From Philip Van Cleave
VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings.html
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Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html
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Who would have thought that anti-gun Senators Saslaw and Marsh would break the Senate rules to get their way?
Ok, ok - just kidding. Pretty much everybody expected them to do so.
This morning in the full Senate Courts of Justice committee, Republican Senator Obenshain butted heads with committee chair, Senator Marsh, and Senate Majority Leader, Senator Saslaw, over a parliamentary move by Obenshain to bring HB 79 (Delegate Ware's bill to keep courts from disseminating CHP applicant information) and HB 69 (Virginia Firearm Freedom Act) in front of the committee for a vote.
I thought Saslaw was going to blow a fuse (Marsh just seemed to be confused). Whatever Senator Saslaw lacked in understanding the rules of the Senate, he certainly made up for with the loud volume of his voice!
Saslaw said the Chair can decide what bills come up before the committee and it wasn't debatable.
HB 79 was denied a fair hearing as Marsh only let an anti speak on the bill and didn't allow me or anyone else to speak in favor of the bill last Friday. It would be interesting to see Marsh's face if the House does that to him next year on a few of his more important bills.
Hats off to Senator Obenshain for at least trying to make Marsh do the right thing.
Here is the status of gun bills this morning (no surprises):
HB 109, Delegate Cole, removes authority for a county to tax and register handgun sales - passed out of committee
HB 505, Delegate Gilbert, restaurant ban repeal - modified to look like SB 334 and passed out of committee
HB 870, Delegate Cline, removes the option for fingerprinting first time CHP applicants - killed
HB 885, Delegate Athey, loaded gun in unlocked container or compartment - changed to "locked" to match SB 408 and passed out of committee
HB 1092, Delegate Crockett-Stark, allows retired law enforcement officers to carry wherever they may go in Virginia - passed out of committee
HB 1191, Delegate Griffith, allows a Circuit Court Clerk to issue CHPs if there is no problem with the application - passed out of committee
HB 1379, Delegate Sickles, allows small child-care facilities in NoVA to have the same rules of gun storage as large child-care facilities
Short of some kind of Hail Mary pass, the rest of the gun bills that are in that committee are dead.
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HB 1271, Delegate Lewis' bill to allow elementary school children to be taught gun safety, was modified in the Senate Education and Health committee to add an anti-gun amendment. The bill passed the Senate and we are working on getting the anti-gun amendment stripped from the bill. For now, just standby on this bill.
(The amendment would allow school to alternatively teach materials from an anti-gun organization.)
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Here is some coverage of this mornings meeting of the Courts of Justice:
http://tinyurl.com/ykwu8mz
Split decision in Senate panel on death-penalty bills
By Jim Nolan
Published: March 8, 2010
The Senate Courts of Justice Committee today rejected a House of Delegates version of a bill that would have expand those eligible for the death penalty to include accomplices and accessories to the murder of a law enforcement officer.
But the panel approved an expansion of the death penalty for the murder of fire marshals and auxiliary police officers.
House Bill 502, sponsored by Del. C. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, was a narrower version of a previously defeated Senate bill that would have repealed the so-called "Triggerman" law that stipulates, with limited exceptions, that only the actual killer can be eligible for the death penalty upon conviction of capital murder.
Gilbert's bill, defeated by a 9-6 vote, would have only applied to law enforcement officers, essentially adding their category to the other exceptions to the statute, which include murder for hire, terrorism and organized crime killings. The committee's action means the "Triggerman" legislation is essentially done for the year. Last year it narrowly passed the Senate and vetoed by then-Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.
The committee approved House Bill 166, which would add fire marshals with law enforcement powers to the capital murder statute. Also approved was House Bill 934, which adds the murder of auxiliary police to the capital murder statute. Both measures now come before the full Senate.
The meeting, the last of the committee for this year's General Assembly session, was packed to capacity and included a share of drama.
Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, attempted to reintroduce before the full committee several bills to expand gun rights that were defeated in a special subcommittee last week and not placed on the full committee agenda.
Committee Chairman Henry L. Marsh III, D-Richmond rejected Obenshain's effort to overrule the chair, raising the ire of committee member and Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw, D-Fairfax.
With slightly less fanfare, the committee also dispatched a number of other House Bills, including:
•House Bill 870, which would have prohibited localities from requiring fingerprint checks of applicants for concealed handgun permits. •House Bill 1197, which would have required the installation of an ignition interlock device upon the first conviction for driving under the influence. •House Bill 1338, which would have charged defendants who can't speak English court costs for interpreters if the defendant is found guilty. •House Bill 728, which would have forced courts to require people with prior felony convictions who are not indigent to secure bond rather than permitting release to pre-trial services without bond.
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