VA-ALERT: Urgent Legislative Alert, Action Items!‏

1. Gun bills to be heard in Senate Courts of Justice full committee tomorrow, Wednesday, February 10th, INCLUDING A RESTAURANT BAN REPEAL BILL!

2. Restaurant Ban Repeal vote in House Militia, Police and Public Safety committee this morning - good news! Action Item.

1. Gun bills to be heard in Senate Courts of Justice full committee tomorrow, Wednesday, February 10th, INCLUDING A RESTAURANT BAN REPEAL BILL!

Tomorrow is going to be a KEY day for the restaurant ban repeal, the anti-freedom "gun show loophole" bill, and other important gun bills - so we need a big turnout! This is a "make or break" committee meeting.

The meeting is at 2 PM in Senate Room A, on the ground floor of the General Assembly Building.

SB 79, Senator Reynolds, repeals the fingerprinting option for localities - STRONGLY SUPPORT

SB 3, Senator Smith, clarifies that CHP renewals can be done through the mail - STRONGLY SUPPORT

SB 408, Senator Vogel, allows for a non-CHP holder to have a loaded gun in a **locked** container or compartment in a vehicle or boat. The "locked" provision of the bill needs to be removed for the bill to be "strongly supported" - SUPPORT

SB 533. Senator McDougle, clarifies that a person applying the first time for a CHP and is denied has a right to an ore tenus hearing - SUPPORT

SB 501, Senator Lucas, provides that a conviction for DUI from another state counts as a DUI disqualification for a CHP in Virginia - NEUTRAL

SB 595, Senator Lucas, requires private sales at gun shows go through a background check - STRONGLY OPPOSE

To send an email to your Senator to support SB 408 WITHOUT any requirement that the container or compartment be locked, click here:

To send an email to your Senator to support SB 79 to repeal the fingerprinting option for CHPs, click here:

2. Restaurant Ban Repeal vote in House Militia, Police and Public Safety committee this morning - good news! Action Item. *********************************************************************

This morning the full Militia, Police, and Public Safety committee voted 16 to 6 to report out HB 505, Delegate Gilbert's restaurant ban repeal bill!

The bill passed with substitute wording that allows current and retired police officers an exemption from the drinking prohibition.

I am not thrilled with that new wording because it creates two classes of people: current/retired police officers and Commonwealth Attorneys who can drink in a restaurant while carrying concealed and the rest of us who can't.

HOWEVER, that is something we can look at fixing next year. Strategically it is best to let the bill move forward as is and get the restaurant ban repealed.

Delegates Barlow and Shuler, both Democrats who had supported the repeal last year, voted "no" this morning!

And self-proclaimed "pro-gun" Delegates Paula Miller and Roslyn Tyler voted "no" also. Can you imagine what they would do if they were anti- gun?

A tale of two Delegates: the freshman Democratic Delegate from Portsmouth, Matthew James, voted against the repeal, while the freshman Democratic Delegate from Fairfax, Mark Keam, voted with gun owners in ending the ban. Keam has proven in several subcommittee votes to be thoughtful and open minded on gun issues.

Here are the Delegates that supported your rights this morning. If you live in their districts, be sure to thank them for their vote:

Sherwood, Griffith, Wright, Carrico, Lingamfelter, Nutter, Athey, Cline, Gilbert, Merricks, Cleaveland, Morefield, Edmunds, Cox, J.A., Lewis, Keam

And those who did not support you. Let them know that you want their support when HB 505 gets to the Floor:

First, let's all contact our Delegate and ask him or her to support the restaurant ban repeal, as it will soon be up for a vote on the Floor.

Click on the link below to send a prewritten (but editable) message to your Delegate:

If you are a constituent of Delegate Barlow or Delegate Shuler, you should contact them to find out why they didn't support the restaurant ban repeal and encourage them to vote for HB 505 on the Floor.

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Those of you who are interested in what goes on in VA, please email and/or call the legislators. Here is a link to send a pre-written but editable letter to support the repeal of the restaurant ban.

http://tinyurl.com/yanmrpd

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