As you know, I try very hard to limit my comments to issues directly related to the Town of Blacksburg. HB 940 has so many ramifications for Blacksburg, the Commonwealth, and the Country, that I felt a response was required.
Currently, a buyer can only purchase one handgun a month. HB 940 would remove that limit. Seriously!
Below is a letter I have faxed to the Governor asking him to veto this legislation:
February 26, 20122
The Honorable Bob McDonnell
P.O. Box 1475
Richmond, Virginia 23218
Dear Governor McDonnell:
As Mayor of Blacksburg for the last six years, I am painfully aware of the power of handguns.
Having seen the devastation caused by gun violence, I echo the concerns expressed by the families of the April 16th victims. I join those families in their request. I too ask that you veto HB 940.
If you veto HB 940, which would remove the nineteen year old law restricting handgun purchases to one per month, you are not putting the Second Amendment in jeopardy. Your veto would simply confirm your support of the 1993 legislation that limited handgun purchases. You did the right thing in 1993 and I hope that you will do so again in 2012.
Thank you for your consideration of a veto of HB 940.
Respectfully,
Ron Rordam,
Mayor
Thanks for making April 16th a political matter – VT 94.
I support HB 940.
Thanks Ron. As a blacksburg resident and gun owner, I feel the same way. Who needs more than 1 gun per month? Allowing large volume gun sales to the piblic is an invitation to gun runners and criminal gangs.
Dan steinberg
As a concealed carry permit holder I can buy more than one a month, but I had to go through a class and background check to get that permit. Serious collectors could do the same thing. Gun running criminals probably would not.
No sane person would need to buy more than one hand gun per month.
The shooting today in a high school in Ohio, which killed one person, and seriously wounded 3 others shows how easily available guns are allowing even children to kill other children.
I am very close to a family devastated by the Va. Tech massacre, which was made possible by too easy access to guns. We need less access to guns, not easier access. The NRA is just a front for gun and ammunition makers.
To most of those who supported the bill it was not about needing to buy more than one pistol a month, but about being free to do that. That might be regarded as insane by some prohibitionists, not by me. However I did oppose the bill for the reason stated above.