News from Norfolk...

Gun-rights advocates stage protest at Norfolk council meeting

Chet Szymecki, who was arrested in June at Harborfest, was joined Tuesday by his daughter Kiersten, 13, and his wife, Deborah. JOHN H. SHEALLY II | THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

By HARRY MINIUM, The Virginian-Pilot
© August 29, 2007

NORFOLK

More than 100 gun-rights advocates, most carrying handguns on their hips and wearing buttons saying "Guns Save Lives," came to the City Council on Tuesday night to protest what they called harassment of law-abiding gun owners by city officials.

The protest was called by the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group, after Chet Szymecki of Yorktown was arrested in June at Harborfest for carrying a gun.

Szymecki was arrested for violating a city ordinance banning guns at Harborfest - an ordinance that officials now acknowledge violates state law. City Attorney Bernard A. Pishko said city officials were unaware of a state law prohibiting localities from banning guns.

Carrying a weapon openly is legal in Virginia, even at a large gathering such as Harborfest. Once city officials realized their error, the charges against Szymecki were dropped.

"We made a mistake," Councilman Barclay C. Winn said. "It was unintentional."

Most who came to protest didn't appear to believe it was an innocent mistake.

"You know it was illegal," said Dave Vann, who drove from Falls Church to speak. "You arrested someone, and now it's going to cost you dearly."

Szymecki, a Navy veteran, said he was manhandled and hurt and that his wife, Deborah, his three children and two other children who accompanied them were traumatized. He said he has hired Norfolk attorney Stephen Merrill.

An emotional Deborah Szymecki told the council that after several police officers were done handcuffing her husband, she was left without money or the keys to the family car.

Others rose to describe incidents in which they said they were questioned and often handcuffed by police for simply carrying a firearm openly.

"Apparently you have some officers who don't understand the law," said the president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Philip Van Cleave of Midlothian.

The meeting drew more rowdy as it continued, with speakers receiving thunderous applause and some expressing disgust for the council. Some used unsavory terms to describe the police.

Councilman Paul R. Riddick left the meeting as gun-rights advocates began speaking, he said, in protest of their protest.

Kim Barton, who would not say where she lives, tried to speak but was told by Mayor Paul Fraim that she couldn't because she had not signed up to speak.

"I want to hear what she has to say," Vann said.

Fraim replied, "I'm running this meeting " and informed Vann his time to speak had expired.

Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com

Thanks to The Geek with a .45.

The rest of the story...

Norfolk and visitor with a holstered .45 are tangled in a Catch-22

By MATTHEW ROY, The Virginian-Pilot
© July 22, 2007

NORFOLK

Chester Szymecki Jr. was waiting for some music to start at Harborfest when a sheriff's deputy approached.

It was a warm June afternoon, and thousands of people wandered on and off the tall ships moored around Town Point Park. Szymecki had come from Yorktown with his wife, their three children and two children from their neighborhood.

Szymecki had brought along something else, too - a .45-caliber handgun in a holster on his belt.

The deputy asked Szymecki whether he was a police officer. He said no. And then, he said, uniformed city police began closing in. They gave him a choice, he said: Leave the event or face arrest. When he tried to say that there must be a mistake, he was disarmed and led away, handcuffed, he recalled.

Szymecki was charged with violating a local ordinance that the City Council had passed in May, which set up rules to govern Harborfest. Among them was a provision banning handguns and other weapons.

There's just one problem: A few years ago, the General Assembly barred localities from enforcing laws governing the carrying of firearms. That meant state law prevailed. And in Virginia, "open carry" is legal.

Localities today generally do not have the authority to restrict guns, said Mark Flynn, director of legal services for the Virginia Municipal League. A state law last amended in 2004 says localities cannot adopt or enforce laws regarding the purchase, carrying, possession, storage, or sale of firearms.

Szymecki was given a summons and released. When he showed up for court June 22, the case was withdrawn at the request of an assistant city attorney.

The case has enraged the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun rights group that has successfully challenged local gun restrictions around the commonwealth. Szymecki is a member. In the past the group has protested Norfolk's attempts to prevent the carrying of weapons in city parks.

Philip Van Cleave, the president of the league, says members plan to crowd the City Council chambers in protest at a future date.

The ordinance, he said, was "a huge mistake."

City Attorney Bernard Pishko said the city is not attempting to challenge the state law by imposing restrictions on handguns.

Pishko described the gun ban in the Harborfest ordinance as an oversight, a "housekeeping" issue. "This is one that we missed," he said. An ordinance governing Afr'Am Fest in May contained the same restrictions on weapons. Both ordinances were in effect only for the few days the events ran.

