Today, the Virginia Senate passed Senate Bill 323 by a 21 to 19 vote.  SB 323 would repeal the archaic prohibition of purchasing more than one handgun per month.  The House of Delegates passed House Bill 940, its companion to SB 323, by a 66 to 32 vote last week.  Since Governor Bob McDonnell has publicly committed to sign this legislation into law if passed by the Virginia General Assembly, the state Senate was the major hurdle in this fight for the restoration of your rights in the Commonwealth. 

Senate Bill 26, sponsored by state Senator Bill Payne (R-Albuquerque), received a “do pass” recommendation in the state Senate Judiciary Committee on Saturday afternoon with only one dissenting vote.  This measure now moves to the Senate floor for consideration.  Please call your state Senator and urge him or her to support SB 26!  Contact information for your state Senator can be found here.

Senate Bill 26, sponsored by state Senator Bill Payne (R-Albuquerque), received a “do pass” recommendation in the state Senate Judiciary Committee on Saturday afternoon with only one dissenting vote.  This measure now moves to the Senate floor for consideration.  Please call your state Senator and urge him or her to support SB 26!  Contact information for your state Senator can be found here.

Senate Bill 26, sponsored by state Senator Bill Payne (R-Albuquerque), received a “do pass” recommendation in the state Senate Judiciary Committee on Saturday afternoon with only one dissenting vote.  This measure now moves to the Senate floor for consideration.  Please call your state Senator and urge him or her to support SB 26!  Contact information for your state Senator can be found here.

87-year-old Jack Goodwin was listening to a Lakers game on the radio in his home in Los Angeles, Calif. when he heard a suspicious noise. Goodwin retrieved a 9mm handgun he keeps by the bed, went to investigate and found a pair burglars attempting to break in. After the criminals smashed a window, Goodwin fired, striking one and causing both to flee. The wounded burglar did not get far; police found him in Goodwin’s backyard.
The intruders picked the wrong house, as Goodwin is a World War II veteran who served on Okinawa.  When interviewed by local media, Goodwin’s daughter Vernita described him as a “true soldier,” but hoped he would move out of the city. Goodwin has other ideas, stating, “I’m going to stay as long as I want to… When I leave it won’t be because they ran me away.”

Gun rights advocates are poised to win a marquee victory in the Virginia General Assembly, perhaps as early as today, with the potential repeal of the state’s one handgun a month limit. Overturning Virginia’s two decade old restriction on pistol purchases has long been a high priority of gun enthusiasts, and the repeal effort has grabbed the spotlight in an Assembly session widely seen as the most gun friendly in years.

A group of Central Illinois lawmakers is calling for a bipartisan coalition of downstate legislators to unite in support of job creation and in opposition to gun control laws, state Rep. Chapin Rose said at a Thursday news conference in Decatur. State Reps. Adam Brown of Decatur and Bill Mitchell of Forsyth joined the Mahomet Republican near the Law Enforcement Center on Franklin Street to discuss the coalition and recent legislation they said “bans hunting” in Illinois. Rose cited House Bills 1294, 1599 and 1855. According to versions of the bills posted on the General Assembly’s website, they ban the manufacture, sale or transportation of weapons that include semiautomatic firearms that accept a detachable magazine. It also bans possessing attachments such as pistol grips, thumb hole stocks or muzzle shrouds.

The committee meets at 2 p.m. in Senate Hearing Room 1, 1700 W. Washington St., Phoenix. The hearing is open to the public and anyone may register to speak for or against the bills. The four bills do a variety of things.

The Republican lawmaker who presides over the state Assembly said Friday he’s been carrying a concealed weapon during floor sessions. Speaker Pro Tem Bill Kramer of Waukesha controls the chamber during debate. He presides over the chamber’s procedures, is responsible for upholding decorum and can order spectators out of the chamber if he so chooses.

Hearings are coming up in the legislature this week on three gun related bills including one to bar holders of concealed handgun licenses from being armed on college campuses. Sen. Ginny Burdick, D Portland, offered two bills to nullify last year’s appeals court ruling — won on behalf of a young Lebanon man who was expelled from Western Oregon University — that struck down the Oregon University System rule against anyone, including CHL holders, carrying guns on campus.