What Preppers Need To Know About The Virginia Firearms “Debate”

The motto says “Virginia is for Lovers.” And, I for one, love the Old Dominion. I almost went to college there, back *ahem* a few years ago. In my days of trekking back and forth from the Deep South to New England, I relished the slightly easier drive up mountainous I-81, as opposed to urban 95. It’s a beautiful, green state packed with proud, pleasant people. It’s part of the very fabric of the beginning of America, home of Virginia Dare, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson.

So, what the heck has happened lately?!

The Guns of Virginia

There’s a danger in our collective tendency to let things blow over, say, once a rally is successful. If you’re a Virginia gun owner, then you likely know what’s in this article. Everyone else, please pay attention.

The news out of Richmond and beyond has been a little less than enthusiastic for freedom and less than reassuring for tranquility. You, no doubt, have already heard or read much concerning the state of things in old Virgin-i-A. Following years of urbanization and the takeover of Northern VA by Washingtonian-types, the Commonwealth went blue, politically speaking. It’s done that before, but this time was different. The government wants GUN CONTROL. They want it now. And they want it big.

The state government is led by Governor Ralph Northam, who used to wear blackface and go by the nickname of “Coonman.” Yeah. If that were the beginning and the end of it, then embarrassing as it might be, it would not imperil life and liberty. But, it’s only the beginning. Northam is bent on turning Virginia into leftist paradise, a Super-California if you will. Incredibly, he proposed and defended legalizing INFANTICIDE in addition to “ordinary” abortions. Now, he and his cronies are determined to completely eliminate the ability of regular Virginians to defend themselves and successfully resist tyranny. (Just a thought: a government that defends the murder of born, out-of-the-womb infants might be worth resisting).

(Virginia Defense Force Logo)

WATCH VIRGINIA

I wrote that admonishment a few weeks ago in a national affairs column. It bears repeating. Virginia was seminal to both the Southern Rebellion of 1861-65 and the American Revolution. Things happen there. They may happen again. Let’s think of the Commonwealth as a bellwether for the Nation. Why? Because the Democrats in VA are pushing some of the hardest, most totalitarian gun control anywhere in the country. The gun-grabbers never rest or stop, and what they do in one place, they’ll try in every place.

Before we get to the specific laws and the national ramifications, do know that Virginians are not taking this lying down. On Monday, January 20, 2020 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Day – ten thousand or more men and women took to the streets around the Capitol in Richmond to protest both against the proposed tyranny and in favor of private firearms. The event was organized by the Virginia Citizens Defense League. Maliciously branding the people as violent “white nationalists,” Northam declared a state of emergency and banned the carrying of guns – at a gun rally. Of course, no violence of any kind erupted, other than that of Northam’s violence against the Constitution. This, even with the addition of Antifa, whose members marched with the people against state tyranny.

When people on the right and the left can agree that something is important, that’s usually a good sign that it is. But, what does it mean logistically and strategically in the near future?

We’re getting to the laws (you already know the rumors). But, as I said, people are resisting. And they’re not content to wait for Richmond to make the first move. Sheriffs, local governments, and local citizens have already declared their resolutions not to participate in gun control. Taking a cue from the illegal immigration aficionados, they have declared some 90% of the state a Second Amendment Sanctuary. That means that the map looks like a sea of sanity, completely surrounding a few urban islands. Even Chairman Mao advised taking the countryside first. On the map, it begins to look like a siege.

(Gun Rights Watch/Daisy Luther)

Politically, the people aren’t waiting around either. Not satisfied to wait for a general election, they have begun petition efforts to recall Northam and the rest of the crooks. They’re getting so many signatures that the corrupt General Assembly has floated a bill to raise the requirements for such petitions. A nice touch – and a declaration of contempt. 

WEST Virginians aren’t waiting either. Their Senate has already approved a resolution inviting some Virginians to join WV via secession. Secession in America has historically been met with ridicule – and violence.

To that end, Virginia’s Attorney General has promised the new laws (once enacted) will be enforced. Other politicians of Stalinist-bent have suggested the National Guard might do the enforcing. They have allegedly backed down from the dangerous rhetoric, but it’s the thought that counts. They mean every word of every threat.