Pishko said his office has since advised police that "the only gun laws in effect for Norfolk are those in effect for Virginia."

Szymecki said the incident has changed the way he views the police. He said he plans to file a lawsuit and have a "neutral court" decide whether police violated his rights.

Matthew Roy, (757) 446-2540, matthew.roy@pilotonline.com

The Phantom Menace

In an article found here, Bloomberg blasts the FOP as a "Fringe Organization" and tries to promote his illegal stings in other states. Below is a graphic from the story I found rather ironic.

Whether through just plain ignorance or genuine stupidity, they chose to illustrate "The Gun Menace" with a Beretta Tomcat chambered in .32 ACP. Now the Tomcat is one of the least threatening pocket pistols in existence, just slightly more threatening than anything in .25 ACP or .22LR. And it only holds seven rounds in the magazine, eight if you load one in the snout via the flip up barrel. Yeah, I'd hate to get shot with anything, and any gun is better than no gun, but a .32 ACP round has a better chance of pissing the Bad Guy off than stopping him. As with any bullet though, it's all about shot placement, but bigger is better.

-Yuri

Kaine Criticizes Weapons Giveaway

Raffle Being Held In Government Building in Fairfax

By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 15, 2007

RICHMOND, May 14 -- Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) on Monday questioned the judgment of a gun-rights group in deciding to raffle off weapons and ammunition this week inside a Fairfax County government building.

"I guess it's a free country, and people can make mistakes in judgment all the time," Kaine said. "When I read about a group doing this, it just makes me wonder what makes them tick."

The Virginia Citizens Defense League, a group influential with rural lawmakers, is holding a "Bloomberg Gun Giveaway" to protest New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's efforts to crack down on illegal gun sales in Virginia.

The raffle Thursday night at the Mason District Government Center in Annandale has angered Fairfax County officials and heightened attention on Virginia's gun laws a month after a 23-year-old college student from Fairfax fatally shot 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech.

Although Kaine said the gun group showed poor judgment, Virginia's top elected Republican leaders defended the gun giveaway Monday, saying the group is defending the right to own firearms and sending a message that Bloomberg should stay out of the state's affairs.

"It is not the place for government to interfere with a private raffle," Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R) said through a spokesman.

House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem) said gun control advocates frequently use government property to hold gun buyback events.

"The same thing happens with groups on the left when they do programs to have guns turned in for prizes or rewards," Griffith said. In this case, he said, "you got law-abiding citizens holding a raffle or contest to give away a product that doesn't violate state or federal laws."

The defense league plans to give away a semiautomatic pistol, a hunting rifle, ammunition and other supplies, including a laser scope. Fairfax County officials said they don't want guns inside a county building, but they can't find a legal reason to deny the group a permit.

The raffle was spurred by New York's decision to file lawsuits against six Virginia gun shops that the city contends sold guns illegally to undercover agents. Bloomberg maintains that illegal guns sales in Virginia contribute to violent crime in New York.

The General Assembly and Kaine approved a law this spring that will make it a felony for New York to conduct future stings in the state without the supervision of Virginia or federal law enforcement officials.

Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, said more than 2,500 people were awarded tickets to Thursday night's drawing after they spent at least $100 at Bob Moates Sports Shop in Richmond and Old Dominion Gun and Tackle in Danville, the targets of Bloomberg's lawsuits.

Van Cleave said he doesn't understand why Kaine and Fairfax officials are upset.

"They are acting like we are giving guns to criminals. They talk as if anytime a gun is sold, it's going on the street," Van Cleave said. "These guns are going to law-abiding, decent people who won't hurt anyone with them."

In addition to McDonnell, Van Cleave has the backing of the state's other top elected Republican, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling. Like McDonnell, Bolling is a possible candidate for governor in 2009.

"The VCDL is doing this as a form of protest against the actions taken by Mayor Bloomberg," Bolling said. "They have every right to lodge such a protest as long as they comply with the letter and the spirit of the law."

Fairfax Supervisor Penelope A. Gross (D-Mason) said she has received dozens of phone calls and e-mails from residents who are appalled that the raffle is taking place in a county building.

Fairfax has asked the General Assembly to allow it and other local governments to ban the possession of guns in public buildings, but lawmakers have refused. County officials can't deny a meeting permit simply for political reasons, Gross said.

"I agree with the governor. It is wrong, but help me find a way to put a stop to it," Gross said. "There is none. I tried."

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