West Virginia's Governor Invites Virginia Counties to Join the State to Avoid Proposed Gun Laws

"West Virginia is an incredible state, and West Virginia is truly on the move," he continued. "We're a loving, good people, faith-based people. People that really know the difference between right and wrong."

"If you're not truly happy where you are, we stand with open arms to take you, from Virginia or anywhere you may be. We stand strongly behind the Second Amendment, and we stand strongly for the unborn," Justice said.

With Justice was Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, who said it was time for a "VEXIT," alluding to the United Kingdom's "Brexit" from the European Union.

"The Democrats are anti-life, anti-Second Amendment, anti-liberty, and even anti-business with their oppressive environmental regulations," Falwell said. Adding, "While there will likely be a robust debate about how cities and counties could leave their home state of Virginia, one thing is for absolutely certain: many counties are taking a long, hard look at escaping the barbaric, totalitarian, and corrupt Democratic Virginia regime in Richmond."  thenewstalkers

gee, I wonder who stands to pocket the most cash from this proverbial circle jerk of brainless malcontents.

From my house in Virginia It is about 10 miles to West Va

If you follow what Jim Justice has done to the coal miners in WV, you won't want him as your governor. Although since his mines are in many different states, I think he's already screwed you guys as well as Kentucky.  He's currently trying all kinds of tricks to pretend that all those mines aren't actually in his family, but it doesn't seem to be working so far.

This would be awesome. I would love to see this.

What did I ever do to make you hate me?

Ha ha ha! I just think it would be fascinating to see state lines redrawn, or add a few states either by breaking up some states or adding new land. 

Those goddamn fools in Richmond better pay attention.  The western part of the state is tired of them treating us like redheaded bastards at the family picnic,  Good stuff always goes east of the mountains and they have always expected us to be happy with scraps.   

You all should go join West Virginia as should western Md, the pan handle to Frederick and Hagerstown, and the far north over to Ocean City.  

Get in line behind the proposed state of Jefferson.

I am trully sorry if it is meaningful to you, my friend Charger,

but it is not going to happen any sooner than Jefferson becoming a state.

So there is no state of West Virginia to join?

This is very different from Jefferson becoming a state and separating itself from California.

Virginia might scream; but the precedent is already set.

Actually, the rural areas of Virginia have long been over-represented considering the population and tax revenue of the rest of the state. The old white men just aren't happy now that they've lost the power they've always had; funny how we're always told to suck it up, Trump won, but when it's their turn to suck it up, they start crying like little babies. 

And we in WV don't need more counties that will suck away more tax revenue than they bring in. We especially don't need the likes of Jerry Falwell and his bogus university - we need more good education, not more crappy education.

Hmmpphhh. I think we're only 49th in the country, not last, when it comes to education - so there!

That's hilarious!

"We're a loving, good people

Some of us in WV are. Jim Justice is not one of those. He changes political parties at the drop of a hat (he was a Democrat when he won the election as governor) - and he owes millions in back taxes and fines for safety violations at his mines. His family fucks over the people of WV every chance they get.

Some Republicans just can't accept defeat.

Jim Justice

He sounds like a real dandy but it doesn't change his message.   The urban anti gun message does not play well with most of rural America.   Something anti gunners are going to have to get used to.    Genuine or not he is speaking to them.

I know of few gun owners who are against truly "common sense" gun laws.   I know many gun owners (including myself) who trust few law makers to have the real "common sense" required to write them without trampling all over law abiding citizens liberties.   Thereby illustrating a large part of the problem.

Virginia's new gun laws don't seem that extreme to me. Interviews with people at the protest showed that most of them don't even understand what the new rules are, they're just reacting to right wing media and the NRA trying to get them all hysterical. Why shouldn't private sellers have to run background checks just as any other gun seller does, to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them?