THE LAWS

Existing Gun Laws in Virginia

Heretofore, VA has been pretty firearms-friendly.

The NRA keeps a very good summary of the law in Virginia (and other states). SEE HERE.

Those laws start with the State Constitution, which provides, in a language most similar to the Federal Second Amendment, that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed(!)” Some people don’t seem to understand the meaning of “shall not.” This quandary has given me pause for more than a decade since the line of “great” 2A cases came out of the Supreme Court – Heller and MacDonald. While positively affirming the plain language about the rights OF THE PEOPLE, those cases also contained what I consider to be dangerous mealy-mouthed caveats, to the effect that said rights are still subject to “reasonable restrictions” by the state. The same people who don’t grasp “shall not” don’t do so well with “reasonable” either.

The Unreasonable Proposals

The NRA-ILA has a set of blanket statements about the proposals. For precise coverage, you’ll need to consult the state’s legal reporting in Richmond (boring) or the General Assembly’s bill and law tracking services (really boring). 

By the way, some of these insane bills go beyond firearms or even mechanical weaponry. There’s one which would outlaw self-defense, period. Even boxing – or teaching boxing!

The tyrants, regardless of popular sentiment, and hiding behind fictitious fears of gun violence, advance their laws.

A few bills on the move through the General Assembly:

• “Red Flag”
• One handgun per month
• Universal background checks
• “Gun-free” zones

Those are getting votes. The tyrants also want to ban high-capacity magazines, handguns, and “assault” rifles. Then, they’ll want to ban rifles. The shotguns. The BB guns. The UK is currently cracking down on kitchen knives – don’t think they with firearms. In the end, what they want is helpless slaves, where once they had free citizens. If that ever happens, then they’ll want more. It never stops until it is stopped.

OTHER FP GUN RESOURCES

Red Flag and Other Laws

The War on Guns (Link)

The Meaning of “Mass Shootings” Hysteria

Again, watch Virginia. Watch all the gun grabbers, this year and moving forward. I hate to be the one to write it, but the time may be coming soon when gun owners will have to decide whether to bear those arms against tyranny in addition to merely keeping them. 

I’ll leave the following “they” and “here” to your imagination as I leave you with this parting quote by Captain John Parker at Lexington Green, 1775, “Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”

A note from (about) FP: It sure is good to be back in 2020! Let’s see what the future holds, shall we? And, thank you all for your continued patronage and support. Like you, we remain, Always Ready!

UPDATE: 01/30/20, PM:

Virginia’s anti-freedom bills are still moving through the General Assembly.

“Red Flag” and “universal” background checks moving forward, among others – seven in total. The GA is also pushing ahead with more infanticide. Moloch must be pleased with his servants. Stay tuned; this isn’t over.

Hello, Freedom Preppers! It’s great to be back again. And, thank you for all the attention that our last story about the “mass” shootings generated. Today, something similar. I was asked to think about the state of existing laws versus the proposed new laws, all concerning firearms. This was harder than I anticipated. Not because there aren’t enough laws to examine. Far from that. In America, laws are as frequent as fleas on a politician. And, as Cicero said, ‘the more laws, the less justice.’ That’s the real problem.

I reflected that, in these latter days, maybe the law (any of it) just doesn’t matter that much anymore. Legally, politically, financially, socially, we seem to have drifted past the point of diminishing returns. That’s a good thought to kick off a look at existing laws (either not enforced or rather ineffective).

Nobody wants to see another mass shooting, by anyone’s definition. I think there are steps that could be taken to minimize the impact of these events. However, they cannot be completely eliminated. Given the declining quality of American culture and society, it’s even harder to stop the ones which might otherwise be halted.

Think about this: we already have, in all jurisdictions, laws against murder, mayhem, assault, battery, or otherwise harming innocent people. Even as enforced, they don’t stop some criminals. That thing about not “legislating morality” is real.

Then, there’s the Second Amendment itself, a law or super law. As we pointed out last week, guns save lives. And under the 2A, we’re not supposed to have our life-saving freedoms infringed. But, we do.

