I am respectfully asking you vote to reinstate preemption.

Please support HB 827, Delegate Wilt, which repeals the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. This puts preemption back as it was in from 2004 to early 2020.

Protect gun rights. I am a female home he’s nurse that has almost been a victim of assault at least 2 times. I see patients with mental and physical issues and I need to be able to protect myself. One of my patients tried to put me in a shed and the other was a known homicidal/suicidal with multiple antipsychotic medication and was able to find out my birthday and text me a happy birthday message despite being blocked and discharged as a patient. I am also an instructor and there have been times when I felt threatened in the classroom and clinicals. Times are changing and people are having difficulty controlling themselves and oftentimes act out impulsively which results in injury and sometimes death to others. As a health care provider and instructor, I urge you not to ban guns in public buildings, schools and parks. Also, I request that you vote to repeal the red flag law and stop hiding anti gun legislation in bulky bills that none of you seem to have time to read. Stop and think about your actions towards your constituents. You are acting against us, not for us. I pray that you wake up and cut the lobbyists puppet strings. Stand up for us and stop taking our rights away. Thank you, Patricia Wright

Honorable delegates, On behalf of the nearly 8,700 currently serving Soldiers and Airmen of the Virginia National Guard, I ask that you support House Bill No. 231. This bill increases the approved military leave for employees of the Commonwealth from 15 to 21. The addition of 6 days is a reflection of the last 20 years of increased demands placed on our Soldiers and Airmen. Last year, nearly 2,700 Virginia National Guard Soldiers and Airmen were rapidly deployed to the Capitol. The amazing speed at which they mobilized is a testament to the strength of our families and employers. Unfortunately, the duration and timing of this unique event highlighted a significant gap in Reserve Component employment. The Commonwealth’s current policy allows Soldiers and Airmen to take up-to 15 days of military leave for Federal duty. This amount accounts for the Service Members’ 15-day Annual Training, typically taken in the summer; but it does not account for Professional Military Education, little-to-no notice deployments, extended Collective Training Center rotations, or periods of involuntary Activity Duty. While there is an understanding of some sacrifices by Reserve Component members, the last year has taken a significant toll on families. In one experience, a Soldier had taken their 15-days of leave for his unit’s regularly scheduled Annual Training, then took all of their earned paid time off to support January’s mission to D.C., and was forced to enter a Leave Without Pay status. When he entered LWOP, his family’s health and dental care was dropped. When the Soldier came back from D.C., he had to wait until his agency’s next hiring day (7 days later), before he could return back to work. During that time he didn’t receive a pay check and he didn’t have healthcare coverage for his family. When he finally did return to work, he had to repay the entrance fees to restart his health and dental care coverage. Serving his community placed his family’s livelihood at risk. Changing the Commonwealth’s military leave policy will dramatically improve the lives of Reserve Component Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors and Marines. It is my hope that the Commonwealth of Virginia would lead the Nation in its commitment to its Reserve Component members. Thank you for your consideration. If I can answer any further questions, please contact me at president@vnga.us.

Please move to report these bills out in respect and solidarity for trafficking victims. Thank you.

The majority of human trafficking investigations use electronic communication evidence. Therefore, this bill should be amended to include the following: Establish compulsory minimum training standards and annual certification for law-enforcement officers who deal with electronic evidence in the subject area of federal and state statutes derived from the Electronic Communications and Privacy Act. This includes electronic devices (cell phones, computers, tablets, routers, etc.), emails, text messages, private messages exchanged on apps (applications), social media sites (like Facebook), peer-to-peer file sharing, hash codes, NITs (Network Investigative Technique), IP addresses, internet routing, device IDs (phone numbers, IMSI, IMEI, TMSI, etc.), WIFI utilization, cell tower usage, cell tower emulators (Stingrays, etc.), and other forms of electronic evidence.

The Fop of Virginia supports HB 283 & HB 412. Training is the backbone of quality and professional law enforcement. We welcome this enhancement to the training of LEO’s. The FOP supports HB 750 to prohibit quotas for summons. The FOP opposes HB 870. Officer involved incidents is counterproductive for a proper and professional investigation of that specific incident if a time restriction is placed on the investigation. This bills also does not allow a provision if for instance, if the officer is incapacitated and unable to be questioned.

Internet Crimes Against Children, ICAC, officers have testified they have no training on Electronic Communications and Privacy Act law, yet all their cases deal with internet communications. My FOIA request to NOVA-ICAC confirms this. ICAC officers criminally violate Fourth Amendment ECPA statutes as follows: Officers intercept private communications by impersonating someone else or by creating an imaginary person using a picture of someone else. Illegally obtained private communications are disclosed and used at trial – felonies VA 19.2-62(A)(1,3,4), 18 USC 2511(1)(a,c,d), and identity theft 18 USC 1028. Officers unmask an anonymous online user’s identity by obtaining the suspect’s hidden IP address, then issuing a series of administrative subpoenas. This process requires a pen register warrant which they never obtain – VA 19.2-70.1-3, 18. USC 3121 The ICAC Cops Database inventories the content of people’s private computers, all without a warrant. It contains file names, IP addresses, dates and times of downloads, hash codes, and user information. This database is populated by breaking into online peer-to-peer bookkeeping files and stealing transactional records using tools like Torrential Downpour - 18 USC 2701 Hash codes are calculated from electronic communication content, are derived from content, uniquely identify or “fingerprint” content, and are entitled to the same privacy protections afforded to content of an electronic communication. Using hash codes to identify files and content a user has downloaded (child pornography) requires authorization to intercept content – felony VA 19.2-62(A)(1), 18 USC 2511(1)(a). Using hash codes beyond detecting transmission errors of a peer-to-peer stored communication system violates the Stored Communication Law - 18 USC 2701 When the ICAC database is updated, any new downloads of “bad” files are flagged and trigger an investigation. Officers use tools like Shareaza-LE to remotely break into a user’s password-protected computer at the specified IP address, searching it, downloading content without a warrant - VA 18.2-152.4(6) and 18 U.S. Code § 1030(a)(7). Since 1998, ICAC officers have illegally prosecuted over 8,100 Virginians. This totals about 25,000 felonies and 25,000 federal crimes committed by ICAC officers during these investigations and sting operations to protect imaginary children. Please train them on ECPA law so they might rescue a real child one day. Those they have illegally prosecuted should be exonerated.

Hello my name is Vivian Loar and first and for most I would like to say that we are not trying to hurt the victims family's in any way, shape or form and I pray for them daily, but I oppose this bill because my son is currently serving a juvenile life sentence since the age of 17 and he has been in prison almost 24 years and I'm just asking that he has a chance to be looked at every year vs the every 3 years in this bill, because 2021 was his first hearing due to SB103 juvenile parole bill that was passed in 2020! Thank you for your time! Please vote NO!

I'm a returning citizen who has served 26 years in the Virginia Department of Corrections. I was incarcerated at the age of 17 and released on parole at the age of 43. I was originally sentenced to serve two consecutive life without parole sentences plus 29 years. I spent my entire incarceration educating, reforming, redeeming and rehabilitating myself. Once I became a better version of myself I committed myself to helping other inmates to become better versions of themselves, pro-social beings as well as spent years mentoring preparing inmates for re-entry back into society. Years before being eligible for release I vowed to spend the rest of my life giving back to my community if I was ever blessed with a second opportunity to be free in society again. Ever since being released I've spent almost every waking moment fulfilling that vow I made when I was incarcerated which is to give back to my community. I spend alot of time speaking to the youth and mentoring them. I've done so many positive things since being released, displayed a wonderful example of what rehabilitation and redemption looks like(after being told that I was once permanently incorrigible)and contributed to the truthful narrative of returning citizens being relevant. Throughout my journey in the VaDOC I've met so many other inmates who are just like me---educated, reformed, redeemed and rehabilitated. I personally know and believe that if given a second chance they would do amazing work out here in society. They would be committed to giving back to their communities and assisting us all with the solution based works to rid society off many of the social ills that leading to the harm and stagnation of our society as a whole. Passing a law, such as this one, serves no legitimate penological interest because it takes the focus off of rehabitation and would inevitably cause fully rehabilitated inmates to s remain incarcerated as a collateral consequence of an unreasonably complicated parole process. For these reasons DON'T support the passing of this bill. Thank you for your time and consideration.

My name is Angel and I like to express the frustration that families of the incarcerated are facing. I was incarcerated for 27 years and I received a conditional pardon from Governor Ralph Northam. I was a juvenile at the time I committed my crime. I serve 27 years and under the current system everyone that's under the old parole and recently past fish back and juvenile bills, everyone has nearly been incarcerated over 25 years and 30 years with spotless records of confinement. This bill what it does is continue to keep people incarcerated for life. I say this with all due respect If the Department of Correction is not to correct the state of mind and behavior of onces individual then all is left to consider is elimination. That's what this bill does. I want everyone to just think about this. Giving people false hope is not what this people deserve. Thank you and GOD Bless us all. I strongly oppose this bill.

It is bad enough that Virginia spends its money continuing to warehouse individuals especially it's black population which makes up the majority of residents in your prisons. BUT, then you have a severely misinformed legislator who wants to do more harm by adding additional barriers to parole which was abolished in 1995. Parole which is given to <1% of individuals eligible under the old law. It's starting to get ridiculous. A person has been convicted, if they've spent > 20 yrs in prison why are we requiring their transcript of conviction to be reviewed. The parole should be looking at the individual for who they are now not a conviction that doesn't change. Annual reviews are necessary. Every 3 yrs doesn't make any sense especially from a cost savings. You're holding people who have earn parole reviews. And lastly everyone will have a different opinion and it should not be one size fits all let's be unanimous. Please stop hating people and actually do something right in criminal justice reform for once. Pbi this bill

I strongly oppose this bill. The parole board is already a broken system in Virginia and has let out less than 1% of people for the purpose of "nature of the offense." To further add the stipulations in this bill will decrease the number even further. The purpose of parole is to give individuals who has rehabilitated and pose no threat to community safety an opportunity to be released. By changing the parole hearings from annually to every 3 years only stimulates the already overcrowded mass incarceration within the VADOC. And allowing the court transcription to be reviewed is the person being convicted all over again. A person going before the parole board should be viewed for who they are today and not who there were at the time of the offense. This bill is poisonous and I hope the committee votes against it.

I come to you as not only the Director of the VACFSY but as a loved one of an incarcerated individual in the VADOC. I am speaking AGAINST HB435. Not just for my loved one but for the thousands of individual's who are serving extreme harsh unconstitutional sentences in VA. Parole is an opportunity to prove you have spent your time wisely by staying out of trouble while incarcerated, furthering education, completing programs, tech training and maintaining employment. Virginia made huge strides forward in the last couple of years; slowly gaining our humanity back and remembering that we can all do better. HB435 is a distasteful attempt to take away from all that. It takes away opportunities from some very deserving individuals. This bill is not only ridiculous it goes against the basic fundamentals of the Legislative process. Rarely do you see unanimous votes required. Extending the review time from annually to every 3 years just does not make sense. I believe if Del. Wright has faith in our Governor, than he should not be concerned with tampering with the existing parole board. Our Governor is supposed to appoint a group of diverse individuals who's job is to review an applicant's incarcerated file (not their trial transcripts) to determine if that individual's release is compatible with public safety. This committee should be voting on a bill that reforms the parole board in an effective way that is transparent and clear for the public and the applicant to know exactly what is necessary to be granted parole. I firmly believe that if we could form a board made up of individual's who represents the victim(s), law enforcement, legislators, lawyers, previously incarcerated individual, a loved one of someone incarcerated, a victims advocate and a justice advocate we would make history. We would have a clear cut guideline so there would never be this unnecessary drama about if the previous board did anything wrong because there would be checks and balances . This panel would create a new code together, not unanimously but by voting just as you will today where the most votes win. If you pass HB435 it will end up COSTING TAX PAYERS MILLIONS!! Imagine the cost in obtaining and reviewing every single transcript! Come on. HB435 is unethical, uneconomical & unnecessary. It just doesn't make sense. Del. Wright...this time you are WRONG! I urge you all to VOTE AGAINST HB435!! Thank you for your time. Respectfully Jana White

Please vote no on this bill HB435 - Wright “Any discussion of potential reforms in Virginia’s parole system must start with the recognition that parole is a societal good. A decision to grant parole recognizes the successful rehabilitation of a prisoner. In other words, a parole grant is the result of the penal system (Department of Corrections) functioning as we want it to.” - from a 2021 report by law professors Bruck, Donovan and Engle and the Washington and Lee University School of Law’s “Parole Presentation Project” Virginia is one of a minority of states that offers no parole for those incarcerated after 1995 escept for juveniles and Fishback cases. Our newly elected Attorney General has stated that no person with a life sentence should be granted parole. According to a February 17, 2021 Richmond Times Dispatch article, 4,239 Virginia inmates are currently serving life sentences with the possibility of parole; 1,628 are serving life without parole; and 1,326 are serving virtual life sentences of 50 years or more. In all, the number of Virginia inmates serving life has increased 90% from 1970 to 2020, according to the Times. Is this level of incarceration really in our Commonwealth’s best interest? Should a parole board make it ever more difficult for deserving prisoners to be released and given a second chance to become productive, taxpaying members of the labor force? who have been infraction-free for decades and have demonstrated thoroughly changed behavior? We need an active and open parole board offering appropriate releases for deserving inmates, and in light of the escalating medical and other costs of incarcerating a growing number of elderly and infirm people behind bars who have “aged out of crime.”

