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January 13 and 14 the gunshow is back in town at the Showplace we really need volunteers to help out at the table. If you work a shift you get free admission and you get to meet everybody at the gunshow. It’s usually a pretty good time and you might get the chance to meet local hero Dennis O’Conner who bravely thwarted a bank robbery.
To volunteer contact gunshow@richmondliberty.org
Dennis O'Connor is a regular attendee at the Patrick Henry Supper Club.
From VCDL's VA-ALERT (http://www.vcdl.org):
The event that VCDL Board member Dennis O'Connor describes below
happened in a SunTrust branch a couple of days ago.
SunTrust does not ban their law-abiding customers from legally
carrying a firearm for self defense.
Had this been a Wachovia or a BB&T, both of which ban guns, the
outcome would probably have been very different.
This event also underlines something that both Dennis and I believe -
open carry, in and of itself, can be a strong deterrent to crime.
Yes, I know - the criminal COULD do a preemptive strike against
someone he sees carrying openly. But in practice such an event is
extremely rare. The outcome described below is the usual case.
In analyzing the encounter, the only thing I can flaw Dennis with is
not being aware of the significance of what has happening around him.
But I have a law enforcement background and was trained to be on the
lookout for certain behaviors and do so automatically.
The tellers at the bank, who are probably trained in how to handle a
robbery, certainly knew what had just happened!
The other lesson is that crime almost always happens when you least
expect it. In this case Dennis was busy getting some deposits taken
care of and was focused on that task, something he has done for years
routinely without a hitch. So when something unusual happened, his
mind was a little slow switching gears.
Looking at it from a criminal's point of view, it was the perfect
time for a holdup - the bank had just opened and there were few
customers. (You can imagine that it would be much more difficult to
rob a bank with, say, thirty people inside.)
In the end, this worked out as it usually does when a criminal finds
himself face-to-face with an armed citizen - the criminal flees
without a shot being fired.
In this more unusual case, Dennis's gun wasn't even touched or brandished!
Dennis's report:
On Tuesday the 26th of December I went down to the Sun Trust bank in
Hopewell to complete some financial transactions. I got there just as they
were opening and entered with a woman who had been waiting outside. There
were three tellers in position to the left, one customer service associate
at a desk to the right, and the manager was seated in his office to the
rear right, so there were seven of us in the bank.
I have been banking there for years and know the tellers fairly well, who
are quite used to me walking in with my holstered 1911 government model
.45 and two reserve magazines. As I was transacting business with my
teller, a man came in through the front door on this warm December morning
wearing a full ski mask, with only his eyes showing. He was wringing his
hands and glanced furtively toward the office and then swept his eyes
across the room, finally towards me and the tellers. At that, he turned
and BOLTED back out the door!
The teller next to my position was the first to recognize the implications
of what had just happened, and yelled for the manager who came rushing out
from his office. He glanced toward me before sticking his head out the
front door, looking both ways down the sidewalk, and pronouncing that the
suspicious character had apparently left the area. The same teller then
expressed her relief that I had been there, and mentioned that the next Sun
Trust down on Route 10 (Iron Bridge Road) had just been robbed the week
before.
I regret to say that I was pretty oblivious to anything but the business I
was immediately conducting, and walked out thinking no more about it as a
non-incident at the time. In fact, even later that evening I only
mentioned it as a casual after-thought in a conversation with Philip. He
urged me to write up this account of what had transpired, and I will leave
it to him to dissect and analyze the facts, psychologies, probabilities and
possible alternative outcomes.
FOLLOW UP
I went by the bank again today to make a deposit - same three tellers on
duty. I asked them if the police were called over the ski-masked intruder.
They said no, but they had all discussed the incident yesterday afternoon
and agreed that it was me standing there with a gun at Sharon's window
(first one from the door) that spooked him into changing his plans, and
they all thanked me again (although I didn't DO anything).
2006 is almost over. Frankly I can't wait for it to be over, since we
have a lot of big things going on in 2007. However before we take a
look at what is to come, lets take a look at 2006.
