©
By Jonathan Hunley
News and Messenger, Manassas | MCT Regional News
WOODBRIDGE
Discussion of changes to America's health care system has included fears about the "rationing" of medicine, but it's another rationing that Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter wants to address at the state level: that of guns.
The Woodbridge Republican has submitted legislation to repeal Virginia's one-handgun-a-month rule.
Lingamfelter, a retired Army colonel, said Virginians' Second Amendment rights are restricted because they can legally purchase only one handgun each month. ''We should not ration constitutional rights," he said Wednesday.
The law was passed during the Wilder administration, Lingamfelter said, as an anti-crime measure.
But really, he said, it's just a political ploy.
''It has not reduced crime," Lingamfelter said. "It has reduced commerce."
Here's his reasoning:
If you're already a felon, and you seek to buy another gun, you're not going to buy one legally. You'll get caught by the background check.
And crimes have been committed by countless people who follow the rules. Consider the suspect in last month's shooting at Northern Virginia Community College in Woodbridge. He legally bought his rifle at Dick's Sporting Goods.
''It's not the instrument, it's the behavior," Lingamfelter said, noting that no one rations knives or cars, which can be weapons when driven by drunks.
The lawmaker said he also expects his bill can pass this year with Gov.-elect Robert F. McDonnell in office.
The Republican has said he wants to do away with the one-gun-a-month rule, though Lingamfelter said he is not pursuing the legislation at the behest of the new administration.
He's always been an "ardent supporter of the Constitution as the Founders wrote it," he said, and he knew the bill wouldn't pass with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat, in office.
''This is nothing new for me," Lingamfelter said.
The legislator introduced a similar bill last year that would have applied only to active duty members of the Armed Forces or the Virginia National Guard. It passed the House of Delegates, but was turned back in the state Senate.
The idea was to allow these Virginians to buy more than one firearm at a time for protection of their homes while they were deployed, Lingamfelter said.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
Lingamfelter - Linear Thinking
As a gun owner and Army Veteran, I feel compelled to point out a couple of facts regarding "linear thinking" Delegate Lingamfelter. First, he left the Army as a Lt. Colonel, not a full Colonel. Second, he makes a "killing" as an IT Consultant for Defense Department contracts (working the system), so his "conservative values" are a charade. Third, his effort to change the purchase of more than one gun a month law is simply insane. Why do you need to purchase more than one gun per month? He doesn't answer that question and hides behind because I support "your rights." He doesn't carry about "your" rights. He is a puppet controlled by special interests. He has not achieved one meaningful item since being elected. Virginians deserve better. Lingafelter needs to drop his priviliged attitude and get a real job, get his hands dirty and understand what the average citizen deals with every day. On Election Day, Virginians need to remember how selfish Lingamfelter is and pursue a different course of action - vote him out!
Limiting gun purchases limits self, family, business protection
Limiting gun purchases limits self, family and business protection. If you are able to hide weapons in multiple places you have a better chance to defend yourself. Look what was what happening in D.C. until the law was recently changed. Criminals had an unfair advantage and still do in Virginia with limiting purchases to one per month. As always keep children in mind. They should be taught gun safety and the "real" consequences.
I taught my cousin that a real gun is heavier than toy guns so if he picked one up he would know to safety put it down and report to an adult.
I'm all for
gun rights and think this law should be repealed, but does he really think this "The idea was to allow these Virginians to buy more than one firearm at a time for protection of their homes while they were deployed." Who's going to use the gun if he's deplyed and his house is empty?
Many deployed service members have families...
Many deployed service members have families that should also be able to protect themself. Women are not usually attacked when their male counterparts are home, so to have multiple firearms stashed throughout the home is better than limited options. I would also recommend self-defense classes as added protection.
Clue: Deployed Military Have Families
In case you hadn't had the pleasure to have met any in your neck of the caves...
I'm not from Virginia but
I'm not from Virginia but offer these comments. We don't have this restriction in SC and we do not have a big waiting period. We do not have a big crime wave because of a lack of these restrictions. As for straw purchases or trafficking, they are already federal crimes. I do not know what it is about firearms that causes people to act so irrationally. Many more people are killed each year by drunk drivers of motor vehicles than are killed by firearms yet no one is calling for prohibiting motor vehicles, or limiting how many can be purchased in a given time period, or suing the manufacturer of a vehicle that is used in a crime and causes a death. Yet owning a firearm is a constitutional right while owning and driving a motor vehicle is not. I guess it boils down to this: The difference between a liberal and a conservative is very simple. A conservative that is not interest in owning a firearm does not buy one. A liberal that does not want to own a firearm tries to take that right away from every one else.
Are you serious?
This guy must be on some serious drugs!
Which Kind of Drugs?
The kind that make me want to protect myself, my home, my family, etc., or the kind that make me want to wait for the police to come draw a purdy chalk outline around my body? I prefer the Liberty kind the Founders envisioned - I think it was the Breath of Freedom. Makes one a little light-headed sometimes. Sit down if you have trouble :)
Goal
gun control advocates look at the one gun a rule month as a restriction... I look at it as a GOAL.
same old song
This is the republican plan for everything, "more guns and more Jesus.' Funny I hardly ever hear of someone being killed by a stray pocket knife. MORE GUNS, MORE JESUS.