(As an aside - I have a huge problem with how WV lets anyone carry without requiring a permit or any training. I'm not a fan of yahoos running around armed without having a clue what to do in a crisis. Some of the people I know who've hunted their entire lives have absolutely no clue about the rules of gun safety.)

Large states with a combination of rural and urban areas have always had this kind of disconnect among their citizens. When WV was formed, it was actually to get away from the minority rule of VA, so it's somewhat ironic that this is attempting to do the exact opposite. The vast majority of Virginia voters agreed with these gun laws.

Banning entire classes of weapons and magazines is extreme.   No other way to put that.

The Red Flag Law, while great in concept is full of potential problems.   If it's implemented/operated in a fair and honest fashion and has reasonable mechanisms to regain weapon rights i'm all for it.   Problem is, that's a huge if.

Same with the background checks.   I've often desired to have that mechanism available as a private seller as long as no records are kept by the Fed after the transaction is approved.   Again it needs to be implemented correctly and the Fed doesn't have a great track record of doing so.

Not sure what one gun a month is supposed to fix.   When it doesn't change anything will it be changed to one gun a year and then one every five years, etc, etc.   Again, good in concept but it isn't going to fix much if any of the problem and politicians know that.   Its just a first step to more restriction for them IMO.

The vast majority of Virginia voters agreed with these gun laws.

Careful which Tyranny of the Majority you support.   The next time it may affect you negatively.

Predicated on the wording, me simply loaning one of my hunting rifles to a family member or friend I'm going hunting with could make me a felon or just letting a friend or family member use my gun at a shooting range could do the same.

That would suck - I have a couple of friends with huge arsenals and I had a blast going to the shooting range with them. One of them brought all his guns to my house several years ago; I set up a couple of wooden sawhorses and bought dirt-cheap pumpkins after Halloween, and introduced him to Pumpkin Plinking. Asshole could shoot the stem off the pumpkins (but then, he was a Marine and also belonged to a gun club where they played "hostage situation" with different colored bowling pins. I would add that both of these guys made me tell them all the gun safety rules before they let me touch any of their guns, and watched me closely to make sure I was following them.

Banning entire classes of weapons and magazines is extreme.   No other way to put that.

It really isn't and has been upheld by the SCOTUS after Reagan signed the Brady Bill.

The Red Flag Law, while great in concept is full of potential problems. If it's implemented in a fair and honest fashion and has reasonable mechanisms to regain weapon rights i'm all for it.   Problem is, that's a huge if.

It certainly can be abused, but then every law can be abused. In the proposed laws I'm familiar with gun confiscation must be approved by a judge and can be appealed. If not then it should be written in before getting passed or amended where such law has already passed.

Same with the background checks.  I've often desired to have that mechanism available as a private seller as long as no records are kept by the Fed after the transaction is approved.   Again it needs to be implemented correctly and the Fed doesn't have a great track record of doing so.

Either someone can or can't purchase a weapon. I don't see any need to keep a record of it other than to catch someone suddenly purchasing dozens of weapons in a very short time indicating a plan to a mass shooting by a person in crisis. Perhaps a mandatory record purge somewhere around 30 to 90 days could be a compromise? As far requiring this as a private seller I can see letting this part of the process be done through a local dealer or an online portal. 

Not sure what one gun a month is supposed to fix.

Yeah I'm not following the logic on this one. 

I can't argue with your skepticism about the Fed doing things right, but obviously I do think some gun control measures are valid.

Not sure what one gun a month is supposed to fix.

I don't either, to be honest. I can just picture the time my uncle bought two matched Colts, one serial number apart.

I also have a problem with requiring people to have a 'LICENCE' to take advantage of a Constitutional Right.

Some people would claim that requiring voter ID restricts people's Constitutional Right to vote ... I guess it's all relative.

(as they say, it's all relative in West Virginia)

I bet these people hate him

Try reading about all his mine safety violations and the back taxes he owes - millions of dollars which these poor counties could desperately use. $70 million just in civil suits, not to mention a huge conflict of interest with money he's made off Greenbrier. And that's just a start - there are plenty more examples.

