Posted on 11/21/2004 4:26:43 AM PST by Tarpaulin
RICHMOND, VA. - Something of a night owl, Philip Van Cleave likes to take walks around the lake in his subdivision around midnight. When he does, he "double carries" in case an assailant knocks one weapon out of his hand. It's not about fear, he said. "Who would do that if they were afraid? The word is preparedness."
While he was growing up in Illinois, the only gun in Van Cleave's house was his BB gun. When he was 15, just as the family was moving to Texas, his father died suddenly. The next year, his mother bought him his first gun, a .410-gauge shotgun, and his uncle would take him bird hunting and "plinking" cans. At 21, Van Cleave volunteered to become a reserve deputy sheriff in San Antonio and purchased his first .357 Magnum Ruger service revolver.
From that experience, he learned that an assailant with a knife can cover 21 feet in 1.5 seconds, that a bullet can travel 1,500 feet per second. As a deputy, he said, he looked into the eyes of violent criminals and saw no soul, "like a reptile." In this law of the jungle, he said, his gun is the great equalizer.
"I know the odds are slim that I'll ever have to use this. But you've got one life," he said. "If it got into a life-or-death situation, the person without a gun would take themselves out of the gene pool. And I would carry on."
Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, has never shot a gun outside the shooting range. He's never had to draw one. He's never been the victim of a crime "except when someone stole my radio." Since 1984, he's worked out of his home in a quiet, planned community with neighborhoods named Willow Glen and Duck Cove, writing software. He rarely goes out, he said, "except to the grocery store."
He compares carrying a gun to wearing a seat belt. "I have insurance on my house, even though I don't think it's going to burn down," he said. "Things can happen."
Van Cleave joined the league in 1995, a year after it was founded by a group of men incensed that Iran-Contra figure Oliver North was turned down for a concealed weapons permit. At the time, under a 1942 law, judges could decide whether to issue a concealed weapon permit to private citizens, based on proven necessity and whether the person was "of good character."
When the league and other gun rights advocates got the law changed — now anyone except a felon can apply for and get a concealed weapons permit — Van Cleave began to carry a weapon at all times. "I felt naked without it," he said.
He also became a purist. The Second Amendment is critical, he came to believe. Legal experts argue over its meaning, but Van Cleave shares the view of gun groups that it establishes the right to defend yourself, to defend the country against outside attack and "to take back your country should it ever become a totalitarian state."
"We're not envisioning America being taken over anytime soon," he said. "But with Al-Qaida, you never know. The citizens will probably need to secure their own homes and restore order until the government got back on its feet."
Americans should arm themselves and organize themselves to prepare against terrorist attacks.
Philip Van Cleave is a great American.
I wish I lived in a right to carry state....
Stop wishing and get VERY active in making this come true.
This is still America...we can still effect change.
We have been trying. In the Neborg, we have a unicameral state government and it is being held hostage by one man who is 100% opposed to guns. He filibusters everything and I mean everything he opposes. The legislators here are in session for very finite periods, so mostly they go along with him so that the important stuff, like budgets get dealt with. This man has been in the unicameral for ever it seems and he plans to stay there forever.
It's called a back up gun, dear brigit.
Kinda like why people own fire extinquishers, now isn't it? The anti-gunners think one should call the police if your life is threatened.
I wonder if those very same people own fire extinquishers.....shouldn't they just call the fire dept?
Ping for reference.
This article is notable for an important reason:
It does not once use the phrase "PACK HEAT."
Amazing!
Gotta set a better example, Ann!
I've met Phil on a few occasions when I lived in Virginia. He's a very mild-mannered gentleman, but also very firm in what he believes. Definitely one of the "good guys".
Would that be Ernie Chambers?
BTW, y'all have a good governor out there. I wrote him a letter about CCW reciprocity, and he had the commander of the state police write me back, and tell me ever though CCW was a no-no there, open carry was legal.
Don't believe every thing you read! When I asked the OPD (Omaha Police Dept.)and the State Police about open carry, they told me that if they saw me carrying openly they would stop me because it just isn't done. I wanted to have my .38 with me as I and my daughter were driving across the state to a basketball tourney a couple of weeks after a woman clerk was raped and killed. Both the depts. I asked said to put the .38 on the dash board of my car. I then asked if that wouldn't be an invite to every cop to stop me and they agreed that it would. I ended up going without my gun. Who wants to be stopped every time a cop sees the gun on the dashboard? That particular trip we saw three cops on the way; hours would have been wasted explaining why I had the gun, why it was on the dashboard and why I wouldn't trust the cops to protect me.
I actually took a 9 week Citizen's Police Academy session to learn about the Omaha Police Dept. They would be horrified to know that the two things I came away with from the classes were that the OPD is seriously understaffed and that they can't protect me. All citizens who can legally carry, should.
And you win the prize, it is indeed Ernie Chambers. A man who would like to be like Al Sharpton, but who doesn't dress as well.
Oooo that a 92F isn't it? I got me one of those.
Nice pic!
But it does suck having to worry about getting hassled by the cops simply for exercising a basic Right.
Did the legislature change enough after the most recent election so that a CCW bill will get passed?
Glad to hear you're trying...sorry to have sounded so edgy...well, I pretty much stay edgy when it comes to obstuctionist politicians...but not at Freepers...respect.
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