On January 23, the state Senate General Laws and Technology Committee passed Senate Bill 245 by a 13 to 2 vote. This legislation will now be sent to the floor of the Virginia Senate, where it will be voted on this week. Sponsored by state Senator Mark Obenshain (R-26), SB 245 would update and strengthen Virginia’s Emergency Powers statute by adding lawful carrying and transportation of firearms to the list of actions that cannot be prohibited during a declaration of emergency.

An online campaign in support of a former U.S. Marine arrested for attempting to security check his pistol while visiting the Empire State Building is bringing new attention and a fair amount of scrutiny to one of the nation’s toughest gun control laws.
Ryan Jerome, 28, was charged with criminal possession of his .45 caliber Ruger while visiting the famous New York landmark during a September vacation with his girlfriend. Jerome has a license to carry the weapon from his home state of Indiana, but New Yorks state gun laws do not recognize out of state permits.

In Illinois, the Family and Personal Protection Act that would allow gun owners to carry loaded firearms — either openly or concealed — in a vehicle and into certain public places came up six votes shy in the Illinois House last year. Anti gun lawmakers from the Chicago area provided most of the opposition. But the debate is not over: State Rep. Brandon Phelps, D Harrisburg, expects to bring the bill back for another vote this year.

The Illinois State Rifle Association appears to be trying to stir up a firestorm ahead of an Oak Park gun forum next week.
The gun group emailed, tweeted and posted on its Facebook page an “urgent alert,” asking supporters to show up for the Jan. 24 focus group at village hall. In it, the rifle association says the “gun grabbers” in Oak Park are trying to “launch a whole new attack on your right to keep and bear arms,” starting next week.

Arizona legislators plan to review a controversial federal law enforcement investigation into weapons trafficking in Arizona.
State House Speaker Andy Tobin is creating a special House committee to investigate the Fast and Furious operation.

A proposal running simultaneously in the House and Senate would allow concealed weapons on school grounds and college campuses if a person has a permit and another bill would let business owners and employees use deadly force against intruders. Both proposals have previously failed, including last year when Senate Democrats rejected the concealed weapons bill.

Forsyth County commissioners remain sharply divided over whether to allow people with concealed weapon permits to take their guns into county parks, but they decided last week to postpone action for at least a couple of weeks.

More than 30 people from Scotland County and beyond were at the county courthouse Thursday night to debate the issue of allowing guns in public parks.
Organized by the policy committee of the Scotland County Board of Commissioners, the forum was held to determine public opinion on the subject.

The number of gun permits issued in NSW has almost doubled in the past five years, sparking calls for restrictions on how many guns people can acquire.
Figures from the NSW firearms registry show 111,792 permits to acquire a firearm were issued in 2009 and 2010. That was 29,427 more than for the previous two year period. In 2005 and 2006, there were 65,997 permits issued.

Later today (January 23), the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee is scheduled to hear Senate Bill 245. Sponsored by state Senator Mark Obenshain (R-26), SB 245 would update Virginia’s Emergency Powers statute by adding lawful carrying and transportation of firearms to the list of actions that cannot be prohibited during a declaration of emergency. If this legislation passes in the committee, it will then be sent to the state Senate for consideration.