House Bill 435 I vote NO. to change the parole bill for unanimously voting. There always has to be some yays and some Nays... you can't make it like a jury duty where everyone has to agree because some of them people that don't agree or afraid to stand up.

I am writing to strongly oppose HB 435 Parole Board Powers and Duties. There are over 2,500 "Old Law" parole eligible people behind bars in Virginia. Many have gone through the parole process more than 15 times. The parole board of recent years has been granting parole to less than 6% of those eligible to apply. To require the decision to grant parole be agreed to unanimously by the board members is condemning them to never receiving parole. This in practice abolishes parole before 1995 as well as after 1995. This is unconscionable. Added to this travesty, the bill only makes them eligible to apply every 3 years instead of every year as it is currently. Please do the only just and humane thing and VOTE NO against HB 435.

One reason the rate of incarceration in Virginia is incredibly high is that parole has been restricted for many years. There are persons being held prisoner, especially older persons who could be moved out of prison immediately if not for overly restrictive parole policies. Please vote NO on HB 435. This bill would only further restrict parole. Instead, please work to *expand* parole. Mandate that the Parole Board meet more often, that they hear an application from each eligible person every year (OR MORE frequently), and that they consider (as their main consideration) whether the applicant would present any danger to society. The Virginia Parole Board must help to move persons OUT of incarceration; we cannot afford to let so many of our community members remain incarcerated! Few applicants for parole could be considered "dangerous" to society; get them OUT of our expensive carceral facilities. Any parole board member who tries to deny parole to eligible applicants for reasons other than "danger to society" should be immediately replaced. Virginia cannot afford to keep restricting parole.

I am writing to ask that the committee vote against HB435. While the percentage of inmates granted parole in Virginia in 2021 was already abysmal, this egregious bill seeks to keep even more people in prison for longer durations of time. Bills like this do not serve the purpose of keeping violent criminals off the streets; they create seemingly hopeless situations for people who have made positive changes and are more than capable of being productive members of society. We cannot continue to warehouse human beings.

This is so absurd, there are people who have been incarcerated since teenagers for non life taking crimes and have drastic changes that deserve a chance at parole and for it to change to every 3 years is ridiculous!!! What if it was your family member? Vote NO

Good evening, I am writing to ask that you please block HB435 in regards to parole. Virginia has been bogged down since the 90s relentlessly in regards to incarceration since we have all but eliminated parole in it’s entirety. I ask that you please stop passing bills that make it harder for people to not only have second chances, but to return home to those that love & need them. Right now in the state of VA there are over 4,000 inmates that are serving life sentences. That’s 1 in every 7 offenders. Now that Chadwick Dotson (who was one of the judges who sentenced inmates to death for the first time in years) is leading the board—Justice is a far cry from what this state serves. Again, please vote against HB435. Respectfully, Leticia Taylor

My Husband and I oppose this Bill. My husband is incarcerated in Sussex II. He has been there 24 years this month. It is not fair to the inmates that follow the rules and are model inmates to have to wait 3 years to see the parole board again if denied. My Husband Jason Gregory will still continue to follow all of the rules of course but why continue to waste money keeping a model inmate incarcerated for another 3 years when you can review his actions and behavior after a year if denied. Of course you need to review the case as to why a person was sent to prison in the first place. But do not make them wait for another 3 years for a decision. Some people deserve second chances. You can see by their institutional record by their behavior and actions while being incarcerated if they deserve to be released. Thank you for your time

Reasons to SUPPORT HB 517 Virginia’s Chief Resilience Officer is the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources, but the responsibilities reside in the Public Safety section of the Code of Virginia. This proposal simply moves the position to the Natural and Historic Resources Secretariat within the Code of Virginia and clarifies the duties. HB 517 is included in a comprehensive suite of bills proposed by the Chesapeake Bay Commission intended to integrate statewide flooding and resilience planning and implementation across the Commonwealth. Specifically, this bill: Would provide that the Chief Resilience Officer shall oversee development and implementation of the Virginia Flood Protection Master Plan and the Virginia Coastal Protection Master Plan. Clarifies the scope of responsibilities from sea level rise to resilience and adaptation. Would require reporting to the Governor and the General Assembly on the status of flood resilience in the Commonwealth every two years. The report shall serve as an evaluation of flood protection for critical infrastructure, including human and natural infrastructure. The report shall identify risks to critical transportation, energy, communication, water and food supply, waste management, health, and emergency services infrastructure. The report shall also include the status of flood resilience planning.

The City of Portsmouth supports this bill. Please support. Thank you

We are in strong support of this bill which clarifies and expands the role of the Chief Resilience Officer (CRO). This legislation puts the CRO in the middle of policy decisions on resilience across government. be in charge of the Virginia Flood Protection Master Plan and the Coastal Resilience Master Plan, and has the CRO issue a report on the state of the Commonwealth's resilience efforts. With this legislation Virginia will continue to make progress on addressing its flooding issues.

I am respectfully asking you vote to reinstate preemption.

Please support HB 827, Delegate Wilt, which repeals the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. This puts preemption back as it was in from 2004 to early 2020.

Friends of the Rappahannock supports HB 517. We believe it is important to ensure that the Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) is housed in the correct Secretariat and that the duties of the CRO are clarified and codified into law.

Protect gun rights. I am a female home he’s nurse that has almost been a victim of assault at least 2 times. I see patients with mental and physical issues and I need to be able to protect myself. One of my patients tried to put me in a shed and the other was a known homicidal/suicidal with multiple antipsychotic medication and was able to find out my birthday and text me a happy birthday message despite being blocked and discharged as a patient. I am also an instructor and there have been times when I felt threatened in the classroom and clinicals. Times are changing and people are having difficulty controlling themselves and oftentimes act out impulsively which results in injury and sometimes death to others. As a health care provider and instructor, I urge you not to ban guns in public buildings, schools and parks. Also, I request that you vote to repeal the red flag law and stop hiding anti gun legislation in bulky bills that none of you seem to have time to read. Stop and think about your actions towards your constituents. You are acting against us, not for us. I pray that you wake up and cut the lobbyists puppet strings. Stand up for us and stop taking our rights away. Thank you, Patricia Wright

Reasons to SUPPORT HB 517 • Virginia’s Chief Resilience Officer is the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources, but the responsibilities reside in the Public Safety section of the Code of Virginia. This proposal simply moves the position to the Natural and Historic Resources Secretariat within the Code of Virginia and clarifies the duties. • HB 517 is included in a comprehensive suite of bills proposed by the Chesapeake Bay Commission intended to integrate statewide flooding and resilience planning and implementation across the Commonwealth. Specifically, this bill: • Would provide that the Chief Resilience Officer shall oversee development and implementation of the Virginia Flood Protection Master Plan and the Virginia Coastal Protection Master Plan. Clarifies the scope of responsibilities from sea level rise to resilience and adaptation. Would require reporting to the Governor and the General Assembly on the status of flood resilience in the Commonwealth every two years. The report shall serve as an evaluation of flood protection for critical infrastructure, including human and natural infrastructure. The report shall identify risks to critical transportation, energy, communication, water and food supply, waste management, health, and emergency services infrastructure. The report shall also include the status of flood resilience planning.

Comments Document

Please support HB517. Comments attached.

On behalf of nearly 10,000 Soldiers, Airmen, Retirees and the Families of the Virginia National Guard, I urge you to support House Bill 642 introduced by Delegate Carr. As many of you have witness over the course of this month alone, the Virginia National Guard is "Always Ready!" and is "Always There!" Whether it be cutting trees and clearing roads following snow storms in Louisa and Tazwell Counties, or pulling stranded travelers from snow impacted roads in Accomack, the "Commonwealth's Guardian" proudly serves our communities. However, during unique situations where Virginia National Guard Soldiers and Airmen are placed in a state-response status, known as State Active Duty, they are enrolled on state payroll. They receive compensation equivalent to their Federal military pay grade. But in the tragic and rare event that Soldiers or Airmen become injured while serving under SAD conditions, they are without healthcare. As we learned during the first days and weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Virginia National Guard was unable to commit forces to alleviate the strain on healthcare services, support nursing and long-term care facilities, and food banks until Federal funding was made available-- which included access to healthcare. Passing this bill removes the Commonwealth's reliance on the Federal government and increases the ability of the Virginia National Guard to respond to whatever 2022 brings. Thank you for your consideration! Very Respectfully, Andrew J. Czaplicki, Maj., U.S. Army President, Virginia National Guard Association

I am respectfully asking you vote to reinstate preemption.

Please support HB 827, Delegate Wilt, which repeals the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. This puts preemption back as it was in from 2004 to early 2020.

Protect gun rights. I am a female home he’s nurse that has almost been a victim of assault at least 2 times. I see patients with mental and physical issues and I need to be able to protect myself. One of my patients tried to put me in a shed and the other was a known homicidal/suicidal with multiple antipsychotic medication and was able to find out my birthday and text me a happy birthday message despite being blocked and discharged as a patient. I am also an instructor and there have been times when I felt threatened in the classroom and clinicals. Times are changing and people are having difficulty controlling themselves and oftentimes act out impulsively which results in injury and sometimes death to others. As a health care provider and instructor, I urge you not to ban guns in public buildings, schools and parks. Also, I request that you vote to repeal the red flag law and stop hiding anti gun legislation in bulky bills that none of you seem to have time to read. Stop and think about your actions towards your constituents. You are acting against us, not for us. I pray that you wake up and cut the lobbyists puppet strings. Stand up for us and stop taking our rights away. Thank you, Patricia Wright

Return us to preemption. Enough of the infringements on our right to self protection.

Please offer my suggestion that HB827 should be supported. Having local governmental sub-divisions be able to pass laws that are contrary to those passed by the state invites chaos. Citizens become subject to laws which they cannot reasonably be aware of as they pass through various jurisdictions and law enforcement in various jurisdictions become responsible for enforcing sometimes conflicting laws. This is all in addition to the natural law which suggests that all organisms, including human beings, have the expectation of being able to defend themselves against attack. The right to have an effective means of exercising that right suggests that persons should not be prevented from being effectively armed wherever they might be. Thank you. Respectfully submitted, Sgt. Jeffrey Weiss, Ret.

The lack of uniformity by permitting local restrictions creates legal mine field for law abiding citizens. Please support the repeal of permitting local jurisdictions to enact local firearms restrictions.

I encourage restoration of the preemption as it was from 2004 to early 2020 through the repeal of the 2020 provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events.

I urge passage of this bill. Gun violence is NOT the result of concealed carry by law-abiding citizens, regardless of the venue.

In complete support of 827. Thank you.

I support this bill. Let's pass it .

The City of Portsmouth respecfully requests that you oppose this bill. Currently we do not have any local ordinances related to legally carrying firearms in recreation centers or city park property; however, if this bill is passed, it takes away the authority of any locality to do so if they wanted to. With the current increase in gun violence, the City of Portsmouth would not be better served by supporting this bill. Not supporting the bill means our governing body has the ability to make the decision for ourselves. Localities should be able to determine if guns should be permitted. They are not allowed in schools. They should be prohibited from the Children's Museum of Virginia, which at this time they are not. Even though we have a right to bear arms, the constitution doesn't say we have a right to bear them everywhere. This bill is just wrong.

