Gun Giveaway: Free Guns In Virginia
YOU would expect Virginia to be the last place in the United States to hold a “gun giveaway” so soon after the deadliest mass shooting in American history. But if you get your gun-hungry paws down to Fairfax County on Thursday you could win a semiautomatic pistol, a hunting rifle or some ammo.
Yes siree! In protest at New York mayor Michael Bloomberg’s crackdown on unscrupulous Virginia gun dealers, the Virginia Citizens Defense League has commandeered a government building to hold a firearms raffle. And according to the New York Sun, the attendees will all be packing.
“League members routinely lobby the Virginia General Assembly with guns on their hips,” the Sun reports, adding. “Fairfax County officials are furious about a gun event staged in a government building but say they can’t do much to stop it because the General Assembly won’t allow local governments to ban the possession of guns in public buildings.”
Mayor Bloomberg is leading a crackdown on Virginia gun dealers after a number of weapons used in New York crimes were traced to Virginia. He recently sent investigators to the state to conduct “straw purchases,” in which one person fills out a form to buy a gun for someone else. So far, six dealers are being sued for such illegal sales.
Are Virginians happy that a fellow American is stepping in to fight the sale of illegal guns? Not when he’s a billionaire from the North.
Virginia Governor Tim Kaine told the Washington Post: “I want to enforce the laws, the law needs to be enforced, but I don’t think you should have out there a bunch of rogue folks.”
The state’s attorney general, Robert McDonnell, warned Bloomberg that his undercover tactics “will be punishable as a felony in Virginia.”
As for the Virginia Citizens Defense League. It’s president Philip Van Cleave called Bloomberg a “vigilante” and claimed the league was “trying to protect the gun stores that Bloomberg attacked.”
Their solution is the raffle which is open to anyone who spends more than $100 on a weapon from two of the gun stores being sued by New York City. The money will help pay the store owners’ legal fees.
But the raffle is not popular with everyone. Virginia Delegate Adam Ebbin labelled the event “embarrassing” and said, “It would be nice if they put their energy into making sure people who shouldn’t have guns don’t, instead of passing around extra guns.”
And a commenter on the Washington Post website remarked: “While I am proud to live in Arlington, there are often times that I am embarrased to live in Virginia. This is certainly one of them. I keep waiting for the state to join the late 20th, let alone early 21st century, to no avail.”
Posted: 15th, May 2007 | In: Reviews Comments (12) | TrackBack | Permalink
