Today at 2:00 p.m., House Bill 49 is scheduled to be heard in the state House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee.  Sponsored by state Representative Paul Ray (R-13), HB 49 would provide that, in the absence of threatening behavior, the otherwise lawful possession of a firearm, whether visible or concealed, does not constitute a violation of Disorderly Conduct.

Sunday’s status as a day of rest, in the secular sense, ended when the repeal of blue laws transformed the day into one more for business, work and pleasure. And when our hectic lives demanded one more day to get the week’s work done.But a relic of a bygone era remains enshrined in Virginia law. It’s time for it to go.The state’s ban on Sunday hunting, even on private land, is an arbitrary and unnecessary restriction. A bill approved by the Senate last week would finally end it for those who hunt on land they own or have permission to be on.

On Monday, January 30, NRA-backed legislation that would prohibit employers from preventing employees from lawfully storing firearms in their locked personal vehicles will be heard in the state House Judiciary Committee. Introduced by House Speaker Val Rausch (R-4) and sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Russell Olson (R-8), House Bill 1132 is one of the NRA’s top priorities in this legislative session.

This Monday, at 10:00 a.m. in room 436 on the State House, the Joint Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee is scheduled to hear two firearm-related bills of interest to Maine gun owners. 

During an Oct. 31 press conference following the attempted rape of a woman walking her dog by a convicted felon, Spartanburg County, S.C., Sheriff Chuck Wright didn’t mince words. “It’s too bad someone with a concealed weapons permit didn’t walk by. That would fix it,” Wright said. Wright then repeatedly told his constituents “I want you to get a concealed weapons permit.” To hammer the point home he held up a fanny pack, saying, “They make this right here where you can conceal a small pistol in them.”

In a move that stunned members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona has cited his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and refused to testify.