We came into 2006 with a full head of steam. The egregious Henrico
Meals tax had been defeated, the PHSC had an amazing celebration for
its 12th anniversary, the LPHC had its largest Convention ever, the
City of Richmond saw the formation of its first official LP affiliate,
and Matt Martin had an amazing vote total for a Libertarian in a 2-way
House of Delegates race.
However after such amazing success we were bound to have a few set
backs. The LPHC had an embarrassing string of meetings that were
canceled or rescheduled at the last minute, PSHC attendance remained
mediocre the entire year, and there were no Libertarians running in
the area for Congress.
In spite of these little set backs, 2006 saw some significant
developments in the freedom movement in the Richmond Area. The PHSC
turned 14 and celebrated by having Karen Kwiatkowski, Lt. Col. USAF
(ret.) speak. The Henrico Board of Supervisors again lowered the
property tax rate (clearly our success the previous year had some
effect).
RichmondLiberty.org got a face-lift and a new content management
system. This has made it much more easy to post content and generate
the weekly emails.
We also added two new posters to the site. Robert Russo is writing a
weekly column. If you aren't reading it, I encourage you to do
so. Robert is quite articulate and discusses some very interesting
subjects. A big thanks to Robert. I know how much time and effort
goes into writting a weekly column and he's doing a great job.
The other poster we added to the site is Max Maizels. Max finds some
of the more interestingly outrageous uses of taxpayer money. He'll be
highlighting even more in the future.
The LPHC saw a major turnover on its Board at the Convention this year.
The new members seem to be working well together. The last several
months have seen regularly scheduled meeting. It looks like the LPHC
is back on track. The LPHC also recently added the ability to take
donations online. Visit
http://henricolp.org/donations.php to make a
contribution today!
Finally, while it wasn't a Libertarian victory, this past election was
significant for the freedom movement as a whole. Voters rejected the
War machine while at the same time sending Democrats to Congress who
at least claimed to be fiscally responsible and pro-gun. If the new
members of Congress keep their promises we might start seeing the
nation finally start moving in the right direction (In all honesty I
don't expect the Dems to keep their promises any more than the Reps
did, but we can hope and certainly try to make them stay on track).
So that about wraps up 2006. What's ahead for 2007? Elections,
Elections, and more Elections!
The entire General Assembly is up for election. Also the entire
Henrico Board of Supervisors, School Board, as well as the Henrico
Clerk of Court are up for election. We already have two great people
in the area running for Henrico Board of Supervisors.
George Marchenko, former LPHC Chairman, is running in the Tuckahoe
District for Board of Supervisors. The District is basically the far
Southwest part of Henrico (almost anything West of the City and South
of I-64). George is well known in the district and the President of
his neighborhood association. There is no question that George will
be a strong voice for liberty and represent the people of Tuckahoe
well.
Matt Martin is running in the Brookland District for Board of
Supervisors. The District is basically between everything East of
Woodman Rd. and everything West of Broad St. and Springfield Rd. Matt
is the President of the Henrico Taxpayers Union. Matt is well known
for his fight against the County Meals tax in 2005 as well as his
activism in VCDL (http://www.vcdl.org). Matt ran in 2005 for House of
Delegates in the 73rd and the areas that overlap are where the vote
total exceeded 40%! We certainly expect him to improve his vote
totals this year.
It is not too late to run for office. As stated above the entire
General Assembly is up for election. There are also three other Board
of Supervisor seats up for election. If you are ever thinking of
running for public office, now is the year to do it. We've got two
really good candidates and our best chance at winning since I've been
involved with the LP. Adding more candidates will only help to get
more people involved, expose more people to the libertarian
philosophy, and bring more creditably to the ticket. Now is the time
to do it. If you think you might want to run or know someone who
might, please contact me at liberty@leonard-harris.com.
Finally, the 2007 elections will decide the future of Virginia for the
next 4 years. It is imperative that everyone do something to make
sure that Virginia will see more individual liberty and less
government oppression. If you don't run for office, please volunteer
to help out one of the candidates or the LP. If you don't volunteer
please donate money (http://www.henricolp.org/donations.php).