Glad you love crooks and liars so much.

I think they'd rather have their loved ones back who died because of him.

Even some Republicans are talking about having a primary this year so the Deadbeat Billionaire doesn't get re-elected.

Thanks for reinforcing my opinion that your comments deserve zero respect.  And glad you reinforced that you love crooks. Hey, it's just business, right?

He's well-known among local merchants for not paying his bills.

There's a $1 million judgment against him for just a single vendor, as I recall.

Why do so many voters elect crooks without blinking an eye? I mean, we see a few people in here who clearly don't care about those things, but are that many voters really that stupid? And he was a Democrat, for crying out loud (for what that's worth in a WV politician) - you would think that would have been a double whammy.

forbes

He is also a man who has a hard time paying the bills.

Since 2016 courts have ordered Justice and his companies to pay more than $10 million to more than a dozen suppliers, workers and government entities. Over the same time, his companies also piled up $13 million-plus in tax liens. He claims to have paid off many of these. Still looming: another $60 million in potential damages in a civil case awaiting final judgment, plus up to $3 million in fines in Kentucky. And then there’s mine reclamation. By federal law, when a surface mine closes, the operator has to restore the landscape. Virginia’s Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy estimates that Justice’s coal companies face $200 million in reclamation liabilities. (Justice claims it will cost closer to $10 million.)

...

In December 2017, a U.S. district court in New York issued a judgment for $843,000 against Justice’s Southern Coal in favor of National Union Fire Insurance Co. That judgment was transferred to West Virginia, where the U.S. Marshals Service was tasked with seizing assets from Southern Coal accounts at banks that included Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase. The marshals found nothing but closed or empty accounts. In January, the court appointed a special commissioner to help get to the bottom of it. Justice tells   Forbes   he plans to settle this one for as little as $150,000. 

Another plaintiff, James River Equipment, sued Justice Energy in 2013 (when it was temporarily owned by Mechel) over a $150,000 unpaid invoice. Justice may have inherited the problem, but his foot-dragging and finger-pointing have made it much worse.

removed for context

Can't refute,  so throw out bs. 

NICE

Because he had a "D" after his name

West Virginia is a red state.

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, (D) to (R)…..

" Sokath ", his eyes uncovered/opened ".

" Temba ", his arms wide/open ".

And before that, he was an (R) who switched to (D). He seems to belong to whichever party he thinks will serve him best at the moment. Although maybe it's because he's really more of an independent; I can't really see why switching to Democrat would have helped him in the election. If he could beat the Republican nominee in the general, I would think he could have beaten him in a primary; and it's not like being a D is generally an asset in WV. The one thing I can't understand is how the United Mine Workers could have endorsed him after what his companies have done to our coal miners.

From Wiki:

he has proposed raising the state's revenue by $450 million, primarily by increasing the consumer sales tax, reinstituting the business and occupation (B & O) tax , and establishing a "rich man's" tax. ^[26] He also opposed plans to cut health and education spending

These don't sound much like GOP initiatives. We already lose a lot of sales to states like MD and PA who have lower sales tax, so raising them wouldn't exactly be popular. And our small business owners HATE the idea of the B&O tax.

With all that rhetoric you posted....what about what he is saying "TODAY" !

" Sokath ", his eyes uncovered/opened ".

Any thought ?

Where is Tanagra?

Where is Tanagra?

Where Ever you want it to be !

"Kira at Bashi" – to tell a story.

With all that rhetoric you posted....what about what he is saying "TODAY" !

I've already talked about that.

I've already talked about that.

Not with me !

NICE

with their oppressive environmental regulations

So protecting the environment is oppressive?

So is that the new religious mantra? Fuck the environment as long as some can make a buck.

The people in coal country know the coal companies have destroyed their environment - and gotten rich by doing it. You can't even fish in many of those areas these days.