VCDL-Att VA CHP holders

[swinokur]

From VCDL:

2. Keep the pressure up on the bill that limits sharing CHP information with unfriendly states!
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So far 2,374 of you have contacted your Senator in support of SB 1023. That's not bad, but there are well over TEN TIMES that many of you receiving this Action Item!

Those of you with Senators who usually vote wrong on gun bills, WE NEED YOU ESPECIALLY to contact your Senator. The trouble is that everyone with such a Senator automatically assumes there is no point in contacting them and then NO ONE DOES! So the Senator assumes that there is little or no support in their district for gun rights.

That group-think and defeatism is hurting our cause. Some of those Senators can, and will, vote with us occasionally if they hear from enough gun owners in their district.

If you didn't do so last week, WE NEED **ALL** OF YOU TO SEND THE MESSAGE BELOW TO YOUR SENATOR TO 1) DRUM UP SUPPORT AND 2) TO EDUCATE THE SENATORS ON THE NEW FOURTH CIRCUIT RULING.

This is one bill that many Senators, who normally are not good on guns, might well support!

Click here to send the pre-written message to your Senator and please do this NOW:

http://tinyurl.com/z8tayz3

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As a reminder this is the critical importance of SB 1023:

THE DANGER TO CHP HOLDERS

There have been some real problems with Virginia CHP holders being stopped in Maryland and the Virginia State Police telling Maryland law enforcement that the driver has a Virginia CHP.

There is a bill in the General Assembly that will put an end to that issue, BUT THE SITUATION HAS JUST GOTTEN EVEN MORE URGENT.

Two days ago the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, whose rulings affect Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina, said that during a stop an officer can frisk ANYONE AT WILL if he believes THEY HAVE A GUN, whether possessed LEGALLY OR ILLEGALLY - including being possessed by those who have a CHP!

So now, if you are stopped in Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, or South Carolina, and the officer finds out you have a CHP, he can frisk you without the need to have either reasonable, articulable suspicion or probable cause that you are armed AND dangerous.

This was a horrendous decision, but we CAN FIGHT BACK!


THE SOLUTION

Senator Stuart's SB 1023 is the solution. SB 1023 prohibits the Virginia State Police from sharing a person's CHP status with any state that does not honor a Virginia CHP. That makes perfect sense.
If a state considers our CHPs to be nothing more than toilet paper, why even bother telling that state that you have such a "worthless"
permit?

 

[swinokur]

Update from VCDL

Your emails paid off today, VCDL! Senator Stuart's bill to keep the Virginia State Police from sharing CHP information with states that don't honor our Virginia CHPs, SB 1023, has PASSED out of the Senate with a VETO-PROOF VOTE of 28 to 12! (We need at least 27 votes to override a veto.)

And, YES, some Senators who normally don't vote our way DID vote with us on this bill, as predicted!

So far a total of 3,265 emails have been sent by VCDL members, which averages 82 emails PER Senator.

The bill now heads to the House and we start all over again.

If this bill ends up getting vetoed down the road, we can only afford to lose one of the 28 votes in the Senate. But at least we have a little padding and we will fight HARD to keep all 28 votes. I will contact those Senators who didn't support the bill to see if I can get them to reconsider their position.

VOTING WITH GUN OWNERS:

Senators Barker, Black, Carrico, Chafin, Chase, Cosgrove, DeSteph, Dunnavant, Edwards, Hanger, Lewis, Mason, McDougle, McPike, Newman, Norment, Obenshain, Peake, Petersen, Reeves, Ruff, Spruill, Stanley, Stuart, Sturtevant, Suetterlein, Vogel, Wagner

VOTING AGAINST GUN OWNERS:

Senators Dance, Deeds, Ebbin, Favola, Howell, Locke, Lucas, Marsden, McClellan, Saslaw, Surovell, Wexton

Be sure to thank your Senator if he or she voted with us.

If your Senator voted wrong and you have a chance to contact him or her, politely point out that even a CHP holder who does not have a gun with them when traveling in Maryland is subject to being harassed by the police when the Virginia State Police indicate that he or she has a permit.

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