I am really looking forward to 2007 and believe it could be our best
year yet. Happy New Year!
--------------------------------------
-Leonard T. Harris
-Chair
-Libertarian Party of Henrico County
-http://www.henricolp.org/
-
-President
-RichmondLiberty.org
-http://www.richmondliberty.org/
-info@richmondlibert
The next C&E Gunshow is Jan 13-14. As usual the LP will have an Info
table. We need volunteers to work the table.
Show Hours:
Sat. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sun. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Standard shifts are 9:00-1:00 and 1:00-5:00 on Saturday
10:00-1:30 and 1:30-5:00 on Sunday
Partial shifts are ok too.
The gunshow is held at the Showplace on Mechanicsville Turnpike. in
Richmond, VA.
Directions: I-64 to Exit 192...go East on 360 (Mechanicsville
Turnpike) ...go 3/4 mile and The Showplace is on the left.
The address is 3000 Mechanicsville Turnpike.
Parking is free. Anyone who works a whole shift gets into the show
for free!
To volunteer contact gunshow@richmondliberty.org
Chris Braunlich, Vice-President of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy will address the Patrick Henry Supper Club on Jan. 2, 2007.
As usual the PHSC meets at:
Eastern Buffet
7586 W. Broad St.
Richmond, VA 23294
(in Merchants Walk Shopping Center)
6:00pm Dinner 7:00pm main event.
Unpublished Letter to the Editor
Subject: "Study: Fathers parenting varies by education" RTD, June 1, 2006, p. A4
We need more federal studies like the one summarized in "Study: Fathers' parenting varies by education." June 1, 2006, p. A4. My life as a citizen and taxpayer is so improved by the profound conclusions such as :"Almost everyone agrees that being a parent is something that's worth it" and " the rewards of being a parent are worth it despite the cost and work it takes."
Wow!! I never knew that. I am so grateful for a federally funded expenditure to reach such profound conclusions. Perhaps we should advocate a tax increase to fund more sociological studies to determine the obvious. Thank goodness for bureaucrats, academicians, and those who fund them.
Max Maizels
Richmond, Va.
From vcdl.org:
Delegate Bill Janis had prefiled a 'Castle Doctrine' bill. VCDLstrongly supports the bill, which provides protection from
***civil*** suits, but not criminal charges.
It is a good first step.
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?071+ful+HB1626
The full story also has an interesting legal analysis. It can be found in item#5 at http://www2.vcdl.org/cgi-bin/wspd_cgi.sh/vcdl/vadetail.html?RECID=1017666&FILTER=
From dpfva@drugsense.org:
Please sponsor sensible marijuana reform legislation
Support Virginia marijuana expungement bill
Last year Del. Harvey Morgan (R-98th) sponsored http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?061+sum+HB1321 H.B. 1321, which would have allowed first-time marijuana offenders to get their convictions expunged. Currently, the law does not allow even simple marijuana possession to be expunged for 10 years. Even having minor violations on one's record seriously handicaps job and education prospects, as well as loan applications, and puts individuals at risk for future legal problems.
Unfortunately, Del. Morgan is unable to sponsor this sensible bill again this year. So, we need your help to ensure that it's reintroduced. Please take a moment to https://ssl.capwiz.com/mpp/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=9193151 send a letter to your state delegate and senator, asking them to introduce and support this expungement legislation.
H.B. 1321 received bipartisan support last year and passed the House 55-44. The Senate Committee for Courts of Justice also approved the bill in an 8-5 vote. However, the bill did not receive a vote on Senate floor.
With your help, Virginia could pass this sensible legislation this year and take a giant step toward important and meaningful marijuana reform. The pre-file deadline for the upcoming session is Monday, December 11, so please
https://ssl.capwiz.com/mpp/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=9193151 take a moment right now to urge your legislators to sponsor this legislation.
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this on so that even more Virginians can participate in reform.
Update from Lennice werth:
Dear friends,
Delegate Harvey Morgan (R, 98th) has agreed to put the expungement bill in to be drafted so it will make the Dec.11th deadline. His aid told me that he would carry it himself unless he can find another delegate to do it for him.