This bill gives local government officials free rein to pass laws and regulations based on their personal agendas with no regard for their constituents. Allowing a patchwork of gun laws to proliferate across the state opens the door to citizens becoming accidental criminals. The only course that makes sense is a statewide uniform law in every respect. The mobility of citizens in the Commonwealth demands this uniformity.

I support HB827, as it empowers women, the handicapped and other marginalized groups with the ability of self defense.

I am a female, civilian forensic examiner. I am 4'10" tall. I often present the most damning evidence against terrorists, fraudsters, gangs, and organized crime in open court. I am not permitted to carry on the job (because I am not a police officer or special agent). Now, that my county has banned firearms in parks, trails, and other county property, I have completely re-designed my daily routine. I now avoid those areas to get my daily exercise (up to 4.5 miles of walking/running). I now have to unnecessarily handle my self-defense tool to enter the courthouse, government buildings, and parks where there are NO security guards or metal detectors. Some of the criminals who threatened me when they were convicted, have been released from prison based on bad covid policies. Recently, an arsonist set fire to a neighbor's home - I can't help but wonder if they thought it was my house... My visible firearm (which remained holstered the whole time) previously resulted in attackers observing the firearm, shouting "she has a gun", and running in the opposite direction. I KNOW my firearm saved my life without taking any other lives or injuring anyone. Please restore consistency of the law in all Virginia jurisdictions AND our right to life (including the right to defend my life).

Dear Honorable Sirs and Madams: I am a Virginian voter who is FOR the passage of any and all bills, including HB827, that allow any and all Virginians our rights back, as they were prior to the last session's anti-2nd Amendment Right bills that were passed, that took away the Rights to go certain places with a firearm, carried by a lawful firearm owner with a concealed carry permit or otherwise, anywhere! All that the restrictions have done is to make it easier for criminals to do what they want to do, Virginia having had a spike in crimes since last session's anti-2nd Amendment Rights bills were passed! These bills need to be righted/redacted by bills such as Assemblyman Wilt's bill, HB827, would start to allow Virginians to do, again; to be able to exercise our inherent rights and to be able to go where we want to go, without restriction, and to be able to exercise our inherent 2nd Amendment Rights. Thank you for your time.

I am a long time resident in Fairfax County, VA with my wife and 3 children. My utmost concern and duty as a productive citizen and member of society is to keep my family safe, secure and protected. I support HB827. Thank you, Darab

Honorable Delegate Wilt: Please restore preemption to Virginia firearm legislation. I find it COMPLETELY absurd that Virginia allowed firearm law to be bastardized. There must exist a consistency across the Commonwealth to avert honest citizens becoming criminals simply by they traversing some unknown and imaginary boundary. On another note, Virginia, if only by virtue of its grand history, should be a constitutional carry state. Repeal the CHP, such is taxation and authorization by government of a Constitutional Right. A government that fears lawful citizens is up to nefarious deeds. Respectfully, TB Roberts Lexington

Support HB827 and restore our universal human right of self defense to ALL people. I strongly encourage the House Public Safety Committee to vote in support of this bill. ALL Virginians have the right to defend ourselves anywhere and everywhere. This is a basic human right- the right to self defense. Gun control (today called “gun safety” laws) has its roots in America’s and Virginia’s history of slavery to prevent enslaved peoples the right to carry arms. Gun control is racist and gun control disenfranchises women, blacks and other minorities from protecting themselves and their families in parks and other public places. GUN CONTROL IS RACIST AND EVIL.

Dear Honorable Subcommittee members, I'm writing to urge you to consider and support HB 827, Delegate Wilt, which repeals the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. These provisions that were adopted in the past few years have made our family, and the general law-abding public less safe and more susceptible to criminals. They most be repealled. I along with my wife and two daughters have personally witnessed a violent assault in a crowded public park in the past year. The police arrived several minutes after the violent encounter had occurred and ended,, with the criminals escaping. Under the current law, we and any member of the law-abiding public would be breaking the law if we defended our lives with firearms. Thank you, Faheem Darab

Dear Representatives, I am a Virginia resident who holds a concealed carry permit. I support reinstating Virginia's firearm preemption law. Allowing localities to make firearm laws independent of State law puts legal firearm owners at peril of running afoul of a local ordinance of which they may not be fully aware, putting them in danger of prosecution for an innocent error. This seems seems inherently unjust and demands that whatever county or municipality I travel to or even simply through, I must study the laws in all of them in order to keep myself from possible arrest. This also makes it unlikely I would want to visit or vacation in those places. As a CHP holder I have already been deemed trustworthy by the State and cannot understand the rationale of these ordinances. They literally do nothing to prevent anyone bent on mayhem from preventing it, but they do place an unjust burden on anyone that wants to legally carry for self-defense. I respectfully ask you to reinstate the preemption law and I thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Bruce R. Michie

Dear Representatives, I am a Virginia resident who holds a concealed carry permit. I support reinstating Virginia's firearm preemption law. Allowing localities to make firearm laws independent of State law puts legal firearm owners at peril of running afoul of a local ordinance of which they may not be fully aware, putting them in danger of prosecution for an innocent error. This seems seems inherently unjust and demands that whatever county or municipality I travel to or even simply through, I must study the laws in all of them in order to keep myself from possible arrest. This also makes it unlikely I would want to visit or vacation in those places. As a CHP holder I have already been deemed trustworthy by the State and cannot understand the rationale of these ordinances. They literally do nothing to prevent anyone bent on mayhem from preventing it, but they do place an unjust burden on anyone that wants to legally carry for self-defense. I respectfully ask you to reinstate the preemption law and I thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Bruce R. Michie

I request that you move HB827 forward and let the people speak through our Congress. Sincerely, Ronald E. Searle

Please oppose HB 827 Wilt. Citizens in Albemarle have called for prohibition of guns and for safer government spaces for years. There was large support for the adoption of our gun ban, and for allowing a gun owner to lock his weapon in a vehicle before entering the building or park. The gun owner's rights are not reduced. When an individual carrying a gun enters a meeting room, a public hearing or in our parklands, others feel threatened and leave. This removes their right to participate in government process or to enjoy the recreation facilities provided. I have not heard one complaint from any citizen I represent since our ban was adopted. Please vote to keep this local government decision making authorized. Thank you for your consideration of my views. Ann Mallek White Hall district supervisor Albemarle County.

I support HB827 and encourage the House Public Safety Committee to vote in support of this bill. Virginians have the right to defend ourselves anywhere and everywhere. This is a basic human right- the right to self defense.

I am a Richmond city resident that happens to live close to and visits regularly the Pony Pasture Park as well as other parks in the James River Park system which currently prohibits firearms thanks to City Of Richmond Board of Super users. First of all this is clearly a 2A infringent which in and of itself makes this ‘law’ unlawful on its face. From a common sense standpoint I find it absurd that this city government would choose to unlawfully curtail ones ability to self defense in the most isolated locations in the city such as the James River Parks where the need for self defense is far more probable than for instance in front of the police station downtown. And again it’s painfully obvious but I’ll state it anyway- it’s impractical and unreasonable to expect Virginians to know all the local gun laws passed by municipal governments throughout Virginia- it simply is neither fair nor reasonable to expect Virginia’s to know and be able to negotiate the multitude of regulations that vary as one crosses city, town, or county lines throughout the Commonwealth. Repeal this foolish law immediately and restore the sole authority of creating any laws pertaining to firearms to the State Legislature. Regards, Neil Wolfe

Do away with all restrictive gun laws. Restrictive gun laws only help criminals and make the public less safe. Take a park for instance a bad guy with a gun start shooting and an honest citizen without a gun cannot defend himself or others. Allow the honest guy to have a gun in these places may save many lives even children and grand-children. Defend the 2nd!

I strongly support this bill (HB 827). Premeption has worked very well for more than 16 years. The Web of Entrapment created by allowing local government bodies to set their own boundaries restricting firearms carry by law abiding citizens, who freely transit between localities, does nothing to reduce violent crime. Those who believe that designating certain areas as gun-free zones makes the citizenry safer are deluding themselves. Criminals ignore such prohibitions, leaving the law abiding citizens who observe them vulnerable to predatory crimes of opportunity. Disarming good people does not make anyone safer; it only creates victims. Please support this vital piece of legislation. Thank you.

We need to get rid of the patchwork system of local laws. What we had before worked fine and there was no need to replace it. Since the change crime has increased as the number of defenseless victims has also.

Regarding HB 827, Delegate Wilt, I support the bill to repeal the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. This bill puts preemption back as it was in from 2004 to early 2020, during which time it provided for clear and consistent laws.

Please pass this bill and end the labyrinth of local laws that do nothing to protect people from criminals.

Comments Document

OPPOSE H.B. 827 (Wilt): This bill would prohibit localities from making decisions about public safety by preventing them from limiting guns on their properties and at permitted events. It would provide the gun industry with unusual commercial product liability immunity, and increase the number of guns in circulation by requiring guns acquired in a buy-back to be sold. The presence of guns at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville 2017 that lead to the murder of one young woman created a dangerous and volatile situation. Wisely, in 2021, Virginia allowed local governments to prohibit guns at permitted events and on their properties when they believed doing so was in the interest of public safety. This bill would repeal this newly enacted law and prevent local governments from making public safety decisions. This bill would also prohibit lawsuits against the gun industry, providing guns with immunity enjoyed by no other commercial product. Civil liability plays an important role in injury prevention. Dangerous products and careless industry practices are normally held in check by the possibility of civil litigation that enables injured individuals to recover monetarily. This bill would eliminate those state-level checks and balances on the gun industry. Finally, this bill would increase the number of guns in circulation by requiring guns acquired from a buy-back to be sold instead of destroyed. There are already more guns than people in the United States and such extraordinary numbers of and easy access to guns is the reason the US stands apart from peer nations in gun violence. For these reasons, I strongly urge you to vote no on HB 827.

Any form of gun control is simply meant as people control, unconstitutional and against our natural God given rights. It hurts law abiding citizens and helps criminals. Vote for HB-127 to repeal these criminally unconstitutional gun/people control laws.

As a private citizen, I request support for this bill. The 2nd amendment was placed there to secure our right to bear arms and it should not be infringed upon! Everytime a law is passed to restrict this right, it is an infringement. We are free from tyrants because we have guns! That is why it was placed in the Bill of Rights. We have the right to protect ourselves. The bad guys will always have guns.

To restrict lawful concealed carry of a firearm in such public areas merely informs the criminal of where to hunt for a victim. People with unlawful intent seek easy prey and do not adhere to laws that restrict firearms. For example: What is a better place to rob or rape someone than a public park in a secluded area? Law abiding citizens deserve the right to be able protect/defend themselves and their family in public places, including state owned (citizen owned) public property and events on such property. Making It lawful for law abiding citizens to conceal carry also deters criminals from assuming people to be easy target/prey in such places. I strongly urge and request that HR827 be supported and passed in support of the safety of Virginia law abiding citizens and to assist in deterring criminal attacks on Virginia citizens on public property. Such consideration would also provide increased perception of safety for the public to visit such locations vice avoid the potential of becoming another victim. Respectfully,

As a citizen of Virginia I strongly support the restoration of firearm preemption. My right to bear arms should not be subject to the whim of 120+ localities. It is bad enough that I am not free to exercise my rights across the entire nation. Gun control laws, and gun free zones in particular, are useless at best and fatal at worst. Just 4 years ago this year a man committed mass murder in a Virginia Beach government building. That building was a gun free zone for employees, which the murderer was. The murderer was not prevented from using a gun to murder. Rather the prohibition on employees carrying a firearm cost lives. One of the victims that day had a Virginia concealed handgun permit (CHP) and discussed carrying her firearm to work with her husband the night before the attack. She decided to follow the rules/laws prohibiting her from carrying her firearm despite her concern for her own safety. Ultimately, that decision to follow the rules/laws regarding carrying a firearm in her office cost her life. Gun free zones (GFZs) do not, and actually cannot, stop or prevent murderers from using a firearm to commit their crimes. Time and time again we have seen that murderers LIKE GFZs. Over 90% of all mass murders in the USA since the 1960s committed with a firearm have been in GFZs. Not once has a GFZ saved a single life. Any person intent on murdering fellow human beings will not give even a passing thought to a GFZ sign yet good and law abiding citizens will leave the best self defense tool currently in existence, a firearm, at home or in their car. A further problem with GFZs is that law abiding citizens will be forced to leave their firearm behind, most likely in their car, where it is much easier to steal than when on the citizen's person. You may find the research and statistics that corroborate my statements on gun control in general, and GFZs in particular, from the following 2 websites: Crime Prevention Research Center - http://crimeresearch.org/ Gun Facts - http://www.gunfacts.info/ “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” -Ben Franklin My safety is my job protecting our liberty is your only job. Jay McDaniel 3451 Francis Street Petersburg, VA. 23805

With the weakening of preemption in 2020, the law-abiding gun owners of many of Virginia's cities suffered major infringements of their right to arms. I am writing to urge that you act to protect the rights of all Virginians and all Americans, to protect themselves and their loved ones, no matter where in the Commonwealth they may find themselves, by supporting Delegate Wilt's HB827 today.

