Virginia Governor Glenn Younkin recently stood tall and strong for the rights of law-abiding gun owners by vetoing 30 bills that would have imposed more laws designed to undermine the 2nd Amendment, the Right to Bear Arms. The package of bills intended to ban numerous semi-automatic firearms, such as the AR-15 and AK-47, as well as standard-capacity magazines.

In the Governor’s statement regarding his veto of restricting semi-automatics and magazines, he said, “The Constitution precludes the Commonwealth from prohibiting a broad category of firearms widely embraced for lawful purposes, such as self-defense. Despite this, certain members of the General Assembly have pursued legislation banning most contemporary semi-automatic firearms and specific ammunition-feeding devices.”

Other bills vetoed stated to impose a mandatory waiting period on gun purchases, allow baseless lawsuits designed to bankrupt the firearms industry, prohibit our nation’s long-standing tradition of individuals building and modifying firearms for lawful use and restrict where law-abiding permit holders can carry firearms for self-defense.

NRA-ILA Executive Director Randy Kozuch stated, “Governor Glenn Younkin’s courageous veto of dozens of ill-conceived gun-control bills is a resounding victory for the 2nd Amendment in Virginia. His refusal to bow to unconditional overreach-stopping widespread bans on semi-automatic firearms, blocking ill-conceived laws like arbitrary waiting periods and unjust age restrictions-underscores his fierce commitment to safeguarding our fundamental rights.”

Comment from the Editor of the PA Outdoor News about CWD!

Jeff Mulhollem, the editor of the Pennsylvania Outdoor News newspaper, made an interesting comment about Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). He said, “Given the PA Game Commission’s extremely robust financial position, the spread of CWD in our state and the threat it poses to influence deer hunters to drop out of the sport, I strongly urge the Commission to devise a way to reimburse hunters whose harvested deer test positive for CWD.

With $500 million in reserves, at the very least, the Commission should reimburse hunters butchering and processing fees if their deer test positive.  And other financial incentives should be considered as well, such as offering free doe tags in disease management areas. Treat hunters as partners in the battle against CWD.”

Janice and Paul Keesler Student Scholarships 

Available!

The Janice & Paul Keesler Scholarship Fund is accepting applications from qualified students who wish to receive scholarship assistance. The scholarships are available to any New York State resident who has been accepted into an accredited institution of higher learning and is or will be working toward obtaining a degree in some facet of wildlife management.

The application deadline is September 22, 2024. The scholarships will be distributed in the fall of 2024. To date the fund has had the honor of distributing more than $31,500 in grants to deserving wildlife management students.

For more information and to get an application, go to:  keesler-scholarshipfund.org.