Yeah!
Now its up to us to get our Delegates and Senators in the VA General Assembly to cosponsor and vote in favor of this bill. Last year this was HB 1321, you can view it on the web here: http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?061+sum+HB1321
Thanks,
Lennice Werth
On Dec 7, 2006, at 2:49 PM, Michael Krawitz wrote:
> This is Lennice's project.
> Please do what you can to help.
> Michael
>
> <
>
> a Policy Project Alert: Va. December 5, 2006
>
> TO: Michael Krawitz
> FROM: Zane Hurst, MPP legislative analyst
>
> Support Virginia marijuana expungement bill
>
> Last year Del. Harvey Morgan (R-98th) sponsored
>
> which would have allowed first-time marijuana offenders to get their
> convictions expunged. Currently, the law does not allow even simple
> marijuana possession to be expunged for 10 years. Even having minor
> violations on one's record seriously handicaps job and education
> prospects, as well as loan applications, and puts individuals at risk
> for future legal problems.
>
> Unfortunately, Del. Morgan is unable to sponsor this sensible bill
> again this year. So, we need your help to ensure that it's
> reintroduced. Please take a moment to
>
> asking them to introduce and support this expungement legislation.
>
> H.B. 1321 received bipartisan support last year and passed the House
> 55-44. The Senate Committee for Courts of Justice also approved the
> bill in an 8-5 vote. However, the bill did not receive a vote on
> Senate floor.
>
> With your help, Virginia could pass this sensible legislation this
> year and take a giant step toward important and meaningful marijuana
> reform. The pre-file deadline for the upcoming session is Monday,
> December 11, so please
>
> sponsor this legislation.
>
> Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass
> this on so that even more Virginians can participate in reform.
>
> ###
>
Lennice Werth
Virginians Against Drug Violence
Crewe, VA.
434-645-8816
lennice@hifitown.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------Dear friends,
Delegate Harvey Morgan (R, 98th) has agreed to put the expungement
bill in to be drafted so it will make the Dec.11th deadline.
His aid told me that he would carry it himself unless he can find
another delegate to do it for him.
Yeah!
Now its up to us to get our Delegates and Senators in the VA General
Assembly to cosponsor and vote in favor of this bill.
Last year this was HB 1321, you can view it on the web here:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?061+sum+HB1321
Thanks,
Lennice werth
Millions of commercial Web sites and personal blogs would be required to report illegal images or videos posted by their users or pay fines of up to $300,000, if a new proposal in the U.S. Senate came into law.
Full story at:
http://news.com.com/SenatorIllegalimagesmustbereported/2100-1028_3-6142332.html?tag=nefd.lede
The Libertarian Party of Virginia announced its endorsement of verifiable voting for the second straight year, putting its weight behind a new coalition for paper-trails in the Commonwealth’s elections.
Full Story at: http://www.lpva.com/Archives/MediaReleases/20061306-verifedvotingcoalition.pdf
From the Virginia Property Rights Coalition:
The Real Story of Eminent Domain in Virginia: The Rise, Fall, and Undetermined Future of Private Property Rights in the Commonwealth, details amazing abuses of Virginians’ property rights; exposes legislators who stop every effort at eminent domain reform while their law firms make hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state’s largest condemnors; and recommends what must be done to protect the property of the citizens from the special interests and those who do their bidding in state and local government.
http://www.virginiainstitute.org/pdf/V002-0017EminentDomain.pdf
http://www.vapropertyrights.org
by Robert Russo
This week it was announced Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota suffered a brain hemorrhage, and underwent emergency surgery sparking the response that if he is unable to serve out his term, it will give control of the Senate back to a Republican majority. At the time of this writing it is said he is in stable condition.* At first my reaction was how can they make such a thing political? But it is political. Every agenda the Democrats have hoped to put through congress rests on the synapses of this poor man most Virginians have never heard of, his genetic condition probably more guaranteed to make the history books than any motion he will ever make as a legislator.
