Gun Bills Take Center Stage in States
Pro- and anti-gun legislative proposals have taken center stage in several state legislatures.
Some of the action is favorable as in Virginia where a Senate committee voted 9-4 on Jan. 24 to kill the latest in a long string of legislative proposals to require background checks for all private, secondary firearms sales at gun shows.
The Senate Courts of Justice Committee rejected SB-827, with two Democrats joining the Republican majority.
SB-827 would also have defined firearms show vendors and would have required promoters to provide vendors with access to licensed dealers who would conduct the background checks on potential customers.
In Georgia, lawmakers in both the House and Senate are trying once again to pass a measure that would allow Georgians to leave registered guns in their vehicles while they are at work.
State Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) and state Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ranger) filed identical bills on Jan. 23 that they say will protect people who are going to and from their jobs. A similar measure passed a House committee last year, but failed to reach the floor for a vote, and the senator who sponsored a companion version withdrew his bill, primarily because of opposition from the business community.
In Massachusetts, Boston Mayor Tom Menino is proposing legislation that would toughen the state’s gun laws by suspending the driver’s licenses and revoking the vehicle registrations of people convicted of firearms violations.
Menino’s proposal would allow licenses to be suspended and registrations revoked, without a hearing, for up to five years for crimes including illegal possession of a gun or selling guns without a license.
In Connecticut, a rush by anti-gunners to pass a number of gun laws in mid-January without a hearing was stalled at the last moment. But there are several proposals, including some to require gunowners and dealers to report lost or stolen firearms; another rationing purchases to one handgun per month; another to require presentation of a handgun license to purchase or possess ammunition, and one to prohibit private sales of ammunition by requiring a license to sell.
The Public Safety and Security Committee scheduled a public hearing on all the Connecticut proposals for Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 11 am in the Legislative Office Building, Room 1B, in Hartford.
In his 2007 State of the State Address on Jan. 24, Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt laid out his list of priorities for the state’s 2007 legislative session and included a “Castle Doctrine” bill and “Emergency Powers Protection” bill in the his legislative priorities.
“Castle Doctrine” bills have been enacted in 15 states and are likely to be voted upon by the legislatures of several other states, including West Virginia, where a bill is sponsored by state Sen. Shirley Love (D-Fayette), with the support of 24 fellow senators.
In Arkansas, however, a similar bill to remove the requirement that civilians attempt to retreat before they can use deadly force made no headway in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 24.
State Sen. Jerry Taylor (D-Pine Bluff), sponsor of SB-2, pulled the bill from consideration before a vote amid a barrage of criticism in committee.
The new Kansas law allowing concealed firearms carry went into effect Jan. 1, and within days, a shooting incident during an attempted robbery has revealed another aspect of the conceal carry law: under the law Kansas also recognizes concealed carry licenses issued in other states.
“There are 22 states that have reciprocity with Kansas,” Shawnee County Sheriff Dick Barta said, according to WIBW-TV in Topeka.
During an attempted gas station robbery in mid-January, a man with an Oklahoma permit shot at the robbery suspect. It’s the first known instance that Kansas’ concealed carry reciprocity has been used.
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