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."
If I had to guess, LB265 won't resurface this year with it's author and primary sponsor retired. We lack anyone in the Unicameral to lead the charge. Unfortunately, most sheeple in our state are more concerned with smoking bans and expanding legalized gambling than they are with state violating our 2nd Amendment RKBA.
It's time to start writing letters and making phone calls and learn how to proceed from this point. Sadly, I believe we're back to square one for CCW in Nebraska.
I wasn't offended. It is good to have folks concerned about obstructionist politicians. I have not been as diligent in learning about and fighting some of these things figuring I won't be in this state forever. It is very short sighted of me I admit, my bad. I hope you have a nice drive through the state on your way to Montana and Idaho.
Hat-Trick,
You sound like you understand better what is going on in the state. I would like to get CCW passed. My husband is skeptical about Ernie acutally leaving, he remembers Ernie making a claim that he would quit the day before his term expires then run again since his term didn't end. I agree with you about the silliness this past election. Although I'm against gambling for personal reasons, it does seem to be on alot of people's minds. I hate cigarette smoking also because of personal reasons (I watched it kill my mom); however, it is a personal choice that the government has no right to stop. Their complaint is about the money the illnesses, etc. cost the government; if that were truly the reason, they should ban it at all times in all places and stop the production of tobacco products. Since they don't do that; it is obviously not the hazard they want us to believe it is. In a free country, smoking places (restaurants, bowling alleys, bars, work places, etc) would tell potential customers and employees, "Here is the deal, we smoke here, if you don't want to be in that environment, don't patronize us or work for us. The same could be said of non-smoking places; if you come in here, don't expect to light up. That way everyone should be happy. I'm sorry, I'll get off my soap box now!
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