He doesn’t even have to be well enough to vote, he just has to be alive and conscious to remain a senator and keep the Democratic majority won by Jim Webb and others. That is the nation we live in, because all 51 democrats are expected to vote one way and all 49 republicans the other, and the governor of his state is expected to appoint a republican to replace him if asked (or sacrifice his own political career along with any senator who crosses party lines). How did it come to this?
The answer is the two-party system. Sponsorship has always helped people attain power but now the sponsors are more important than the responsibilities of the office. They can’t be bipartisan, they can’t afford to. My young friend who is ten was playing cards with me the other night, and having more pennies to start with than I he made each bet larger than I could afford to match, saying whoever can’t match a bet forfeits the hand, and soon he had all the pennies regardless of what cards were dealt. This reminds me of the political situation, the methods used to cheat are now the standard, like a workplace in which a bad employee survives by favoritism becomes a place where everyone competes for favors and no one is working.
Elections are never simple anymore, there always seems to be some circumstance that subverts the process. When one man’s health is equal to the entire electoral year in deciding a legislature, when will someone save their party a lot of time and effort and just have him hit by a car? We are fortunate to live in a prosperous country where democracy goes unchallenged by other political paradigms and foreign influence, like Ukraine where the candidates poison each other, and Yugoslavia where the losing party barricades the capital. What will these chinks in our infrastructure become if that is no longer the case? Incoming majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada visited Sen. Johnson reporting that he looked "good, fine"*, which I’m sure was a heartfelt personal call and also his responsibility, but saying a man looks good one day after brain surgery is a political put-at-easer to anyone with a New Year’s political resolution. It makes you wonder, will we become like Cuba concealing the health of Castro or Palestine lying about the health of Arafat?
The solution is a third party contender. We libertarians are still alive and kicking, even if some people forget about us from time to time, and will endure which makes us more likely to provide this initiator than anyone. It will be an uproar, the major parties breaking new ground in their personal attacks, but it will change the equation. Instead of one candidate reaching the 270 electoral votes required to win, no candidate will reach that figure and congress must decide the next president. In congress itself neither party will have a majority and getting a bill passed will depend on one’s ability to court the third party.
Sen. Johnson will have to deal with the repercussions of his illness for the rest of his life, perhaps returning to politics perhaps not, but he is alive and that is what balances the scales for the moment. Our prayers are with him this holiday season. I read updates on this issue at CNN.com.
*http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/15/johnson.ap/index.html
Question of the Week: In a presidential or gubernatorial election a Libertarian contender will be roasted by our competitors, but even a single Libertarian in congress will be courted by the major parties. Does this mean we should concentrate on pursuing legislative offices? Please send your opinions to henrico@richmondliberty.org.
If you have topics of interest to Libertarians please let us know. We welcome your input.
Let the pandering begin!! It is an election year after all.
Sen. Walter A. Stosch ,R-Henrico, has proposed a new welfare program called college student grants, with no proposed cap in place for the future of this new entitlement program. I scoff at the underestimates of $10 million to $12 million annually. Since when has the projected costs of a new entitlement program ever approached reality? Open the gates and the money will flow.
At the other end of the educational spectrum, Governor Kaine has proposed a similar new entitlement welfare program for pre-schoolers, with under projected cost estimates and no absolute cap proposed.
My vote in November will go to those who look to cut discretionary state spending to the bone, rather than expanding it, before proposing increased taxation and the further unlimited expansion of the state budget.
Max Maizels
Richmond
by Robert Russo
Many posters and readers of this site follow the epidemic of voting machine problems that have plagued this country since before the 2000 election. I am not one of them, but having seen HBO’s "Hacking Democracy" and other links posted by Leonard Harris last month, I wanted to include this subject which is among the most relevant of our time, and give at least one new opinion.
In a nutshell, the voting process on Election Day is consistent with that of a democracy but to tally those votes with enough speed to post projections and results globally requires somebody’s counting machine, and that hardware is manufactured by private businesses. The software inside is a vulnerability because in the field of programming "the smartest guy wins"; they are engaged in a contest with the hacker sitting at home to reach the next level of instruction, because the information (no matter how encoded) is free. It can be shared with others and even distributed to the public.
