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       #Post#: 62--------------------------------------------------
       Dishonest Bloomberg
   DIR By: allmanav
       Date: February 11, 2020, 8:18 am
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       Further revealing that their operative motive is political
       prejudice rather than public safety, the Michael
       Bloomberg-bought Virginia House of Delegates has escalated their
       direct attacks on law-abiding gun owners and your NRA. Astute
       readers will remember that earlier this year Delegate Dan Helmer
       (D-40) introduced HB 567, a bill calculated to shut down the NRA
       Range in Fairfax, Va. This week, the House of Delegates Public
       Safety Committee passed HB 264, which targets NRA’s high-quality
       firearms training.
       HB 264 would limit law-abiding Virginians’ ability to obtain a
       Concealed Handgun Permit (CHP) by reducing the ways in which an
       applicant could demonstrate the requisite competence with a
       handgun.
       At present there are a several ways to demonstrate this
       competence, which are enumerated in VA Code Ann. § 18.2-308.02.
       This includes:
       Completing any National Rifle Association firearms safety or
       training course;
       Completing any firearms safety or training course or class
       available to the general public offered by a law-enforcement
       agency, institution of higher education, or private or public
       institution or organization or firearms training school
       utilizing instructors certified by the National Rifle
       Association or the Department of Criminal Justice Services;
       Completing any firearms training or safety course or class,
       including an electronic, video, or online course, conducted by a
       state-certified or National Rifle Association-certified firearms
       instructor;
       HB264 would eliminate all reference to the National Rifle
       Association in § 18.2-308.02 and eliminate the training option
       outlined in the first bullet point entirely.
       This means that the state would no longer by default recognize
       the firearm safety and training courses offered by NRA. Firearms
       instructors would be required to obtain an additional state
       certification from the Department of Criminal Justice Services
       (DCJS) in order to offer classes that would satisfy the training
       requirement for a CHP. The legislation does not grandfather
       current NRA instructors from this requirement. At present, there
       are almost 3,000 NRA certified firearms instructors in the
       Commonwealth.
       This change would be even more dangerous than it first appears.
       The DCJS firearm instructor certification requirements are set
       by regulation. This means that they can be altered by Virginia’s
       executive branch. Anti-gun politicians, like disgraced Gov.
       Ralph Northam and Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland
       Security Brian Moran, could increase the burdensome
       certification requirements without going through the General
       Assembly. This could choke off the availability of the DCJS
       firearm instructor certification, and therefore law-abiding
       Virginians’ access to the training necessary to exercise their
       Right-to-Carry.
       HB264 would also eliminate the ability to acquire the requisite
       CHP firearms training through a video or online course.
       These changes are designed to make it harder for law-abiding
       Virginians to access the firearms training required to exercise
       their Right-to-Carry. Reducing the number of individuals
       certified to provide CHP training and manner in which the
       training may be administered would limit the availability of
       such training - endangering those facing a threat that
       necessitates immediate access to a CHP. This reduction would
       also increase the costs of receiving training - creating a
       regressive economic burden that would disproportionately harm
       the poor and vulnerable.
       These burdensome changes will not benefit public safety. For his
       book More Guns Less Crime, Economist John R. Lott attempted to
       measure the effects of burdensome Right-to-Carry training
       requirements. Lott determined that “The presence or length of
       training periods typically show no effect on crime…” Lott also
       found that an increase in training requirements and permit fees
       will lower the rate at which individuals obtain Right-to-Carry
       permits.
       The Public Safety Committee’s attack on high-quality electronic,
       video, or online firearms training is especially luddite and
       nonsensical. The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles offers
       online “driver improvement clinics” (sometimes court-ordered)
       that can determine whether or not a driver will be permitted to
       continue to operate a motor vehicle in the Commonwealth.
       Virginia’s premier public institutions of higher education, like
       the College of William & Mary, offer online degree programs.
       Once again, the Bloomberg-bought House of Delegates has proven
       that their gun control agenda is about their own ugly political
       and cultural bigotries.
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