In fact, we’ve endured gun control in this country for over eighty years with the Gun Control Act (1968), the Federal Firearms Act (1938), and many more. Those are just at the federal level; all States have their own laws too. Then, many (most) localities pile on too. All of them were in effect the last time there was a mass shooting or any other kind of gun crime. They don’t work – for controlling criminals. The GCA and NFA were more about regulating manufacturing, taxes, and keeping tabs on the people – in violation of the 2A. Gun control is never about crime control; it’s freedom control.

That’s why the new, proposed laws. They just will not work no matter how hard they’re pushed by liberals like Linsdey Graham or Donald Trump. Here’s a brief look at the top three:

Expanded Background Checks

Have the existing checks stopped any of these shootings? No. Critics say that’s because of system flaws, time limits, etc. The “fixes” range anywhere from expanding the checks to ALL gun purchases (or transfers) to the incorporation of entire fields of extraneous information, not directly related to criminal intent. What does that mean? No more gun show buys sans paperwork. No more (legally) passing guns from father to so. And, can you imagine being turned down at the gun counter because of your credit or something you doctor thought he saw on your last checkup?

“Red Flag” Laws

These are the hot popular items at the moment, already in effect in about seventeen States. Simply put, they allow the police to seize guns WITHOUT a finding of wrongdoing. Just on a hunch or a report. No due process. They essentially throw out the rest of the Bill of Rights after the 2A. Imagine those little wusses who report you to HR or Facebook reporting you to the police – and the police taking action. People have already been shot because of these insidious laws. And, they are the gateway to,

Outright Bans of Certain Weapons

For now, we could assume that means “Assault” rifles. To be followed by handguns, shotguns, and everything else. #KnifeControl is a real thing in some places. We know these bans don’t work. Or, at least they’ve never worked anywhere they’ve ever been tried. The UK all but banned firearms in the 1990s. Now, gun-free London leads semi-armed New York in annual homicides. There are 10,001 more examples. 

We’re probably going to get more of the above and sooner than later. Don’t be surprised when nothing prevents the next shooting and the next and the next. There are plenty of steps that our evil and retarded politicians could have taken over the past 30 – 40 years to make this country safer. They didn’t and now it may be too late. 

Your safety and survival are on you. Keep on prepping. Always ready.

Hello, Freedom Prepper friends! Long time, no post here. It’s good to be back, except that these are very sad circumstances. Over the weekend, just like many of you, Scott and I discussed the tragic events from El Paso and Dayton. As of my last checking, on the morning that I wrote this up, twenty-nine people are dead and God knows how many are wounded. Terrible. At FP, we’re two things: we’re most strongly pro-Second Amendment, and we’re also anti unlawful violence. As are you, dear readers. We’re also into the truth about these matters.

And, I have to say at this point, that the truth is missing (or certainly appears to be missing) from both of these shooting stories. There’s no doubt it happened and that innocent people were killed. But, there’s something behind it. Something is off. Badly off – like poor scripting. As with most of these shootings, there remain various inconsistencies and unanswered questions. With the Dayton story, I have strong reason to doubt the official narrative. If fact, I almost always doubt the official version of most stories, as told by the government and the media. You should too. But, today, we’re here to discuss the shooting numbers only.

Scott posed the following to me on Sunday, the Fourth: “Anyway they are reporting that [Dayton] is the 250th mass shooting in the US, would you be interested in writing an article about that statistic, spelling out the truths from the non-truths, to see what the real number is versus the media driven number?”

Yes, of course, I would! But, again, I’m only working with the reported stats. I just finished a column for another publication about some ridiculous improbabilities with the Dayton shooter. All of those aside, was he the 250th mass shooter in America in 2019? The answer is the old lawyer’s favorite: “It depends.”

Here’s a sample headline, from USA Today: 

El Paso, Dayton make 251 mass shootings in the US in 216 days, more shootings than days in the year

They’re counting El Paso as the 250th and Dayton as 251st. Close enough. Where’d they get the numbers? It’s right there in the story: 

“As gunfire ripped through America in an unprecedented 24 hours, a bleak milestone in a nation pocked by gun violence was marked: There have been 251 mass shootings in 2019, according to the Gun Violence Archive.”