While this proverbial fly is open there is a campaign of safeguards, but that campaign is directed toward the general public. The process of how votes are counted is supposed to be a secret, which the company maintains by being approved through undisclosed committees, while electoral staff and registrars consider the very subject an unwritten taboo (the documentary shows employees dumping records, discouraging citizens from reading them, and judicial authorities refusing to file against this calling it unnecessary).* Basically they are letting the hackers in and keeping everyone who reads or demands paperwork out.
These businesses, like Diebold corporation which is one of the biggest suppliers of voting machines, are not public servants driven by civic responsibility but by dollars, and serve only the empire of themselves. They decide which software is used, and even which type of voting machines are selected for a given precinct. Technical issues can be disputed, but what struck me in this film and on their website is the arrogance and self-devotedness of the Diebold representatives. This reveals the underlying problem: capitalism taking over a civic responsibility.
An employee is going to speak whatever words defend his company most faithfully because it’s his livelihood at stake (no commitment to democracy or truth is worth having if one’s employer goes out of business). And this defensive posture is mimicked by government employees. An election is the crunch time of their entire work cycle, looking forward to the down time they will have once it’s over. Volunteers working just that one day take pride in their contribution to democracy and don’t want to be heckled afterwards by an ungrateful nation. So much effort and pressure goes into an election that once it’s decided there is no point in disputing it for the sake of public morale. As Congressman J. D. Hayworth of Arizona said, "The problem we confront with this debate is that it serves to plant the insidious seeds of doubt in the electoral process.".** Congressman Roy Blunt of Missouri adds "I don’t know that we help the process by casting doubt on what all of those people that work at elections all over America do."*** So the problem is appearance; as long as Americans think everything is fine they can vote with confidence (or at least think they’re voting). Whistleblowing is an attack on democracy itself.
It’s hard to be critical of capitalism. Candidates are either "for" or "against" an institution to get the votes that come automatically with that position, anything in between is considered flip-flopping. We Libertarians are big fans of capitalism and "the empire of one", but it doesn't say in the Constitution we have to be capitalist in everything we do. Corruption spreads when everyone is just looking out for themselves, and private companies can deny freedom more swiftly than any government. Capitalism and individualism are tools, to be used objectively. Likewise we help preserve democracy by investigating these claims even though we ultimately don’t want democracy and majority rule.
It amazes me that at this day and age we can’t do simple math without hurting ourselves. Before electronic voting the system was trusted, it was nobody’s business. In 2004 Diebold voting machines were banned by the state of California in four counties saying "we will not tolerate deceitful tactics.".**** I watched "Hacking Democracy" on YouTube. The Diebold response can be seen at http://www.diebold.com/dieboldes/pdf/pr_hbo.pdf.
*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-az3g0jgNqM&mode=related&search=
**http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3BtLxH5ACk&mode=related&search=
***http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUVfovXfw4o&NR
****http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPFUNYtvg5M&mode=related&search=
Question of the Week: Should the licensing of commercial voting machines be suspended and replaced with government-made and run machines, or is that untrustworthy as well? How can we put this task into the hands of the voters themselves? Please send your opinions to henrico@richmondliberty.org.
If you have topics of interest to Libertarians please let us know. We welcome your input.
According to the RTD:
Richmond has filed suit to stop Cavalier Telephone from selling television services in the city without a license.
[Editor's Note: So lets see, a new small company wants to provide a service at a better price than the government sanctioned franchise but is told that's illegal. Seems to me this is a great example of government once again helping the rich and powerful while screwing over the little guy and the citizens. ]
> A federal agency is set to recommend significant changes to specifications for electronic-voting
> machines next week...
>
> The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is recommending that the 2007
> version of the Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines (VVSG) decertify direct record
> electronic (DRE) machines...
>
> The NIST is also going to recommend changes to the design of machines equipped with
> paper rolls that provide audit trails.
Full Story at:
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3646231
Related Links:
http://vote.nist.gov/DraftWhitePaperOnSIinVVSG2007-20061120.pdf
http://vavv.org/
http://VoterUnite.org/