When the deal between the GOP controlled Virginia legislature and Governor McAuliffe was announced, it seemed that the deal was to leave the agreements in place, rather than reminding them, but this article indicates that the deal is an exchange for near-universal reciprocity in Virginia. This article has some details:
The deal also pushes back the attorney general’s reciprocity deadline from Feb. 1 to March 1 and will require the attorney general’s office to enter into any reciprocity agreement offered by any other state, removing the discretion that allowed Herring’s unilateral action.
It was argued by some that this wasn’t really a win, because we maintained status quo, while they got something, even if it was miniscule. This article seems to indicate we’ve traded that trifle for near-universal reciprocity, and removal of the AG’s discretion in the matter. Given how pissed off the antis are about this deal, I think this has to be viewed as a net win.
They do note that negotiations are still ongoing, so keep the pressure up.
Yeah, now that we have more info this looks like a win that cut Herring off at the knees.
So how is this deal enforced? Is there a bill which will be passed and signed into law? Or is an executive order that can be reneged on six months from now?
Nevermind. I read the second article and see that it probably is bill in process. It appears it still has a way to go before it is final and the parties involved may still back out of the deal.
It’ll be in the form of a bill that McAuliffe has agreed to sign.
I am not convinced putting State Police in gun shows to run voluntary background checks is a good idea for two reasons:
A)What happens to the data they gather? Aren’t they just going to use that to build yet another database of purchasers, this one wholly outside federal limitations on data retention? Isn’t this going to result in de facto registration of everyone who uses it?
B) Putting the process in place now as “voluntary” allows the antis time and resources to work out the bugs and places them only a tiny half-step away from making it mandatory and no longer voluntary.
Its Virginia.
1) The state police are there already. Most are shopping. But others are already present and being paid to work as security and/or control traffic.
2) They don’t have the authority to build another database in Virginia, and its not likely they will ever get it. And again, this is voluntary. I know I’ve sold a couple of handguns at gun shows, and frankly I would have preferred the ability to have gone through a background check and had the paper trail showing I had sold the weapon. Especially since the paper trail existed to show I had purchased the weapon. But to each their own.
I’m a Virginia resident and have no worry about this at all.
As to point B, well, again, its Virginia. I’m not too concerned. The Anti’s have little to no power.
“The Anti’s have little to no power.”
This. They have just enough power to get some pro-gun bills killed (for example, Constitutional carry was killed again this year), but it’s extremely difficult for them to get any of their own bills passed. This year’s crop of anti-gun bills was getting slaughtered in the committee process (which is possibly why McAuliffe blinked).
Better how? The votes were there to override the expected veto of the existing reciprocity fix bill, so in what way is this preemptive surrender “better�
Veto overrides don’t happen until about a month after the regular session ends. That can be a long time for the vote count to change, especially when the other side can pull in Bloomberg money. I suspect the R’s leadership wasn’t entirely sure their estimate of the votes would stay solid for that long.
And it’s not that much of a “surrender”. Lots of very pro-gun people would like the option to run a background check on private sales, and leaving it optional is something the anti’s only offer when they’re losing. The issue with PPO’s seems to just mirror federal law, so that’s pretty much a moot point, anyway.
That’s not much to trade for not having to worry about a veto-proof majority holding for 2-3 months, when part of that majority is bucking the official party line in opposition to a governor from their party.
“Lots of very pro-gun people would like the option to run a background check on private sales”
Bingo!
Before Virginia went to the ONLINE NICS check, the State Police were already onsite to assist with the $2 check for dealers to perform. Back then, the dealer had to make a phone call to perform the check & the VSP helped make it faster….so not much has really changed, they’re just taking a step backwards.