Restaurant Ban Repeal vote in House Militia, Police and Public
Safety committee this morning - good news! Action Item.
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This morning the full Militia, Police, and Public Safety committee
voted 16 to 6 to report out HB 505, Delegate Gilbert's restaurant ban
repeal bill!
The bill now heads to the House Floor for a vote in a few days.
The bill passed with substitute wording that allows current and
retired police officers an exemption from the drinking prohibition.
I am not thrilled with that new wording because it creates two classes
of people: current/retired police officers and Commonwealth Attorneys
who can drink in a restaurant while carrying concealed and the rest of
us who can't.
HOWEVER, that is something we can look at fixing next year.
Strategically it is best to let the bill move forward as is and get
the restaurant ban repealed.
The vote on the bill had two surprises:
Delegates Barlow and Shuler, both Democrats who had supported the
repeal last year, voted "no" this morning!
And self-proclaimed "pro-gun" Delegates Paula Miller and Roslyn Tyler
voted "no" also. Can you imagine what they would do if they were anti-
gun?
A tale of two Delegates: the freshman Democratic Delegate from
Portsmouth, Matthew James, voted against the repeal, while the
freshman Democratic Delegate from Fairfax, Mark Keam, voted with gun
owners in ending the ban. Keam has proven in several subcommittee
votes to be thoughtful and open minded on gun issues.
Here are the Delegates that supported your rights this morning. If
you live in their districts, be sure to thank them for their vote:
Sherwood, Griffith, Wright, Carrico, Lingamfelter, Nutter, Athey,
Cline, Gilbert, Merricks, Cleaveland, Morefield, Edmunds, Cox, J.A.,
Lewis, Keam
And those who did not support you. Let them know that you want their
support when HB 505 gets to the Floor:
Jim Scott, Barlow, Shuler, Paula Miller, Tyler, James
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ACTION ITEMS
First, let's all contact our Delegate and ask him or her to support
the restaurant ban repeal, as it will soon be up for a vote on the
Floor.
Click on the link below to send a prewritten (but editable) message to
your Delegate:
VCDL's "Write Your Legislators" Tool
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If you are a constituent of Delegate Barlow or Delegate Shuler, you
should contact them to find out why they didn't support the restaurant
ban repeal and encourage them to vote for HB 505 on the Floor.
Here is their contact information:
Delegate Barlow:
Phone: 804-698-1064
Email:
delwbarlow@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Shuler:
Phone: 804-698-1012
Email:
deljshuler@house.virginia.gov