The Virginia legislature put several carry bills before the Governor, related to allowing people who were the subject of a protective order (i.e. the protectee, not the person the order is against) to carry firearms without a permit for 45 days (giving them time to seek a permit, and offering relief from training costs). Surely such a modest measure would meet with little resistance from a governor in favor of common sense gun laws, correct?
Nope, veto. Now it’s back to the legislature for an attempted override. If Trump and the GOP were smart (I know, I know), they’d put Virginia back in play by building up population around Norfolk with some Navy spending, and moving some federal agencies from Virginia to Maryland.
Gotta build up those anti-gun creds for his Senate run in 2018.
“they’d put Virginia back in play by building up population around Norfolk with some Navy spending…”
Sincere question: Has that worked for say, Fairfax County? I have the impression that federal employment (or contracting) is virtually a guarantee of “liberalism,” to use the common tongue.
Plus, having once been a defense industry employee myself, I never saw a high correlation between either ideology or political party affiliation in the industry, in my time, anyway. We could all justify our own jobs, but I am not even sure a majority were registered Republican, despite Republicans having the reputation for being defense-friendly.
No, he needs to move federal agencies from Virginia to Washington State, or maybe somewhere up in the tundra of New England. Vermont is calling.
Moving agencies to Maryland is like trying to get a new neighborhood by moving across the street from your current house. Borders are fungible – DC, MD and VA already have a unique income tax reciprocity system that allows you to work in any and pay taxes only in your home state. You could earn every dollar of your income in MD and never have to file there as long as you live in VA or DC.
Breaking the cycle means a clean break. Move federal agencies far from DC. I think the EPA would absolutely adore Vermont winters, considering their permanent fear of warm climates.
EDIT: “Navy Spending in Norfolk” is actually union spending in otherwise red Virginia. Norfolk will never go red so long as you have union tradesmen working those docks.
Even California has such an exemption.
I mentioned the veto to a friend who lives in Richmond and he pointed out that Virginia allows open carry without a permit, so vetoing the bill doesn’t mean people with restraining orders have to go around unarmed while they wait for their permit to get approved.
He also wants to go back to One-Gun-A-Month.
http://www.richmond.com/news/local/city-of-richmond/gov-mcauliffe-s-proposal-to-restore-virginia-s-one-gun/article_63be6252-b782-5718-8046-e680c8519d38.html
(Caution video autoplay on the link)
Hey “The Jack”, McAwful really wants to go to zero guns a month but he knows that won’t fly.
“McAwful really wants to go to zero guns a month…”
Another sincere question: One of the excuses for “one gun a month” has always been that it would help to restrict the interstate traffic in illegal guns; that guns purchased in VA were being transported to NYC where they would be used in crime. Do we now have enough data on VA/NYC with/without “one gun a month” to counter that excuse?
Probably not.
Recall that the time-to-crime (time from last FFL tracked transfer to found by police) on recovered guns can be quite long (on the order of many years).
Actually most of the guns recovered from NYC crime scenes originate from…wait for it… New York! Surprise. Virginia is like 8-10%, about the same as PA and other nearby states.
The problem is that criminals don’t obey gun laws. One gun a month or a 100, they’ll still get their guns. In Illinois/Chicago, they’ve resorted to hijacking train shipments of guns headed out west.
He needs to move agencies far outside of DC. Norfolk is a start. Fairfax is the problem. Move EPA to Beckley, WV. Move DOE to the Texas panhandle. Move DOL to South Carolina. Move Interior to Salt Lake Cityb. Eliminate the Department of Education. Put DOT in Flint Michigan.
The Pentagon can stay in DC. That isn’t the problem.
“Why is the Governor in favor of domestic violence and women being murdered?”