Allowing individual localities to make ordinances regarding carrying firearms, ammunition, etc. creates a patchwork of different laws that is impossible for ordinary citizens to maintain knowledge of and honor. This puts a chill on the second amendment right of law abiding citizens preventing them from exercising their rights for fear of accidentally running afoul of some unknown ordinance while criminals will not be deterred by any laws or ordinances. Please pass HB 827.

To restrict lawful concealed carry of a firearm in such public areas merely informs the criminal of where to hunt for a victim. People with unlawful intent seek easy prey and do not adhere to laws that restrict firearms. For example: What is a better place to rob or rape someone than a public park in a secluded area? Law abiding citizens deserve the right to be able protect/defend themselves and their family in public places, including state owned (citizen owned) public property and events on such property. Making It lawful for law abiding citizens to conceal carry also deters criminals from assuming people to be easy target/prey in such places. I strongly urge and request that HR827 be supported and passed in support of the safety of Virginia law abiding citizens and to assist in deterring criminal attacks on Virginia citizens on public property. Such consideration would also provide increased perception of safety for the public to visit such locations vice avoid the potential of becoming another victim. Respectfully,

Local gun control has taken a step backward with zero reason. The patchwork of conflicting and confusing laws that now exist mirror the early 2000s and the only people impacted are law abiding citizens. Preemption was put in place to level the law across the state. There were never any issued caused by this leveling but in the last couple of years we have fallen back to the confusing and conflicting local laws of the past. The state does not have different licensing requirements from county to county for drivers licensing. Why do we have confusing local laws for a Constitutionally GUARANTEED RIGHT? Bring back preemption. Stop treating firearms owners like criminals.

Allowing each town or county to issue laws creates a patch work of laws that can be difficult to find and understand turning someone doing what is right into a criminal. If this is way we are going to govern then what do we need the state for? It's one thing if we are talking just a fine but making someone a criminal for simply driving from one town to another is not correct.

I urge the GA to pass this bill so that law abiding gun owners aren't inadvertently violating Virginia's current patchwork of "no gun" zones. Law abiding gun owners used to have nothing to fear about carrying firearms lawfully because Virginia basically had blanket gun carry laws. As it stands now, a law abiding concealed carry person could be within the law while carrying in many parts of the City of Richmond but turns a corner into an area designated as a "permitted event" or worse something that should have been permitted (???) and is now in violation of a law ordinance prohibiting the lawful from carrying a concealed or openly carried firearm. This same situation is now possible in other areas of the state also. Lawful firearm owners have never been the problem in this state or any other. Instead of barring the lawful from their God given rights how about the GA focus on punishing the unlawful and make The Commonwealth a more safe place for everyone? Do your jobs please General Assembly members. I write this as a current 25 year law enforcement officer in Virginia.

I expect you to support HB 827, Delegate Wilt, which repeals the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. This puts preemption back as it was in from 2004 to early 2020.

I urge the Committee to pass HB 827, proposed by Delegate Wilt. The bill enacted by the previous General Assembly that allows localities to prohibit firearms in certain public spaces has been a nightmare. A number of localities have taken advantage of this law, and the result has been the creation of a patchwork of gun prohibitions that leave honest, law-abiding citizens in the dark about when and where they may legally carry a firearm for their own protection. In traveling from jurisdiction to jurisdiction in the Commonwealth, such a citizen may not be aware they are entering a locality with completely different restrictions than the locality from which they came. The only ones who benefit from the current law are criminals, who do not care about restrictions on carrying firearms and see such areas as "target-rich environments" filled with unarmed victims. The ones who truly suffer from the current law are law-abiding citizens who carry firearms for their protection but no longer can do so legally, and those who do not carry but find themselves the targets of criminals who do not care about the law. Please pass HB 827; it is the very definition of "common sense" gun legislation.

I urge you to consider supporting this bill which will remove the ability of local governments from implementing a patchwork of confusing and inconsistent firearm prohibitions that so far have done nothing to increase public safety.

Hello This is to all whom support gun control. Ask yourself this question. If you were somewhere in a park , library .etc. and there was a criminal ready to do harm and no police were available it is a possibility there would be a citizen with a firearm to defend there family , you or any other citizen. would you like for that gun owner citizen to offer self defense to citizens including you within that area ? The gun owner who can carry would be saving lives. But if they are carry restricted then there is no help available. Police are stretched thin. They cannot be everywhere at once. Ask yourself this question with honesty about a fellow citizen helping you in time of danger. God bless you

Hello This is to all whom support gun control. Ask yourself this question. If you were somewhere in a park , library .etc. and there was a criminal ready to do harm and no police were available it is a possibility there would be a citizen with a firearm to defend there family , you or any other citizen. would you like for that gun owner citizen to offer self defense to citizens including you within that area ? The gun owner who can carry would be saving lives. But if they are carry restricted then there is no help available. Police are stretched thin. They cannot be everywhere at once. Ask yourself this question with honesty about a fellow citizen helping you in time of danger. God bless you

I strongly urge passing HB827 to repeal the provision allowing local governments to prohibit guns in parks, government centers, etc. As a misguided solution without a problem, it purposefully created an odious patchwork across Virginia. A small section of the citizenry irrationally fearing firearms does not justify impeding my, and others’, Constitutional right to protect ourselves and our families wherever we are. Pass HB827.

Hello This is to all whom support gun control. Ask yourself this question. If you were somewhere in a park , library .etc. and there was a criminal ready to do harm and no police were available it is a possibility there would be a citizen with a firearm to defend there family , you or any other citizen. would you like for that gun owner citizen to offer self defense to citizens including you within that area ? The gun owner who can carry would be saving lives. But if they are carry restricted then there is no help available. Police are stretched thin. They cannot be everywhere at once. Ask yourself this question with honesty about a fellow citizen helping you in time of danger. God bless you

I will be brief since I know the committee is busy. I fully support HB827. Restore state preemption and do away with local restrictions on firearms. The local restrictions are uneven, hard to know, hard to keep track of and do nothing but create uncertainty. They do not make anyone safer! Please support HB827. Thank you

Good afternoon The legislation being considered would remove earlier legislation that is, to me, one of the worst pieces to come out of Virginia government in the 31 years I've lived in the Commonwealth. I understand, and agree, with the need to curb "gun violence" but this is hardly going to have any effect on the problem. What it really does is put me personally at risk of becoming a convicted criminal without any action except being in the wrong place without realizing it. I am a non criminal, non violent concealed handgun permit holder (CHP) who usually doesn't have a gun on my person but does have one in my vehicle most of the time. I got my permit in 2020 after seeing what was transpiring in our cities including to a lesser extent the city of Roanoke. I live in Roanoke County but I no longer shop or go into the City of Roanoke because I am unsure of city law and if I forgot to remove my gun from my vehicle I could face serious criminal issues. It just isn't worth the legal risk to do so. I find myself very concerned when I travel through Virginia that I will inadvertently pass into an area the that local government has deemed a prohibited zone. Sure signage is supposed to be installed but when I'm driving I can and do occasionally a sign. Since the courts in general have long decided that ignorance of the law is no excuse I have to be concerned with unintentionally becoming a criminal. I can't possibly keep up with all of the local laws that have been passed since the original bill put into law and to expect me to is so ridiculous. I think that one of the reasons our legal system has worked for so long is consistency. Most laws of major importance are enforced at state level but our current legislation allows any local government body to put any firearm laws into place that they want to. Any sense of consistency of gun laws in Virginia is gone. If allowing local government to limit where I can possess a firearm would have a positive affect on the issue of "gun violence" I would be strongly in favor of it. Experience has proven that it doesn't. The people committing the violence and crime are hardly going to follow these laws; common sense should tell you that. Please bring HB 827 to a full vote. Thank you. Gregory Asquith Roanoke County

Please support this bill to repeal all local gun control! We need consistent laws across the state and we need families to be able to protect themselves. Thank you.

Please advance Bill HB827. Today's Virginia state law creates a patchwork that is very difficult for Virginians to navigate. Traveling out of your hometown just to a neighboring city can lead to accidently committing a crime. Out of state visitors (tourists) find it nearly impossible to understand what rules are in place at any particular time or location. Please restore our state to a unified and easily understood structure. Thank you! Larry D McKinney

Support HB827 to unify and thereby simplify firearms restrictions throughout the Commonwealth, as we had for years. The current situation with multiple localities having enacted various restrictions is an intolerable and confusing mess for citizens wishing to lawfully carry a firearm. We had to learn the state law and comply with the law while traveling into various jurisdictions- confident that we were in compliance. Now under the current confusing mess, a conscientious citizen must worry and second guess the legality of carry IN EVERY location visited, planned to be visited, or inadvertently visited during any particular day's travel. This amounts to a major "GOTCHA" that is unnecessarily burdensome for the average law respecting citizen. Please exercise the rational judgment to return the law to the common-sense status ante by passing HB827, thereby resuming preemption authority for the state legislature. Doing so will fix the current problem of a confusing patchwork of local laws and resume the fine system we knew and understood for years without compliance difficulties. PLEASE PASS HB827. Thank you.

“local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. “ I pay for all the things listed above yet I’m denied the right to defend myself in such. I wore the uniform of the US Navy for 6 years defending that which these laws revoke. I was handed a Colt 1911 on my first ship in Norfolk to guard that I had and never did receive training on. You couldn’t pay me to walk in downtown Norfolk at night today. That’s SOP for those 18-20 years old even today in the military. The wording in many local ordinances are ridiculously vague. Just what possibly could go wrong with wording like “should have permitted events” there? What are citizens that hold and carry firearms for protection here, second or third class? You ban the carrying of arms by the Police there? One Constitution, one citizenry if that is to have meaning any longer. I’ve paid Virginia income taxes since the 1960s and this how I’m treated.

As with all "gun control" measures or laws, they are completely useless. Criminals do not care about them, period. You will never stop someone who wants to harm people, without using equal or greater force. Unless you are prepared to search every single person entering a certain area, it is useless. For this simple reason alone HB827 should be passed and repeal the unconstitutional and useless restrictions on guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. These are political attacks on legal gun owners in an attempt to restrict the rights of the people to KEEP and BEAR arms!

Thank you Delegate. Wilt fo caring about gun owners rights , God bless

I support this bill, which redresses an unfair and impractical constraint on lawful concealed handgun carry. Once an applicant has passed a background check, they should not be constrained from carrying anywhere in the Commonwealth. People should not be expected to memorize myriad different regulations of local communities to be able to exercise their fundamental constitutional right to self defense.

Please SUPPORT & vote FOR: HB 827. This Bill make sense.

