three components that make up the deal, each component represented by
matching bills in the House and in the Senate.

#1 - Reciprocity details - gun owners gain ground!

* Virginia will honor the carry permits from ALL states! This is considerably
better than current law and something VCDL has been trying to get for at least
seven years now.

* Because Virginia will honor all other states, Virginia CHPs will be recognized
by all the states we have lost AND we will gain some new states: New Hampshire,
Georgia, and Colorado!

* The State Police and the Attorney General will have NO say in the new law. If
another state requires a formal agreement to honor Virginia CHPs, the new law
requires the Attorney General to enter into any such agreement. If he fails to
do this, item #3, below, does not go into effect.

* One other change on the reciprocity law: If your Virginia CHP is revoked for
cause, you won’t be able to carry on a non-resident permit from another state.
Not a deal breaker.

NOTE: Just because we are honoring all other states, doesn’t mean we can carry
in all those states. Someone from New York will be able to carry here, but we
won’t be able to carry in New York unless New York is willing to enter into a
reciprocal agreement with Virginia, for example.

As more and more states start honoring out-of-state permits, the prospects of
our permit being honored by even more states down the road is bright!


#2 - Voluntary gun show background checks

* Background checks for a private sale are COMPLETELY voluntary.

* The State Police shall be at every gun show in Virginia, by law. (Some gun
owners were thinking this was some kind of a trick - that if the State Police
don’t show up, the gun show would be cancelled. This should put that worry to
rest.)

* The gun show promoter shall notify the State Police of the location and times
of the gun show at least 30 days in advance, shall provide a free location for
the police to set up, and shall have signs letting attendees know of the
voluntary background checks at the State Police booth. (I checked with one of
Virginia’s largest gun show promoters on this to see if any of it was
objectionable and was told, “no.”)

* The State Police may charge a reasonable fee. (If they charge more than you
want to pay, you can just walk away and do the transaction without the
background check.)

* NO information on the make, model, or serial number of the gun being sold will
be provided to the State Police - i.e. no federal Form 4473! The purchaser will
have to fill out the Virginia form, which asks a few questions and has the
buyer's name, address, and signature. (If you don’t want to fill out that form,
you can just walk away and do the transaction without the background check.)

* There is a carrot: if a background check is run, the seller receives some
special legal protections that are currently not available for private sales.
If a background check is not run, you don’t have any more or any less legal
protections than under current law.

Yes, down the road inevitably there will be some bills introduced that attempt
to make the background check mandatory. We get bills on mandatory background
checks for private sales every year. We will have to fight and defeat those
bills in the future, just as we fight and defeat similar bills today.

For those gun owners who would feel safer selling a gun to someone who has had a
background check, this provides a new option in addition to the current option
of either asking if the person has a CHP or going through the more laborious and
expensive route of letting an FFL do the transfer. It also has no effect on
private sales conducted anywhere outside of gun shows, where this voluntary
option is not provided.


#3 - Persons subject to a PERMANENT domestic violence protection order cannot
possess firearms until the order expires

* The ONLY permanent protection order this restriction applies to is one for
domestic violence and NOTHING else.

* The subject of the protection order must have had his day in court along with
any legal counsel. Temporary protection orders do NOT affect possession of
firearms.

* If the judge, after hearing the defense, decides to issue a permanent
protection order anyhow, the subject of the protection order will lose his gun
rights for the duration of the order (MAXIMUM of two years), and automatically
get those gun rights back when the permanent protection order expires. Note: a
new permanent protection order could potentially be issued when the perament
protection order expires if the judge thinks a danger still exists.

* The subject of the permanent protection order will have 24 hours to turn his
guns over to a person of his choice, as long as that person can legally possess
firearms.

* The above is basically federal law already, and state law already prohibits a
person with such a permanent protection order from purchasing or transporting a
firearm.


WHAT’S NEXT?

* VCDL will be monitoring the deal’s progress, watching for changes that
negatively affect gun owners.

* If a negative issue arises and is not fixed quickly, I will advise all of you
immediately via an Urgent Legislative Action Alert.

* I will also be providing links to the three bills described above as soon as
the final language is available online. That way you can read them for
yourself.

* For now just standby on this, as I keep you advised of the progress of the
deal.

* If you don’t have any absolutely urgent questions, please hold on to them for
now as it would be easy to overwhelm me with emails (I’m already getting over
200 a day as is).


-------------------------------------------
************************************************** *************************
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 Right to
Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.

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

[l921428x]

Thank You Sir. Now as I said something else is going on.

[Richard Simmons]

Thank You Sir. Now as I said something else is going on.

The "something else going on" might be the bills moving through our Republican controlled state house that will make what our AG did null and void. It's possible the Governor is wanting to salvage something from this by compromising with the Republicans. Regardless of what this compromise does or doesn't accomplish the bills to correct the current situation are still moving towards becoming law.

As I said, I just wanted to provide some facts any case anyone actually wanted to be informed on what's going on in my state.

[ltorlo64]

Thanks Richard. I figured if the NRA were supporting it we could not be losing ground but I didn't have that information.

[Richard Simmons]

Thanks Richard. I figured if the NRA were supporting it we could not be losing ground but I didn't have that information.

Morning Chuck. The letter/article I posted is from the an email from the VCDL and not the NRA. The VCDL is kind of like a state version of the NRA here in VA. They focus a lot on concealed carry but they also have a PAC and really get involved in our state politics regarding protecting, maintaining and expanding gun rights for Virginians.

[ltorlo64]

Morning Chuck. The letter/article I posted is from the an email from the VCDL and not the NRA. The VCDL is kind of like a state version of the NRA here in VA. They focus a lot on concealed carry but they also have a PAC and really get involved in our state politics regarding protecting, maintaining and expanding gun rights for Virginians.

Should have been more descriptive. I understood what you posted but I have also read other articles since Friday where the NRA has said it is a good deal. I was trying to point out that there was more support than just from VCDL. Thanks for the explanation of what VCDL is. If I were going to stay in the state I would probably join. I will be joining a similar organization in Washington state when I get there.