Centre View
To the Editor:
It’s nearing the end of the campaign season and the Virginia Conservative Action Pac (VCAP) will probably put their fliers on cars in church parking lots, an offensive practice but not nearly as offensive as their failure to tell the whole story in their compare/contrast pieces of “pro-family” candidates. So, given that April 16 destroyed so many families, I will fill in the blanks.
GUNS: These flyers do not usually address this issue, which is troubling for those of us who knew Reema Samaha and Erin Peterson. On the very Sunday my dear friends, the Samahas, were at Virginia Tech to see the stone carved in memory of their daughter, Reema, I passed a volunteer for Sen. Ken Cuccinelli waving a “pro-family” sign in front of St. Veronica’s Church. How can someone who claims to be so “pro-family” be so “pro-gun?” Indeed, Mr. Cuccinelli chose this year, of all years, to host his first- ever Second Amendment fund-raiser at the NRA on June 23rd, which had she lived, would have been Reema’s 19th birthday.
Sen. Cuccinelli, along with Sen. Jay O’Brien and Del. Tim Hugo, received substantial funds and grades of A and/or A-minus from the NRA. These three legislators supported the positions of the Virginia Citizens Defense League 92 percent to 100 percent of the time. They would rather vote with their downstate, rural colleagues than reflect the views of their own constituents who believe that Virginia should pass common-sense gun legislation. Opposing Fairfax County’s efforts to regulate guns in county facilities, they believe that gun owners should be able, without limitation, to carry guns in day-care, teen, senior and recreation centers, libraries, parks and hospitals. Not even the NRA allows guns in its headquarters. They also oppose background checks for private sales in gun shows, allowing potential criminals to purchase guns.
Cuccinelli and Hugo believe patrons should be able to carry concealed weapons into establishments that serve alcohol and oppose a ban on assault weapons. Indeed, the President and Congress they helped to elect let the assault weapons ban elapse in 2004, allowing Seung-Hui Cho to purchase high-capacity magazines. Cuccinelli also believes in guns on college campuses.
MENTAL ILLNESS/SOCIAL SERVICES: For years, Virginia has underfunded its mental health and social services, because legislators like Cuccinelli, O’Brien and Hugo sign no-tax pledges and vote to deny or limit funding or suggest transferring funds from one social service sector to another. Indeed, when Fairfax County legislators gather to hear the requests of non-profit groups, Hugo is usually not present, Cuccinelli is late or leaves early and O’Brien is doing crossword puzzles, “because he’s heard it all before.” When delegates submitted requests for groups such as Best Buddies last session, Hugo gave them a very vocal “dressing down.”
I have seen the faces of grief, sorrow and anguish so profound that nothing will erase them from my memory. I have seen a community so shattered over the loss of two vibrant, beautiful young women that every day is a reminder of our loss. If we truly want to strengthen and help families, then we need to address the issues of mental health and other social services. And we need to address the easy accessibility of guns, assault weapons, guns on campus and background checks for all gun transactions. We, therefore, must look at ALL the positions of candidates and decide whether they truly represent our interests and community. More importantly, we need to decide whether the candidates we elect have the political will to make the changes necessary so that such a tragedy never happens again.
Lu Ann Maciulla McNabb Centreville
Differing Views
Fairfax Station/Clifton Connection
To the Editor:
I cannot understand why I continue to receive mailers and phone calls from the McDonnell and Cuccinelli campaigns. I suppose Mr. McDonnell would like me to forget his “thesis,” and Mr. Cuccinelli wants to reinforce his motto, “Don’t Tread on Me.” However, on every issue, neither one represents me. Both men have not only failed to support funding for education and transportation, they also wish to control the most personal aspects of our lives. For those of us who lost someone we loved at Virginia Tech, they ignore commonsense gun laws and despite proclamations of being pro-life, filed bills to expand gun rights with little regard for public safety.
Mr. McDonnell may claim his “thesis” is history, but from 1998-2003, he repeatedly and unsuccessfully submitted bills to establish Covenant Marriage. Mr. Cuccinelli co-patroned a failing bill with Dels. Bob Marshall and Dick Black requiring that individuals would incur a Class 6 felony if they provided a minor with a contraceptive knowing that the minor was involved with someone three years older. Imagine arresting parents or doctors who, aware of a consensual teenage relationship, suggest protection against pregnancy, AIDs or sexually transmitted disease?
In 2004, both McDonnell and Cuccinelli patroned bills urging Congress to propose a constitutional amendment to declare that civil unions or domestic partnerships, regardless of whether they were single sex or opposite sex, would not be valid or recognized in the United States. Therefore, seniors who chose to live together because they might lose a deceased spouse’s pension or any other adults, who for whatever reason, chose to live together, would be blocked from legally protecting their partner. Even businesses recognize that right.
Both men may declare they are Fairfax’s own, but in 2004, Mr. McDonnell patroned and Mr. Cuccinelli voted for a bill that prohibited local governments from determining their own gun laws. Mr. McDonnell also patroned a failing bill that would have reduced restrictions on hunting near subdivisions. Ironically, while Mr. Cuccinelli opposed the Melendez decision because it imposed more court time, he patroned an unsuccessful bill that would have required courts to prove disqualifications for conceal carry by “clear and convincing evidence.”
Most frustrating is both men’s refusal to consider implementing common sense gun laws such as background checks for unlicensed sales at gun shows, even though the Virginia Tech Panel recommended doing so and the majority of Virginians support it. Rather, both men believe that by addressing the mental health component of the VT tragedy, they resolved the issue. Both men insist that background checks are already conducted at gun shows and they are unwilling to interfere with what they consider “private” sales at a very large, very public event. Licensed dealers do conduct background checks at gun shows, but individual sellers do not, thereby allowing buyers who wish to avoid a background check, to purchase a weapon even if they are a convicted felon, under a court order, or have been deemed dangerous to themselves or another. Mr. Cuccinelli publicly declared that he would “trade off” background checks for conceal carry on campus. If both men truly care about public safety, particularly of our children, then they would agree a two-minute background check is not an imposition, but a necessity. For those of us who lost someone at Virginia Tech, we can attest that saving lives should be at the forefront of any campaign for governor and attorney general, and is just as important as the core issues of education, transportation and the economy. And that is what is most important to me.
Lu Ann Maciulla McNabb
Centreville
Posted in Letters to Editors | Leave a comment