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, I am writing to urge you to vote YES on HB827. The General Assembly afforded localities the ability to restrict lawful carry of firearms--even by citizens who have undergone the extra vetting required to obtain a Concealed Handgun Permit--with the promise that it would make reduce crime and make our communities safer. As I and many of my fellow citizens warned would happen, this promise has failed. Not only has crime NOT dropped across the Commonwealth, it has increased--even in jurisdictions that implemented local gun restrictions. It is time to give up the illusion of safety that "gun-free zones" give the unwary and allow your fellow citizens to provide for real safety for themselves and their loved ones. It is time to remove the patchwork of local ordinances that places our fellow citizens at risk of legal action and potentially deadly encounters with the police for having the temerity to provide for their own defense. It is time for you to vote YES on HB827. Thank you, S. Dawn Heyse Williamsburg, VA

Hello. HB 827. will bring back state preemption. A citizen will not have to guess about local gun control laws in terms of where to carry and when to carry a firearm. It is impossible for a citizen to check each locality for gun laws. Especially if there from out of state. Law enforcement support state preemption. And if they carried off duty they probably could not figure out all of the local gun Laws. This is a major handicap to a Virginia citizen . Ask yourself Why would politicians want to. get rid of state preemption. When it was working so well up until 2020? Yes ,If you look at the record it is mostly Democrats who want more gun control laws. That is sad that democrats do not support citizens guns rights. God bless you for supporting gun owners rights. If you dont know Jesus . Seek Him out , He can be your Savior. That will be the greatest gift you will receive. May God richly bless your

Hello. HB 827. will bring back state preemption. A citizen will not have to guess about local gun control laws in terms of where to carry and when to carry a firearm. It is impossible for a citizen to check each locality for gun laws. Especially if there from out of state. Law enforcement support state preemption. And if they carried off duty they probably could not figure out all of the local gun Laws. This is a major handicap to a Virginia citizen . Ask yourself Why would politicians want to. get rid of state preemption. When it was working so well up until 2020? Yes ,If you look at the record it is mostly Democrats who want more gun control laws. That is sad that democrats do not support citizens guns rights. God bless you for supporting gun owners rights. If you dont know Jesus . Seek Him out , He can be your Savior. That will be the greatest gift you will receive. May God richly bless your

I support HB 827, Delegate Wilt, which repeals the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. This puts preemption back as it was in from 2004 to early 2020.

My work takes me frequently to Northern Virginia from Richmond. Having to figure out in which localities I can legally concealed carry and which localities now make concealed carry illegal is impossible to keep up with. This means that in the performance of my regular work as a health care provider I must travel in communities where I have a legitimate fear for my safety without the ability to defend myself.

Pictures of armed militias are attention-grabbing and frightening, but these individuals don’t speak for the majority of Virginians. These extremists talk a lot about the Second Amendment right. One thing you won’t hear them talking about? Responsibility. These extremists are fixated on using a gun to protect themselves but rarely spare a thought for the individuals who may be killed, injured, or threatened with these guns. I know from my experience in law enforcement that the impact of a shooting lingers long after the crime scene is cleared. Shootings ripple outwards, affecting the victim’s family, community and the police officers themselves, often leaving lasting trauma in their wake.Stronger gun laws aren’t controversial—they’re common sense. Virginia lawmakers took decisive action to save lives last year, and they’re on the verge of doing so again. We can’t let our foot off the gas. This year Virginia legislators are fighting to strengthen domestic violence protections, regulate open carry of firearms at the polls and the Capitol, along with prohibiting ghost guns. Those policies can save lives and prevent intimidation in our democracy—and they’re more relevant now than ever. The horror of the Jan. 6 insurrection could have been so much worse if there were more guns at the Capitol. Virginia’s future will remain bright if legislators preserve the progress made in 2020 and expand on this progress in 2022. A happy, healthy, and safe Commonwealth is one without the weight of gun violence hanging over all of our heads. There’s been enough tragedy, enough suffering. Those who use guns to injure and intimidate others have gotten their way for long enough. Communities like Virginia Beach, disproportionately impacted neighborhoods across the state, and families like the Lorings shouldn’t continue to bear the devastating consequences of political greed and cowardice. Let’s be responsible. Let’s do the right thing. Let’s pass gun safety laws.

Please put preemption back as it was in from 2004 to early 2020. There is a horrible mess already moving through one jurisdiction to the next. One moment one is legal; the next breaking the law if still carrying. This is confusing and dangerous. Thank you.

January 27, 2022. Gun control laws have proven to fail time and time again. Please repeal the gun restriction and allow Virginia gun owners to carry firearms on government property. Criminals do not obey the law.

Dear Sir or Madame Although the police dept does an outstanding here, Newport News does have it's share of crime including car jacking and murder. Here's the pickel. They can't be everywhere at the same time and they don't follow me around where ever I go. At sixty years of age I can pretty much take care of myself, my wife and my two daughters when I'm armed and I am a concealed carry permit holder. I was instructed, educated and trusted with firearms at age ten and can probably out shoot most cops. I'm just getting old in body because of injuries suffered thru what seems like a lifetime of hard work and even harder play. Therefore , I resent any infringement on my second amendment rights and therefore ask that you to consider passing this bill so that I can mind my own business and live life without fear as in Roosevelt's four freedoms Sincerely John Zielanski

Please support HB 827, Delegate Wilt, which repeals the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. This puts preemption back as it was in from 2004 to early 2020.

I support the repealing of HB 827. Many times, my family must travel outside our county to obtain services and/or material goods. The county sticker in the windshield may provide naughty persons with a clue that we are not from the area making us a greater target than if we were local. We believe people should have the choice to arm themselves and that criminals are more respectful to the general populous and less eager to commit a crime when they do not know who is armed.

January 27, 2022. Gun control laws have proven to fail time and time again. Please repeal the gun restriction and allow Virginia gun owners to carry firearms on government property. Criminals do not obey the law.

I am writing in support of the bill HB 827, which will repeal the allowance of local government to prohibit firearms in specified locations and permitted events. We need this bill, as the current provision allows local governments to violate our rights as citizens to keep and bear arms. My county of Albemarle used this provision to ban guns on all property owned or managed by the county, including the park that I visited daily. There was no exception for CCW holders or even storage of the firearm in a locked vehicle. There was no study completed on how many firearm related events occur on county property. There was no valid discussion from the board of supervisors on WHY we needed this ban, it was just decided to do so out of unfounded fear. Even some law enforcement officers in the county agreed this was an unnecessary ban. Even more than being completely unnecessary, it directly violates my right to bear arms and makes the entire community less safe. There are many very rural parks in Albemarle County, places where police can be more than 10-20 minutes away. If I am in the middle of the park walking or getting into my car with few people around, how can I protect myself? We as citizens have a right to self-defense, and this ordinance just took that away by banning firearms. Thus these ordinances by the local governments are largely illegal according to the U.S. and Virginia's constitutions, and must be repealed. This bill removes the ability of these local governments to make unconstitutional laws banning firearms, and leaves us protected in some of the most vulnerable places (like poorly lit, rural parks). I urge you to vote YES for this HB 827 bill, so we can reclaim our 2nd amendment rights and protect our citizens of our Commonwealth.

The power granted to local governments to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events has made my life extremely difficult. I hold a CHP but I cannot visit a dog park in Fairfax County to walk my dog. I can no longer enter virtually any government building from a library to the administrative center anywhere in Northern Virginia. I can't enter a recreation center. I never know when I might stumble into an event that "ought to have been permitted." I simply no longer visit many localities in Northern Virginia because of this nonsense. This bill restricts my right to protect myself as I move about my daily errands and it is a blatant infringement on my rights. These restrictions do nothing to make Virginians safer. I urge you to support this bill to end the current level of insanity across much of the state.

I want to encourage you to support HB827.

CHP holders by definition are responsible adults. Passing laws that treat us as irresponsible children is to put it mildy, INSULTING and DEPLORABLE! Don't pass illegal laws that restrict our U.S. and Virginia Constutional rights!

Dear Delegates of our Commonwealth, As a law-abiding firearms owner, 22-year CHP holder, and professional Armed Security Officer, licensed in Virginia by the DCJS, it is my urgent intention to impress upon all of you the need for support of HB 827. This bill will repeal and thus fix the horrendous problems that our citizenry have faced all across the Commonwealth since the last general assembly repealed the preemption statute. What was created by nullifying that long-standing GOOD law was a confusing and risky hodge-podge patchwork of local, regional laws which restricted firearms and their use. This posed many hazards for gun-owning citizens of Virginia, as we could not know if we were violating some recently passed and obscure regulation merely traveling within the borders of our own state. What the previous General Assembly did was put lawful people, like myself, at risk of unintentionally committing felonies and misdemeanors, often for merely traveling into a neighboring county, city, or town, as is our unfettered right to do! This bill, HB 827, will rectify that awful reality and restore sanity and freedom to the lives of those citizens of Virginia, such as myself, who have always followed the rules, paid our dues, and behaved responsibly with our firearms. Please vote to pass HB 827 into law! Thank You. Sincerely, Ryan S. Bonney Midlothian, VA

Please support HB827 to restore state preemption of local gun control laws, which worked well for over 15 years until 2020. Many lawful Virginia gun owners travel through several jurisdictions regularly, and the current maze of local gun restrictions force them to choose between their ability to defend themselves while traveling or risking a criminal charge, all for no positive impact on public safety, because criminals routinely ignore gun control laws. Thank you.

HB827 - This bill puts preemption back as it was in from 2004 to early 2020. Please vote yes on HB827, which repeals the hostile provision that has allowed local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events.

HB827 is essential to restoring VA citizen's US constitutional rights to own and posses arms to defend themselves from all possible enemies and threats. Current local laws have been enacted to entrap law abiding citizens who are otherwise lawfully carrying their personal protection.

Besides putting the lives of innocent, law abiding people at risk the current provision allowing localities to enact their own gun ordinances leads to more issues with unequal enforcement of laws. There have been several instances of this in Richmond city where White extremists brandishing and even discharging firearms at protests are not arrested while Black people are arrested for just legally carrying. The law as it stands is poorly written, enables discriminatory actions by local governments, violates people's rights and puts their lives in danger. If public safety and equal justice are truly goals of this General Assembly then a vote repealing the ability of localities to enact their own patchwork of discriminatory gun ordinances and restoring state preemption is key.

Please repeal the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns and infringe upon our 2A rights. Return the code back to the pre- 2020 verbiage. It is imperative that the over reach that was approved in the post 2020 timeframe be reversed. Thank you

As a business owner and food truck operator, I encourage you to support HB827 and restore preemption to the state for gun laws. The patchwork quilt of current laws make it impossible for me to defend myself as a law abiding gun owner. Please help protect law abiding citizens by restoring the law that works, HB827. Thank you, Joe Lajoie

I strongly support HB 827. Repealing the patchwork of local gun control in VA. The citizens must be given the ability to protect themselves as the go about their communities and travel in the state. Inconsistent laws endanger citizens and law enforcement. The good people of VA are worth this respect.

I request that the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns be repealed. Preemption existed from 2004 to early 2020 without any issues. Without preemption many LAW abiding citizens are negatively affected by the patch work of disparate and often changing local gun laws. I do not believe this makes Virginia safer but instead ONLY negatively impacts law abiding gun owners and more specifically concealed carry permit(CCP) holders. CCP holders, as you know, already undergo background checks and are of the most law abiding citizens in the State. Please consider this by NOT allowing local government to set gun control laws of their own as the State laws are more clear & consistent and offer much less liability to a law abiding citizen that was unaware of mutating local laws.

Please reinstate the preemption law for gun-control-related ordinances. Enabling localities to enact enforceable firearm codes creates a confusing patchwork of various restrictions across the state. This penalizes lawful CHP holders, not intending to otherwise commit any crime. Thank you for your practical consideration.

I would like you to vote for HB827- to undo some of the damage done in the past. The Constitution clearly states "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" and any "Rule, Law, Ordinance" that imposes any stance other than the ability to own and bear Arms, is infringing on the rights of the people and in direct violation of the Constitution. I would like to also point out that many people tought school shootings, mass shootings and Crime as a reason to impose on the 2nd ammendment. The FBI facts alone, prove them wrong. Criminals don't follow the law, so telling them they can't have one in this place or that place doesn't change anything. It prevents the law abiding citizen from defending themselves and others against the criminal that is shooting other people. The current narrativeis blaming guns and gun owners instead of failed policies for escalating crime rates. It isn't the law abiding gun owner or the gun that is the problem. Stop punishing the masses for what the criminals do.

I strongly support this bill. State preemption only makes sense!

I am opposed to hb630. Speed cameras are not good as traffic control devices and are well known as revenue enhancers. Leave speed control to police officers on scene that can evaluate the conditions and ticket accordingly.

I feel that it is wrong to prohibit a law abiding citizen to be armed in a park. I know that there are many arrests on Bell's Isle every year, which would seem to suggest that the city is unable to keep law-breakers out of the park. It should follow that law abiding citizens should have a manner in which to protect themselves and dissuade criminals.

