Chip Woodrum, who represented Roanoke in the House of Delegates from 1980-2004, has a good op ed in today’s Roanoke Times. He writes about HB 1531, which would revoke a doctor’s license if he asked a patient if he owned a gun and whether it’s safely stored. (This is the sort of question that pediatricians routinely ask of parents, as a part of ensuring for the well being of their young charges.) The HoD passed the thing by an 88-11 vote before the Senate Committee on Education and Health had the good sense to put it out of its misery.
It’s true: we’re only safe when the General Assembly isn’t in session.
Anyone who backs this bill has utterly failed to understand the most fundamental mission of the NRA, which is to advocate for the safe, responsible use of firearms. I say this as a card-carrying member of the NRA and a vehemant supporter of second amendment rights.
Our organization invented the whole concept of teaching hunting safety. The basic idea of training hunters didn’t exist before the NRA. Because of the NRA’s efforts, most states (Virginia included) now require new hunters to take a safety class prior to being issued a license. The NRA also created the ‘Eddie Eagle’ program, which teaches children to stay the heck away from guns when they come across one instead of picking it up like a toy. If you go shooting for the first time with an NRA member, the first words out of that member’s mouth will be the basic rules of safely handling the weapon. We’ll fight to the death for the right to own whatever firearms we choose, but the main focus of the American gun-toting community has always been on the responsible use of those firearms.
So why would members of a safety-focused organization like ours have any problem whatsoever with reminding parents of small children to store firearms safely? We wouldn’t. This kind of grassroots-level education is entirely within the basic aims and values of the NRA. Whoever the NRA beancounter was that allowed HB 1531 a mention on a long list of supposedly pro-gun bills, he ought to fired.
The legislators who have supported HB 1531 have made it obvious that they are totally out of step with the tradition of the NRA and totally clueless about the basic values of most Virginia gunowners.