The Gun Violence Archive is an online database, in operation for several years. More on that in a moment.

The New York Post reports a drastically lower number of shootings: Suspect killed after mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio.

“That makes Sunday’s shooting in Dayton the 22nd mass killed in the U.S. this year. The first 20 mass killings in the U.S. in 2019 claimed 96 lives.”

Why the discrepancy? It’s because there is no definition of what is or is not a “mass shooting.” Says the Rand Corporation:

“There is no standard definition of what constitutes a mass shooting. Media outlets, academic researchers, and law enforcement agencies frequently use different definitions when discussing mass shootings, leading to different assessments of how frequently mass shootings occur and whether they are more common now than they were a decade or two ago.”

Different organizations either count it differently or else they merely present raw numbers and leave designation to the reader or researcher, as illustrated by this graph:

(Rand).

From “7” to “371.” It’s a wild variation, but not by itself nefarious. The Gun Violence Archive falls towards the upper end of the reporting.

Explore the Gun Violence Archive (GVA).

They’ve already surpassed 250 or 251:

(GVA)

Their incident location map:

(GVA)

Both from the map and from the first number in the GVA chart of 2019, one might suspect a “liberal” slant. I do not. Pay attention to exactly what is reported. These are mere numbers. And, they start to make sense in context. 33,206 incidents only resulted in 8,787 deaths and 17,463 injuries. The death toll is on par with an “average” American year. The total number of people shot is 26,250 (out of 33,206). In other words, in 79% of gun incidents, at least one person is shot. And, to their credit, they try to break down how many of those shootings involved defensive and accidental discharges. How those factor into the fatalities and injuries, we don’t quite know. We are also left in the dark about the number of suicides.

As for the mass shootings, they account (as counted by GVA) for only 1% of shootings involving death or injuries and only .7% of total incidents. Any unwarranted death is one too many. However, by these stats, the “mass” effect is statistically marginal, at least. In fact, it tends strongly towards being an outlier factor (generally unrepresentative).

GVA unapologetically explains the methodology behind their counts. They claim to have no bias – and, I believe them. Rather, in their own words:

“What GVA considers Gun Violence…and why

Our definition of gun violence is intended to be fully inclusionary of disparate elements of gun related incidents…in that, all types of shootings are included, whether OIS, accidental, children shooting themselves, murders, armed robberies, familicide, mass shootings, DGU, Home Invasions, drivebys and everything else. We derive our definitions from CDC, FBI, NIH, and other organizations who have established standards.

Only by being totally inclusionary in our definitions is our data accurate, allowing the researcher to decide which parts of the complete dataset they need for their work. Our goal is to provide a complete picture of impact. Users then glean what they need from the whole. We intentionally have no GVA POV on the subject… but put in more real terms, GVA is against gun violence, not guns or gun owners and in that we strive to provide an unbiased, complete view of the subject.”

That last paragraph is important. GVA leaves the labeling to researchers and reporters. For their part, many members of the US media, simply grab the sensational “mass shooting” tally of 250+ and run with it. How does GVA consider whether a shooting is “mass?” Also explained by their own plain words:

“Why are GVA Mass Shooting numbers higher than some other sources?

GVA uses a purely statistical threshold to define mass shooting based ONLY on the numeric value of 4 or more shot or killed, not including the shooter. GVA does not parse the definition to remove any subcategory of shooting. To that end we don’t exclude, set apart, caveat, or differentiate victims based upon the circumstances in which they were shot. GVA believes that equal importance is given to the counting of those injured as well as killed in a mass shooting incident.

The FBI does not define Mass Shooting in any form. They do define Mass Killing but that includes all forms of weapon, not just guns.

In that, the criteria are simple…if four or more people are shot or killed in a single incident, not involving the shooter, that incident is categorized as a mass shooting based purely on that numerical threshold.”

