Tag: VCDL

by Catherine Koebel Stromberg The grassroots gun extremist Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) is acting exactly like an abusive stalker who just won’t go away,...

On the 12-year anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings, during which 32 people were killed and 33 wounded by one guy with a .22-caliber Walther P22 semi-automatic...

Haha, this is great. Check out Richmond2Day's report on some well-deserved mockery in the Virginia General Assembly today. Members of the Liberal Women of Chesterfield County...

by Cindy I was kind of stunned when I saw this letter to the editor in the Loudoun Times-Mirror by Congresswoman Barbara Comstock, touting her...

The following is presented without further comment, other than the Washington Post story on this During the segment, Cohen-as-Morad teams with staunch guns rights activist...

There are a lot of bad actors involved in Virginia politics, but fortunately there are also a few great ones. One of those is...

The above video, from the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, was taken on Thursday, November 17th, at Virginia Tech. As the press release explains, the video shows "[s]urvivors of the Virginia Tech massacre and their family members" debating "the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) - a radical pro-gun group that seeks the elimination of all gun laws, including background checks." According to Omar Samaha, whose sister Reema was murdered in the Virginia Tech mass shooting, "guns be banned on college campuses...[and] we must have universal background checks on gun buyers that adequately screen mental health history." According to Colin Goddard, who was  shot four times during the massacre, "The reason that Virginia's college campuses are some of the safest places in the Commonwealth is in large part because of their strict policies concerning firearms." Finally, Lori Haas - whose daughter Emily was shot in the head but who thankfully survived the massacre, "It's unfathomable that the VCDL would advocate for the elimination of background checks on gun buyers in the wake of what happened at Virginia Tech."

As you can see in the video, the VCDL members disagree with these arguments. Why? Apparently, it's based on their belief that more guns on campus means more safety, not less. In addition, it appears to be based on their perception that the current system for background checks and gun permits in Virginia adequately protects the public from the mentally disturbed, who almost everyone would agree shouldn't have access to guns. Unfortunately, as the Virginia Tech massacre demonstrated, and as pointed out in this video by Lori Haas and others, that simply isn't the case in Virginia at the present time. To the contrary, as pointed out repeatedly in the video, it's extremely easy for just about anyone to get firearms, a concealed carry permit, whatever they want, with minimal if any background checks.

P.S. Click here for the Collegiate Times live blog of the event.