HB827 should be supported for several reasons. Citizens should have a right to travel the state without having to look up various laws for every locality the happen upon. Laws like this are clearly discriminatory and create an undue burden on otherwise honest people. Citizens who aren’t convicted criminals should be allowed the right to protect themselves and their loved ones whether or not it is at home, while at a store or while walking in a park. Safety first!

Please support the house bill as it will benefit all lawful gun owners as the law will be the same across the commonwealth. Criminals or people with intent to do crime disobeys the law to commit bad actions while the good citizens are unable to properly defend themselves if such situations happen.

Good afternoon, please support Delegate Wilt's HB827 bill. We need to return preemption back to where it was from 2004 to early 2020. As it is now, Virginia localities have a patchwork of firearms ordinances that do confuse the lawful/legal firearm owner, and could cause our Virginia citizen to accidentally break a local statute. Please HB827 support. Thank you. Guy Fontaine, Norfolk.

Please make it easy, again, to obey the law as I travel across the Commonwealth. The whole purpose of getting a concealed handgun permit was to comply with the rules. The rules can now change based on what street I cross, if someone posted a sign somewhere I can't see, or if a bureaucrat I don't know determines an event should be permitted. It's a mess and I'd appreciate the simplicity, and implicit trust, of a uniform set of laws regarding the carrying of concealed handguns. I further note that it's not the people obeying the law causing all the trouble. What changes with a locality disarming citizens or visitors when criminals, being criminals, aren't going to comply anyway? Let's go back to what worked well from 2004-2020.

Speaking from a background of law enforcement (many years ago), commercial security and now as a personnel security specialist I'd like to add my opinion: 1. Those of us who have concealed carry permits have already been investigated and vetted by the state as reasonable human beings. 2. Criminals, by their very job description, are not restricted by laws. It is a well-documented fact armed citizens do deter crime, criminals also prefer limited or no resistance. Thank you for allowing me to express my viewpoints. Sincerely, H.M. Riggs Vienna, VA

I would ask you to support HB827. This repeals local control of guns. In just the short time it has been law, local control of guns has already allowed for a patchwork of gun control laws. I challenge those in favor of local gun control to show me 3 crimes, or even 1 crime that was prevented by this law. I couldn't find any on a Google search. Meanwhile, how many gun owners have been arrested due to not knowing that the laws changed?

I support the repeal of HB827. This law takes away law abiding citizen's rights and my right as a woman to protect myself. This law targets law abiding gun owners and not criminals. Law abiding gun owners follow laws but criminals do not! You are taking away my right to defend myself in a public space by disarming me. I have the right to defend myself. This bill does nothing to stop criminals but instead makes criminals out of law abiding gun owners who may not know which locality or permitted location is prohibiting our rights for self protection. I ask that this bill be repealed immediately! Thank you.

As a legal firearm owner I am in favor of HB827. Every citizen in has a right and a duty to protect their loved ones and themselves from any harm. I do not think there should be a law restricting anyone from being able to protect themselves. It should also cover anyone open carrying if that’s the way you choose to do it. Thank you for your time.

I strongly urge you to repeat he ability of localities to pass numerous supposed anti firearms legislation. The multitude of laws makes it impossible to travel from jurisdiction to jurisdiction without breaking the law when carrying concealed or open for that matter. It only affects law abiding citizens and infringes one’s ability to protect both themselves and even others.

Please vote to bring back sensible gun guyet total gun guidelines that will not lead to people crossing a street and getting arrested due to hidden rules from town to town.

I very strongly urge you to support HB827 to restore preemption of firearms laws in Virginia. The previous administration's change to dismantle preemption and create a patchwork of inconsistent & unconstitutional laws across the state was unethical, tyrannical and unconstitutional on the very face of it basis. Please restore sanity, consistency and legitimacy to our Commonwealth by upholding the people's 2nd Amendment rights to own, carry and use arms of all types to defend our families and freedoms from the very tyranny Virginia great seal and motto define. Respectfully, Mark Jordan Newport News, VA

Please repeal the heavy handed “law” that Petersburg has put into place which allows them to override the American Constitution and deny me my right to defend myself. Petersburg is a very dangerous place. Petersburg Council has denied me my right to carry a weapon on their riverside trails thus raising the chance that I become a victim of ever increasing lawlessness in that city. Please, therefore, restore common sense and equity across our Commonwealth and strike down this so-called local law.

It is very important that this bill is passed. The crazy patchwork of regulations causes confusion and can make some of the most law abiding citizens in this state lawbreakers just by crossing the wrong street or wandering into a gathering unknowingly. Thanks sincerely for your consideration!

Local Government should not be allowed to "Infringe " on my Constitutional Rights to protect myself in public buildings and property that I, as a tax payer have paid for and own. Every road, open space, sidewalk, and highway are public property. Should they be able to suspend my rights here as well? This is unacceptable, and this bill to Repeal these unconstitutional limits should pass. Please support HB827.

PLEASE vote to remove any rights of counties, cities, towns, etc to have more restricting rules re gun control than those of our Commonwealth. Imagine trying to drive your car across Virginia, with NO visual signs or traffic lights, but having to know where to stop and how fast to drive on every stretch and at every intersection. That would be wrong and just crazy, and so are the current rules where localities can set their own gun control rules and restrictions . Thank you for your consideration.

Local gun restrictions must only be repealed and should only be determined by the state legislature. It is impossible for a person to navigate local firearm restrictions and at the same time exercise their second amendment rights. County and local governments should not be allowed to make a hidden patchwork of restrictions that make felons of law abiding citizens.

The 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution gave the power of Guns to the States and the citizens , not individual cities and Municipalities . Rightfully so the State should make laws that are the same through out the state on many different subjects because to permit each town to do so complicates the adherence to obeying multiple sets of laws . Also it violates the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution. We must continue to be a State and Nation that adheres to the Rule of Law as set in our Constitution.

Good afternoon. I’m Catherine Shultz & I’m asst. state director of the DC Project & a board member of second Monday constitution group. I’m here to support HB827 because 97.8% of mass shootings happen in gun free zones! As a disabled female w/injuries & amputations ,my one equalizer is my personal defense weapon. I don’t have the option to run ,hide & fight. As a tax paying citizen , you’ve taken that from me in these gun free locales. In a world where I’m told that I shouldn’t be discriminated against because of my disability, The legislation you put forth before this bill says otherwise! I am my best first responder! You took that chance away from people like me & also made us have a hard time from town to town as we carry. We’re the responsible gun owners that actually abide by these laws! Do the criminals that attack others do the same? Does my life not matter? Thank you, CM Shultz

I am asking the committee to vote to support HB827 as the current laws restrict my ability to choose when and where I would like to carry a weapon for my personal protection and does absolutely nothing to prohibit a criminal from doing so. Thank you!

PLEASE put preemption back as it was up until 2020. My wife and I both have carry permits and being retired we travel quite a bit around the state. Without preemption it puts us in the position of having to keep up with all "local" gun laws wherever we travel. Miss one new "local" law and we could face criminal charges. It's like walking through a mine field. I sincerely doubt if there have been any criminals that were worried about breaking any gun control law anywhere in the state. Doing away with preemption was a mistake that needs to be corrected. Sincerely, Charles Williamson

As a free citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia I stand in favor of HB 827, sponsored by Delegate Wilt, which would repeal the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. Prohibiting guns in these locations is a "solution in search of a problem" since there is no data to support that allowing guns in these locations increases the crime there. It is purely a "feel good" measure. Does anybody believe that criminals, who by definition are lawbreakers, will abide by these inane regulations, or will they now see these locations as "gun-free, target zones" to be exploited. However, prohibiting guns in these locations certainly does eliminate my ability to carry the tools best suited to exercise my God-given right to self-defense for myself and my family members. "When Tyranny becomes law, Rebellion becomes duty."

I am asking the House Public Safety Subcommittee to support HB 827. The preemption statute should of never been repealed. Preemption is needed to protect the law abiding citizen's right to self-protection in government buildings, recreation and community centers, and parks.

I write in support Del. Wilt’s HB827. Local laws banning legally owned firearms are well-meaning. But they are naive, impractical, unconstitutional, counter-productive, and life-threatening. The very term “gun violence” is itself a fraud -- a left-wing trick, a slick, rhetorically twisted, deceptive, empty linguistic contrivance. Guns are incapable of violence. They no more point themselves and pull their own triggers than cars decide to run over people. The problem is not guns but criminals, and foolish laws like many recently enacted that encourage criminals. When surprised by more powerful assailants, weaker individuals – women, the elderly -- are out of luck. Such attacks are palpably on the rise where guns are banned. Why? Because criminals calculate risk and understand that unarmed targets are easy targets. Do we want citizens in the Commonwealth to be easy targets? Winston Churchill is credited with saying Americans can always be counted on to do what’s right -- after we’ve tried everything else. Thoughtful Americans are waking up with a vengeance, as from a long sleep, and beginning to do what Churchill would have said is right. This Committee also has the opportunity to do what’s right: Support HB827 Thankyou. Craig Smith Waterford

We need to reestablish preemption. Local governments have absolutely no business making gun control decisions, which only make law abiding citizens less safe when they are in public. Case in point: On July 29, 2021, my wife was doing some early morning yoga in one of the alcoves in the middle of the T. Pot Bridge in downtown Richmond. She was approached by a mentally unhinged aggressive male who was exposing himself, masterbating, and brandishing a construction pipe. She was cornered and called 911 asking for assistance starting at 6:32a. Apparently, the first 911 operator didn't live in Richmond and didn't seem to know much about the area, which led to a confusing exchange about the situation. As the situation escalated and the individual became more sexually aggressive and violent, my wife made additional calls to 911. She ended her last call at 6:51a when LEO finally arrived. Luckily, my wife was not harmed — physically — on that day. However, she was unarmed because she is a law abiding citizen and was in a city park in Richmond, where firearms are banned. Being that the city's leadership has effectively banned personal firearms and self-sufficiency for personal safety in our city parks and public gatherings/events due to the shortsighted end of preemption, and considering the 19-minute response time by the police (note: it was before rush hour and the RPD HQ is only 1.5 miles away from the site of the incident), how are we supposed to protect ourselves when the police are 19 minutes (or more) away from an ACTUAL sexual crime in progress? Right before they infringe upon our Second Amendment rights, these city and county level leaders always say things like "Why would anyone ever need a firearm in a city park." THIS! THIS IS WHY! More and more local governments have taken away our most effective way to defend ourselves in more and more public spaces. Logically (if you can even use that term when talking about local government decisions/control), that means our leaders have positioned the police departments to be responsible for our personal safety. That is the farthest thing from "common sense" you can do. Please bring back preemption. - Kent Brockwell — N. Chesterfield, VA

I support HB 827, Delegate Wilt, which repeals the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. This puts preemption back as it was in from 2004 to early 2020. This will eliminate confusion across Virginia with regard to where legal carry of firearms is allowed consistent with the 2nd Amendment as well as the VA Constitution.

Please restore preemption. Having constitutional rights vary based on local ordinances within Virginia leads to confusion, errors, and unnecessary incarcerations of law abiding citizens. This also puts further strain on the already overwhelmed judicial system. Thank you.

Comments Document

Please see the attached response. Ty Brooks Gun Owners of America Virginia Director

This needs to be repealed because it doesn’t help anyone it makes things worse Thank you

I support the repeal of the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. This power was maliciously exploited and carelessly rushed to enactment by local county boards and city councils. Any law that directly impacts the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Federal and State Constitution should not be passed to local governments to diminish. The power was surrendered and political interests groups took malicious action to rush through and implement these measures over very short timelines. All of the councils and boards were hard pressed to present their case for justification when enacting these laws and passing them through. The citizen opposition was large and vocal presenting a vast array of justifications on why this was a dangerous and risky new policy for these cities to implement. Despite record turnout to submit criticism and vocalize opposition when presented at the first meeting in municipalities like Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County, Fairfax City, and Falls Church, extended debate was not granted and councils voted to implement the confusing new law the very next meeting. The principle reason among many was that only law abiding citizens are impacted by this rule and would not do anything to make anyone safer. Return the right of self defense and seek lawful and constitutional means to counter the actual threats to society.