Four or more killed, not including the shooter. Simple. And, this would allow for the inclusion of many “ordinary” street crimes – a typical weekend in Chicago might contribute several “mass shootings.” Multiple attacker defensive scenarios would also be included. It’s conceivable that even a strange accident could make for a tally mark. In total, by their standard, and as of the time I grabbed a shot of the graph, there were at least 1,020 fatalities attributable to mass shootings – an order of magnitude above the 96 reported by the New York Post. The nature of statistics.

Again, I do not fault GVA – at all. And, it’s kind of hard to blame media outlets for going with what are plausibly accurate figures. What I have a problem with – beyond the predictable calls for “gun control” from the career political idiots – is the consistent lack of counterbalance. That’s how I’ll round this one out – a subject I’ve covered before, here, at my website, and in my weekly columns for the Piedmont Chronicles. Other, more comprehensive numbers are also available, which paint a much different picture about gun violence in the US than that splattered by the pols and the talking heads.

Some numbers I compiled for FP and my site, a year and a half ago: for 2014 (not such a distant reporting period):

“With the highest gun ownership per capita in the world – by far – the US is only number 111 (of around 200 nations) in per capita murders. The left’s assertion that over-armed America is the murder capital of the world is a ridiculous lie.

Gun murders and deaths, including those related to rifles (including “assault-style” rifles) are but a near-microscopic fraction of total “unnatural” or “preventable” deaths in the US. From 2014:

248 people killed with rifles (all types including … assault rifles);

435 people killed with baseball bats and hammers;

660 people killed with punches and kicks;

8,124 people killed with guns of all kinds (offset by 1,000,000+ lives saved by all guns);

14,249 murders of/by all weapons sources (and unarmed murders);

32,744 killed by automobiles;

Approximately 200,000 killed by doctors and medical professionals;

Approximately 365,000 killed by obesity and fat-related causes;

652,639 killed by “legal” abortions.”

It occurred to me that the total gun deaths from 2014 are approximately the same as those killed during the first seven months of 2019 (as reported by GVA). Taking the GVA stats for granted, and running a mild regression, the approximate total of gun deaths to be expected for all of 2019 is about 15,000. That seems a little high, but not so far outside the scope of possibility. I’ll use it for a direct comparison. (note that in 2014, gun murders were only about 59% of total murders – think poison, fire, strangulation, etc.).

A comparison of what? As I mentioned, there’s a consistent lack of counterbalance in the gun reporting at large. “15,000” lives lost to guns. Okay, but how many do the guns save each year? Yes, guns save lives. The CDC said so (in a covered-up report). 2.5 MILLION lives are saved each year in America by firearms. In other words, in America, you are 167 times more likely to see a life preserved with a gun than to see one taken! (2,500,000/15,000).

How come there are so many? Not all defensive gun uses of “DGUs” involve the firing or even the display of a gun. In many cases, just the presence of the gun, known only to a would-be victim, imparts enough assertiveness in that victim to scare away a would-be criminal. They look for easy targets, not people who act like they can handle an attack. It’s actually a good thing for everyone – the criminals included. Maybe some of them reflect and change their ways without doing any real harm.

You just never get those stats from the media, the Democrats, or even from Trump. But, it’s real. Gary Kleck and John Lott have been reporting similar numbers for years – to the extreme skepticism of the math-challenged left. But, even they underreported the benefits. The media still won’t report them.

In summation: the number of “mass shootings” each year is a matter of subjective speculation. Regardless of how counted, it is a terrible problem. However, in the great scheme of things, these terrible events are statistically inconsequential. They are NOT a reason to shed any more gun rights. We most certainly need to make changes – just not to the Second Amendment nor to our carry habits. Mass shootings need not equal mass hysteria.

Okay, the final, final word, I reserve for the esteemed Daisy Luther, prepper queen extraordinaire. Given that, all accountings aside, these events are deadly serious if you find yourself in one, please consider her advice on Surviving a Mass Shooting. When it hits the fan, the numbers don’t matter. Thank you, Daisy.

And, thank you all, dear Preppers of Freedom! Maybe it won’t be quite so long before we speak again. Hopefully on a happier subject too. As you were: Always Ready!

–Perrin