West Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
PO Box 11371 | Charleston, WV 25339-1371
 
Defending Your Right to Defend Yourself
 

WVCDL-ALERT:
Good Friday Massacre
April 2, 2010

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Welcome to WVCDL-ALERT's new, updated format.  We encourage you to forward this e-mail to all your friends, relatives, and other concerned citizens who support our individual right to keep and bear arms for defense of self, family, home and state, and for lawful hunting and recreational use, as protected by the state constitution and the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.

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Good Friday Massacre: Governor Manchin Vetoes Both Pro-Gun Bills Passed by the Legislature, Exposes Himself as an Anti in Disguise
For years, the biggest problem West Virginia gun owners have faced at the Legislature has been a cadre of lying, deceitful politicians who tell their constituents they're pro-gun, give the "right" answers to candidate surveys, and then proceed to stab gun owners in the back by stifling the passage of good legislation and bill rationing (limiting not only gun rights but many other issue groups to one or two, often minuscule, bills each year.)
 
Today, the systematic betrayal West Virginia gun owners have received from our elected officials reached new heights. Today, Governor Joe Manchin vetoed both pro-gun bills that managed to pass the Legislature this year: HB 4521, the gun sales tax holiday bill, and SB 515, the "Anti-Bloomberg Bill."
 
Consistent with the constant back-stabbing West Virginians have suffered at the hands of our elected leaders, it was in a way appropriate that Governor Manchin chose today, Good Friday, to cast these vetoes. Governor Manchin has until April 7 to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature.  He could have vetoed the bills yesterday. He could have vetoed them Monday. He could have vetoed them Tuesday. He could have vetoed them Wednesday.  Instead, he vetoed both of them today.
 
According to an AP wire story, Governor Manchin is claiming his veto of SB 515 was because the bill had a technical defect that could have rendered the bill unconstitutional. Unfortunately, that explanation of a veto has become a very common justification for vetoing a bill that I believe is being used excessively, in cases where it is not truly justified, and serves as a convenient excuse for vetoing a bill for other reasons without having to explain them.

Based upon the accumulation of his vetoes today along with his refusal to participate in WVCDL's gubernatorial candidate survey in 2008 (his campaign sent WVCDL a letter expressly declining to participate), and the State Police's opposition to repealing the requirement in our reciprocity law that a reciprocal state must be able to provide instantaneous verification of their licenses, WVCDL President Keith Morgan has declared Governor "Judas" Manchin to be among the back-stabbing, anti-gun politicians who have masqueraded for years as pro-gun but then betray us time and again.
 
WVCDL will soon be sending its 2010 legislative candidate survey to all candidates for the Senate and House of Delegates. Although we do not require complete agreement with out positions (and actually appreciate the honesty of those candidates and legislators who will level with us about where they do not agree with specific items on our legislative agenda), any candidate who will not answer the very specific questions we present cannot be trusted and do not merit the votes of gun owners.
 
Governor Manchin, who aspires to be a U.S. Senator (and likely will appoint himself to the Senate when Senator Byrd dies) has exposed himself for what he really is. When he eventually faces the voters of this state after appointing himself to the U.S. Senate, we need to not be fooled again and instead make sure that West Virginia does not elect a senator who will vote more often with Chuck Schumer, Dianne Feinstein, Frank Lautenberg, and their fellow travelers, than with the people he represents.
No Tax Holiday for Guns
 
04/02/2010
 
MetroNews
Charleston
 
Governor Joe Manchin has vetoed a controversial gun sales tax holiday. He notified the National Rifle Association of the decision Friday.

"Like most West Virginians, I am a proud supporter of the Second Amendment. We recognize the impact and importance of shooting sports and hunting to our state," the Governor said in a release Friday. "However, I have spoken to the NRA national leadership and they understand that this is a piece of legislation I intend to sign."

The bill would have placed the holiday on the first weekend of October.
 
The Governor says it  would have cost the state $25,000 a year in lost sales tax and $3 million in lost revenue due to the violation of federal statutes. 
Manchin vetoes gun tax break, anti-sting bills
 
April 2, 2010
 
By The Associated Press
 
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Gun enthusiasts have been handed a pair of setbacks in West Virginia.

Gov. Joe Manchin has vetoed a pair of bills favored by the National Rifle Association.

One would have created a created an annual sales tax holiday for firearm purchases during the first weekend of each October. Manchin says that would cost the state needed revenues. It may also violate a multistate agreement that calls for uniform sales-tax policies.

Manchin informed the NRA's leaders of his plans and says they understood.

A technical flaw prompted Friday's other veto. That bill targeted attempts by undercover investigators to catch gun dealers violating background check laws. New York City conducted such stings last year in other states.
 
James M. "Jim" Mullins, Jr., Esq.
 
Founder, Past President, Legislative Director, and General Counsel
West Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
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