If anyone knows violence, including firearms violence, it's me as a very old, veteran, retired homicide detective, it's me. I'm also a US Army Vet. Being an old guy, I've lost count of how many homicides, accidental death and suicide I investigated, but they were a bunch. One thing I can assure you all of is that criminals don't give a darn about laws such as the one enacted to allow a confusing patchwork of laws across the Commonwealth about where you can legally carry a firearm. Criminals, to include MS13, and other criminals, are criminals and commit criminal acts because they don't care about them. The only folks who usually get ensnared by such laws as HB 827 are normally law abiding folks. If a criminal is not deterred by laws against illegally pointing a firearm at someone, unjustifiably shooting someone or even murdering someone with punishments ranging up to a life in prison, the crazy quilt of laws emanating from HB 827. I ask you simply to allow us law abiding folks who have passed stringent background checks and are trained to be permitted to be armed so as to defend ourselves and other innocents from criminals intending harm. The Second Amendment shouldn't be a sometime or once in a while right, but a real and embraced one just as The First Amendment is. Thanks for your time if you took the time to read this. Joe Soos and Lincoln the Rottweiler

Local ordinances like Fairfax County’s barring citizens from carrying in parks and public areas does not protect public safety but only people more vulnerable to criminals, who already will be ignoring the law. Is there any study showing that lawfully armed citizens are misusing their firearms in parks? Or that criminals will be dissuaded from carrying in public places by these local ordinances? If not, why allow localities to threaten public safety in the service of virtue signaling? The state legislature should pass repeal HB 827 and restore Virginians’ freedom to lawfully carry firearms in parks and other public places for personal protection. Thank you, Adam

Please support the preemption bill to put it back as it was in from 2004 to early 2020.

I am expressing support for HB827. Among other things, local preemption creates a confusing patchwork of firearm laws throughout the Commonwealth.

I'm writing in support of HB 827. The existing ability for localities to generate their own rules without notification requirements or signage makes compliance with those rules for law-abiding citizens virtually impossible. The state establishes concealed carry reciprocity, they should also be responsible for establishing what locations that right to carry concealed or carry openly is to be enforced or restricted.

I am greatly in favor of repealing the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. Allowing every level of government to have their own laws on the books concerning making criminal friendly zones is ludicrous and very difficult for law abiding citizens to keep up with what places they cannot exercise their rights to self defense. Criminals won't follow silly laws such as these, so you only disarm the law abiding, and make us less safe.

State-level preemption should be restored and local governments should not be allowed to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and permitted events. These local laws create a patchwork of laws which represent a legal minefield for law-abiding citizens traveling through or near these areas. Enforcement against actual violent criminals is extremely difficult in parks, for example, where there are no metal detectors and few police. Finally, many of these gun control laws restricted concealed carry permit holders but gave exemptions to retired police in the same legislative session as police body cameras were funded, which further demonstrates these laws do not have public safety in mind. End these petty, counterproductive, discriminatory, and harassing infringements upon Virginians. Increase penalties for violent crime instead of persecuting the innocent.

Honorable Delegates, Thank you for allowing me to voice my opinion on HB827 today. I am for approval of the bill. V/R, Kevin Miley

Please pass HB827 to repeal the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. Preemption must be restored as it existed from 2004 to early 2020 to simplify and minimize confusion for lawful firearm carry.

The arbitrary patchwork of local gun laws allowed state-wide after preemption was removed has absolutely no effect on effect on criminals and only causes headaches for law-abiding gun owners. Please pass this bill and return the Commonwealth to a predictable, uniform set of gun laws that can be easily understood by all law-abiding citizens.

Please support HB827 which repeals the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. Laws should be consistent across the state, not become traps for citizens who are trying to be law abiding while exercising their constitutional rights. Further, it is unclear what effect, if any, the current patchwork of gun laws have on actual crime.

I would like to speak in favor of HB827. State law on gun rights should apply in every public place we can go in Virginia. Gun rights are beyond the scope of local jurisdictions to legislate upon. Virginians cannot be expected to read up on the rules of every township and city before setting foot there. Please vote in favor of HB827.

Please support this bill.

Please repeal the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers.

Local governments should NOT be allowed to limit our Second Amendment rights. Parks, buildings, etc., are SAFER when responsible citizens are armed. A few weeks ago, four people were shot at the Clear Brook rest area on 81. Rest areas are "gun-free zones". The only person that had a gun was the criminal who doesn't obey laws to begin with. I know that is a state law (a very BAD one), but that is a perfect example of how "gun-free zones" make places less safe. Respectfully, Walter Mallon

I support the repeal of preemption! A patchwork of unconstitutional gun laws throughout Virginia only hurts law abiding citizens and does nothing to prevent violence but actually welcomes it!

Please support this bill.

It is absurd that Virginia Law is not consistent across the state. As a resident of Virginia, I should not be concerned about travelling within my own state and whether or not a locality has a different ordinance. This is especially true when I am the one responsible for my own safety and lawful actions. Local Gun Control makes an absolute mess out of the state and what is lawful. As a Virginian, I urge the House Public Safety Subcommittee to hear and repeal the provision allowing local governments to create ordinances regarding gun restrictions in adherence to the Second Amendment which clearly states "..shall not be infringed."

I miss read this bill and previously supported the defeat of this bill. I NOW SUPPORT IT'S PASSAGE. Any such legislation should not be up to localities. Firearms laws should be uniform across the state for the same reason that vagrancy laws were declared unconstitutional. With localities defining vagrancy, a vagrant in one county of city might be a fine upstanding citizen in another, even adjacent jurisdiction. There is no way for a person to reasonably be expected to know the laws and ordinances in every jurisdiction through which he/she might travel. Visitors to the state could be put in extreme jeopardy.

You MUST support and pass HB827 ! The adverse consequences of "local gun control" are too many to list in this message; nevertheless, consider the following: My family OPPOSES any and all actions, ordinances, regulations, laws, etc. that violate the 2nd Amendment and our rights to self-defense (particularly in today’s environment of anarchy, and given radical leftist Northam’s and the “blue” General Assembly’s releasing violent felons from prison back in to our communities, and their efforts to make Virginia and it’s localities “sanctuaries” for criminal illegal aliens). By allowing localities in Va. to create their own gun ordinances, the Virginia General Assembly and Gov. Northam deliberately ignored the severe confusion of having hundreds of different "gun laws" throughout the State; and the impossibility of enforcing each locality's assorted and varied patchwork of potential regulations. Consider the following complication of such ordinances: what is the citizen to do if she must depart from (or return to) her home during the time of a "permitted event" occurring on her street (or some "adjacent" street) where her right to bear arms has been prohibited by such thoughtless action ? And how are law-abiding constituents to defend themselves if, during "citizen time" at Board/Council meetings, agents from BLM and CASA bring weapons into the event and commence the violent attack they've threatened (which occurred for real at a recent Prince William County BOCS Meeting)? And, do you really want my grandchildrens' soccer games at local parks to become shooting zones for deranged mass murderers? (This hazard is frighteningly realistic particularly because there are not enough police to staff every such event, and many - including some of you - seek to abolish police altogether!) These are but a few of countless risks and complications of having differing restrictive laws and regulations from one community to another within our State. Your commitment to supporting our 2nd Amendment will easily remedy these and many other concerns and threats.

Please restore the people's right to bear arms for self defense while going about their business in public by explicitly stating that local government shall not violate this right.

I am in favor of HB827. I believe it is a mistake for localities to be able to make up their own regulations with respect to carrying a firearm, and that all counties and localities should follow the same set of rules, statewide. It is an unreasonable burden for a person to have to research what the gun regulations are for every county and/or locality in The state that they’ll be driving through that day, in order to avoid the possibility of getting in trouble for something that is perfectly legal in another county / locality, if not everywhere else. I believe that this inconsistency will only serve to fabricate ways to potentially make criminals out of otherwise law abiding citizens. A criminal won’t care what the regulations are in any county or locality.

Repeal this unconstitutional bill

Aside from restricting individuals of their Civil Rights, another bill of this matter only confuses localities/ responsible gun owners of what their right(s) to self protection actually are. It is a **redundant law** that only opens doors to disorganization and/ or unnecessary arrests of innocent Virginians in the future, all while criminal minds continue to circumvent the overall system.

Please support

It is impossible for a Virginian to know whether they are in compliance with the law regarding the carrying of firearms when localities can draft their own limitations that are more strict that the Commonwealth's. This puts the citizen in jeopardy by either being a potential violent crime victim or getting arrested. This cannot stand. The criminals don't abide by the restrictions, only the law abiding do and you've made it impossible for them to do so without causing them to forfeit their rights to self-defense. It must be nice to have state or private funded personal security, but the average Virginian does not have that luxury.

It is a travesty that criminals have no worries carry weapons anywhere! While myself a legal CHP holder must research for local gun restrictions before I travel. I should not have to worry about which locality honors my permit and which ones don't. Local governments should not be able to over rule where Commonwealth CHP carry restrictions! The current law saddles CHP holders with an additional burden to check local laws when traveling. Again I state criminals have no such burden!

I strongly support this bill and urge you to as well. The current state of gun laws in Virginia is completely unfair to lawful gun owners due to each locality being able to dream up their own ordinances without approval from the General Assembly. The entire state should be open for those who wish to lawfully carry a gun to protect themselves.

I reside in DC and work in Fairfax. I support passing HB827.

This bill repeals the authority for localities to have an ordinance banning firearms in local government buildings, parks, recreation and community centers, and at events that are permitted, or should have been permitted. While only 16 out of 194 localities have such an ordinance, it still creates a web of laws that can trip up gun owners as they move around in the Commonwealth. No other civil right varies based on location. Because of the seriousness of gun-law penalties, gun laws should be uniform across the Commonwealth, as they had been from 2004 to 2020. None of the 16 localities could show a need for such an ordinance, but many claimed it would lower crime and make their locality safer. In reality, violent crime is up over 20%. In Alexandria, crime committed using a firearm skyrocketed 40% starting the very month that their ordinance went into effect and has stayed up. Richmond's violent crime is now back to the highs of decades ago. Disarming citizens in parks, which cannot be secured, puts citizens at unnecessary risk. The ban on guns at permitted, or should have been permitted, events is vague as to exactly what locations 'open to the public' are included. Richmond has abused that part of the law by leaving signs up permanently on some streets, giving citizens the impossible task of determining if there is an event in the area that is permitted, or worse, should have been permitted. The 2020 change to the firearm preemption law was a classic example of fixing something that wasn't broken, and we need to restore the law as it was in 2019.

CHP holders have the constitutional right both federal and Sate to carry. HB 827 must be passed there is a long history of Virginians bearing arms, legally. Violating these rights in the name of safety will only create an unsafe state like Maryland, where the crime rate is appalling. They have an assault weapons ban and a pseudo ban on concealed carry and they are the Murder Capitol of the east coast!! I avoid Maryland because it is unsafe, do not put our communities in danger. Virginia is safe because a citizen is allowed to take responsibility for their own safety. I do not want our beautiful Richmond turned into their murderous Baltimore in the name of safety. Perverts and creeps love unarmed women they can rob and violate, do not give them another state as a feeding ground.

My main objection to this bill is applying it to events that "should have been permitted." to me that is nothing more than an ex post facto law. To charge a person with possessing a firearm during an event that was did not have a permit until after the public was made aware that the event required a permit is wrong. Under the law a person can not be charged and convicted for doing something BEFORE the act was made unlawful. This bill would presume that and individual would have to know that the event required a permit and still carried a firearm to it. That might not be a reasonable presumption. Additionally, making an event "gun free" does not make it so. Criminal by definition violate the law. Schools have been gun free zones (and drug free zones) for years, but still have shootings on the premises before, during, and after school hours. This is a "feel good law" that will have no substantive effect on public safety and may even have a negative effect by making those attending an event unable to protect themselves. I urge that this bill be defeated.

I would like to voice my support for HB827; we must proceed with the repeal of local gun control.

