Removal of Gun Prohibitionist from Crime Panel Crucial Test for Youngkin

U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “NRA officials in Virginia said Thursday that they would ask Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin to remove Lori Haas from the Virginia State Crime Commission, an agency that studies and makes recommendations related to public safety,” the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

Haas, who never saw a gun she didn’t want to grab “was a prominent supporter of the package of gun control bills Northam signed in 2020, including measures to require universal background checks for gun purchases and restore the limit on handgun purchases to one a month.” She also supports “a bill to ban assault-style weapons in Virginia.”

“Two NRA officials said Haas’ membership in the crime commission is a conflict of interest given that she is also a lobbyist,” the report notes.

There’s an understatement. For their part, Youngkin and his people aren’t talking.

That’s hardly surprising to gun owners who have been following the governor-elect’s campaign. He refused to fill out candidate questionnaires from the National Rifle Association and the state grassroots “gun rights” group, the Virginia Citizens Defense League. As “explained” by his spokesflack:

“Glenn is a gun owner and a lifetime member of the NRA who will defend Virginians’ Second Amendment rights. That’s one reason conservatives and groups like The Middle Resolution are supporting him. Politicians love to fill out surveys, but just like President Trump, Glenn isn’t a politician and isn’t spending all his time filling out surveys. Glenn is traveling Virginia, meeting with voters, and telling them exactly what he believes. The best way to protect your Second Amendment rights is to nominate Glenn so he can win in November.”

“All his time”? Talk about a Fletcher moment.

A knowledgeable candidate who is sincere in his principles could complete one of those surveys in 10 minutes, 15 tops, so right there the campaign was equivocating. The truth is, campaign advisors were scared of the issue and figured if they ducked it, desperate gun owners would vote for their guy anyway out of political self-defense.

Naturally, the ever-opportunistic left didn’t let Youngkin’s equivocation stop them from charging “Glenn Youngkin is advancing a dangerous, far-right gun agenda,” accusing him of “advancing a dangerous, NRA-approved agenda that would put more guns on the streets.”

Gun owners can only hope Youngkin does indeed adopt a pro-gun agenda, consistent with AmmoLand News correspondent John Crump’s exclusive inside information:

“I was promised in his campaign office that he would be the most pro-gun Governor in Virginia history, and I intend to keep him to it.”

Keep your fingers crossed. Because as I’ve observed, Virginia’s gun owners voted for Youngkin not because he inspired them with his leadership on the right to keep and bear arms, but primarily because he did not campaign, as McAuliffe had, on disarming them. And the bottom line is, he would not have been elected had a critical mass of armed citizens been so demoralized by his lack of support for them that they decided to go shooting on election day instead of to the polls.

Let’s hope he doesn’t disappoint them the way he just did jab mandate opponents.

That’s why booting Haas from the Crime Commission will be a crucial indicator of what kind of relief and advancement gun owners will be able to expect from Youngkin once he assumes power. That’s because it’s not only her militant anti-gun political agenda that disqualifies her from serving on a panel that is supposed to consider the rights of all citizens, but she has deliberately libeled them. Then, instead of righting her wrong, and offering a genuinely sincere apology, she has tried to hide what she did in the hope that no one who could do anything about it would notice.

From her June 8 statement posted by the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence:

“Now is not the time to go back. Virginia cannot afford to elect Glenn Youngkin and his outdated and harmful stance on gun violence. His willingness to say anything for a vote is deeply troubling, as we’ve already seen him cozying up to those with deep ties to those at the forefront of the insurrectionist movement, like Senator Amanda Chase and the domestic terror organization, the Virginia Citizens Defense League. Youngkin’s base of support stems from those who promoted the ‘Big Lie,’ stormed the U.S. Capitol and attacked our nation. That is disqualifying. Plain and simple.”

You’ll note the link goes to an Internet Archive/Wayback Machine web crawl. The libel about VCDL being a “domestic terror organization” has since been deleted.  The press release was reissued without a correction, retraction, or revision notification, something that didn’t happen until VCDL made it clear legal consequences could result. (My understanding is the board has punted on pursuing this, and I’m hoping some members will remind them about the Nicholas Sandmann solution and what that could mean for their pro-2A war chest.)

Making a change like that is not only highly unethical but also reminiscent of a strategy employed by another violence monopoly advocate who figured the best way to control the present was by “disappearing” embarrassing information from the past.

To use Lori Haas’ own words, that is disqualifying. Plain and simple.

The ball, Mr. Youngkin, is in your court. Assuming your which-way-the-wind-is-blowing advisors will let you swing at it…

About David Codrea:

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.