Protect gun rights. I am a female home he’s nurse that has almost been a victim of assault at least 2 times. I see patients with mental and physical issues and I need to be able to protect myself. One of my patients tried to put me in a shed and the other was a known homicidal/suicidal with multiple antipsychotic medication and was able to find out my birthday and text me a happy birthday message despite being blocked and discharged as a patient. I am also an instructor and there have been times when I felt threatened in the classroom and clinicals. Times are changing and people are having difficulty controlling themselves and oftentimes act out impulsively which results in injury and sometimes death to others. As a health care provider and instructor, I urge you not to ban guns in public buildings, schools and parks. Also, I request that you vote to repeal the red flag law and stop hiding anti gun legislation in bulky bills that none of you seem to have time to read. Stop and think about your actions towards your constituents. You are acting against us, not for us. I pray that you wake up and cut the lobbyists puppet strings. Stand up for us and stop taking our rights away. Thank you, Patricia Wright

I am very much in favor of passing bill HB827. The previous administration's reversal on 2nd amendment rights, created a too much confusion and an unrealistic burden for gun owners to remember all the laws of each locality. State preemption is the best way to keep it simple to remember the laws concerning your 2nd amendment rights. Preemption worked between 2004 and 2020 and it will work again.

I urge you to repeal gun control laws prohibiting us to carry anywhere. We MUST be able to defend ourselves. Don't believe the media's rhetoric about women being against guns! I am a woman--yes, I actually know what sex I am-- and I have carried a gun for many years. Be aware that if the Liberal agenda continues to win in this country, those of us who refuse to be victims WILL ARM OURSELVES WITH SOMETHING, be it a bat, a hammer or a rock! I'd like to see the day when rocks are outlawed in the state of Virginia--hah!!--I'd better be careful what I wish for; outlawing rocks would be exactly the thing that we could expect from our lawmakers right now! I have never in my 65 years ever seen such a display of total stupidity in the government! They must have all smoked a lot of dope, or been born of parents who did! Something surely is rotten in the government of the United States, when law-abiding, moral citizens are constantly in the wrong, and terrorists are always in the right. The more the government is against us, the more we have to take on ourselves. We will.

I'm a single woman of small stature and have a young child. Being able to conceal carry when I'm out with my daughter, whether we're at the park or the library, allows me to not worry about our safety and to feel confident even when passing through higher crime areas of our county. I am an Air Force Veteran and a medical professional serving my community and urge you all to pass hb827.

I strongly urge you to vote in support of HB827 and restore state level preemption for governance of possession of firearms, ammunition, etc. Lawful residents and citizens of the Commonwealth should not be required to research and memorize the patchwork of laws governing each individual municipality they may pass through to ensure they are not accidentally committing a felony, even if they are at all times in compliance with state-level law. It is imperative that we restore the rights of Virginians and return to state-level preeminence on a right explicitly enshrined in our state constitution.

As a very recently retired Law Enforcement Officer here in the Commonwealth, I can unequivocally say that HB 827 will help simplify and unify our legal code while presenting absolutely no risk to the public. Preemption wasn't a problem from 2004 to 2017 and righting this wrong won't be a problem now. Please pass HB 827.

I urge the committee to support this bill on behalf of all Virginians. When individual localities create laws that require Virginia citizens to act differently depending on where they are in the Commonwealth, they create a maze in which even the most well-meaning citizen can find himself trapped. The legislation this bill attempts to repeal is even worse; it requires a citizen to know what others plan, might plan, or should have planned to do. Supporting this bill shows you understand and support Virginians, not Chesterfieldians and Winchesterites and Richmonders and the like.

I support HB 827. The increase in violence against people of color across the nation and the defunding of law enforcement has put the population at risk of violence from criminals who have no respect for my life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness. Every day there is imagery on social media across our nation of the ruthless and violent attack on members of the public. From hospitals, to street corners and side walks, we are shown how much our government is failing in the basic duty to provide services to the constituency. If you are not going to fund police, incarcerate criminals, then give us the ability to protect ourselves where ever we are. Vote for this bill.

Support HB 827. Local goverments should not be allowed to preempt state gun law. Gun laws should be consistent throughout the state, not leave people to guess what the law is based on where they happen to be. This was the law previously and it caused no issues.

A woman was killed in a park not far from Springfield, VA a couple of years ago. Every time I go dog walking in a Virginia park and see the sign that prohibits firearms, I fear for my life. Do you think a rapist who would rape and kill women in parks is going to obey that sign?

Dear Delegates and Fellow Virginians, I am a forensic psychiatrist that specializes in the assessment and management of violence, and I am a member of Doctors For Responsible Gun Ownership, VCDL, and the NRA. I am asking the committee to SUPPORT HB 827. Psychiatrists are the medical specialists most likely to die by homicide. Health care workers face an enormous burden of violence in the work place. Just this past week a criminal entered a NYC hospital concealing a gun and shot a patient. NY's SAFE ACT completely failed to do anything but empower this criminal. Local "gun control" is the disarmament of peaceful persons. Disparate local rules regarding guns means that I cannot lawfully carry to all the places I travel to do evaluations and consultations, putting my life at risk. This is a right to life issue: local "gun control" means you want me dead in those situations where I could have lawfully used a gun to stop a lethal threat, but for local "gun control." Please support HB 827 and please protect peaceful gun owners' right to life. Thank you for your time today. I pray that God saves this Committee, our Assembly, and the great Commonwealth of Virginia. Dennis Petrocelli, MD 7711 Kenmore Circle Richmond Virginia 23225 (804) 914 - 2545 stoicmd@protonmail.com

Dear Senators and Fellow Virginians, I am a forensic psychiatrist that specializes in the assessment and management of violence, and I am a member of Doctors For Responsible Gun Ownership, VCDL, and the NRA. I am asking the committee to SUPPORT HB 827. Psychiatrists are the medical specialists most likely to die by homicide. Health care workers face an enormous burden of violence in the work place. Just this past week a criminal entered a NYC hospital concealing a gun and shot a patient. NY's SAFE ACT completely failed to do anything but empower this criminal. Local "gun control" is the disarmament of peaceful persons. Disparate local rules regarding guns means that I cannot lawfully carry to all the places I travel to do evaluations and consultations, putting my life at risk. This is a right to life issue: local "gun control" means you want me dead in those situations where I could have lawfully used a gun to stop a lethal threat, but for local "gun control." Please support HB 827 and please protect peaceful gun owners' right to life. Thank you for your time today. I pray that God saves this Committee, our Assembly, and the great Commonwealth of Virginia. Dennis Petrocelli, MD 7711 Kenmore Circle Richmond Virginia 23225 (804) 914 - 2545 stoicmd@protonmail.com

Please support HB827 and help restore preemption to Virginia and eliminate the tangled, confusing web of local ordinances that exist in contravention to the spirit of the law.

Please approve HB827

The Virginia Citizens Defense League STRONGLY SUPPORTS HB 827. Localities should never have the ability to restrict a basic civil right. We don't do that with any of our other civil rights. Those civil rights are retained everywhere we go. Since 2020 Virginia's gun laws have been non-uniform. That puts citizens at risk of running afoul of some local gun-control ordinance and it unnecessarily restricts where they can carry for self-defense. All the gun control passed in 2020 and 2021 has done is to raise Virginia's violent crime rate by 20%. Places, like Richmond, with local gun-control, have seen a 40% rise in violent crime! Before 2020 violent crime had been falling steadily since 2000.

The City is opposed to any bill that removes local authority to keep employees safe. The ability to prohibit firearms in City buildings is a policy that was adopted by our local governing body, who are accountable to the citizens they serve. Time and time again, we have seen that a one-size-fits-all approach to public policy is not well suited to the wide variety of people and places we have in the Commonwealth. Newport News, Harrisonburg, Alexandria, Lexington, Roanoke, Suffolk - all the great cities, counties, and towns in Virginia - are unique. Allowing each Council to decide what works for their City insures the highest level of public safety, maximum accountability and transparency. For these reasons, Newport News is opposed to HB827.

HB827 - Conceal carry holders are offered permits by their local jurisdiction, a public entity. Individuals holding a conceal carry permit should be allowed to carry in/on nearly any public space. I can agree that open carry should be limited in certain public spaces, such as where children tend to congregate. Conceal carry residents have passed screening and training and are not the folks by vast majority who cause issues with guns. A conceal carry holder could be someone in the right place at the wrong time to save other lives while protecting their own.

My name is Tami Sheiffer and I'm a volunteer with Moms Demand Action. I oppose HB827.

During the 2020 legislative session, the Virginia General Assembly passed HB421/SB35, giving the power back to local communities to adopt local solutions to address gun violence. Now Virginia’s localities are able to prioritize the safety of their residents. Following passage of this law, localities including Alexandria,Newport News, Fairfax County and Falls Church passed ordinances limiting open carry of firearms in some public spaces, parks, and at special events. Since passage of this law in 2020, more than 16 localities have passed local gun safety ordinances, impacting more than 2.8 million people. Prior to the passage of this law in 2020, officials in Richmond, Virginia banned bats, shields, knives, and poles from a white supremacist protest organized shortly after the deadly violence in Charlottesville. But, because of the state’s preemption laws at the time, local officials couldn’t prohibit guns at the rally. I strongly oppose HB827 which would repeal a common sense local control law.

My name is Victoria Sievers, I’m a Volunteer with Moms Demand Action and I oppose HB827.

Prior to the passage of this law in 2020, officials in Richmond, Virginia banned bats, shields, knives, and poles from a white supremacist protest organized shortly after the deadly violence in Charlottesville. But, because of the state’s preemption laws at the time, local officials couldn’t prohibit guns at the rally. I urge you to vote no on HB827.

Hi, my name is Brooke, and I’m a member of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Chairperson and members of the committee, I strongly oppose HB827. Since 2020, more than 15 localities have used the current law to pass gun safety ordinances, impacting more than 2.8 million Virginians, including me and my family. We love going to county parks and playgrounds, and our child's sports fields are also on county property. That firearms are not allowed in these places (along with libraries, recreation centers, and other sensitive spaces) makes our family and community safer from gun violence. Local jurisdictions should have the ability to pass local laws, especially when it comes to gun safety in our neighborhoods. Please vote no on HB827. Thank you.

I want them to understand that I had to learn the sad way that it's nothing to help our disabled adult community in the cases of them going missing. They have to wait 24 to 48 hrs. To be looked for. My son Andre Grady went missing and several times I tried to get the police to search but was told because of his age they couldn't, he was 31. Even after finding his abandoned wheelchair with the seat belt cut , they still wouldn't look. We later formed our own search party and found my son, deceased shoved in a crawl space of a home. My son was alive the first day I reported him missing. He laid there by himself until his injuries took over the next day. As a disabled person trying to live a normal life things might happen, but to think 24 to 48 hrs is a long time and critical time, for nobody to look for you

.

Speaking on behalf of my son Andre Grady 31 year disabled who went missing and later found decreased

Speaking on behalf of my son Andre Grady

I support this bill

The Fleet Reserve members located in the Commonwealth recommend a swift approval of HB 1203. This position would greatly enhance and aid to help slow if not prevent the former members of the armed forces destroying a valuable asset not only to family, the community, the Commonwealth of Virginia, but also to this Great Nation we all Love. We humbly recommend the unanimous approval of HB 1203 Respectfully I remain, Mr. Sha'ron D. Martin FRA Rep to JLC

I am respectfully asking you vote to reinstate preemption.

Please support HB 827, Delegate Wilt, which repeals the provision that allows local government to prohibit guns in parks, government buildings, recreation and community centers, and at permitted, or should have been permitted, events. This puts preemption back as it was in from 2004 to early 2020.

Protect gun rights. I am a female home he’s nurse that has almost been a victim of assault at least 2 times. I see patients with mental and physical issues and I need to be able to protect myself. One of my patients tried to put me in a shed and the other was a known homicidal/suicidal with multiple antipsychotic medication and was able to find out my birthday and text me a happy birthday message despite being blocked and discharged as a patient. I am also an instructor and there have been times when I felt threatened in the classroom and clinicals. Times are changing and people are having difficulty controlling themselves and oftentimes act out impulsively which results in injury and sometimes death to others. As a health care provider and instructor, I urge you not to ban guns in public buildings, schools and parks. Also, I request that you vote to repeal the red flag law and stop hiding anti gun legislation in bulky bills that none of you seem to have time to read. Stop and think about your actions towards your constituents. You are acting against us, not for us. I pray that you wake up and cut the lobbyists puppet strings. Stand up for us and stop taking our rights away. Thank you, Patricia Wright