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Bradley Rees, a candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress in the 5th District in 2010, was fined $100 in Lynchburg General District Court for possessing a concealed weapon without a permit.
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Bradley Rees, a candidate for the Republican nomination to run for Congress from the 5th District in 2010, was convicted Wednesday of illegally possessing concealed weapons.
Rees was fined $100 in Lynchburg General District Court, and said afterward he would “absolutely” continue his campaign to unseat Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th District.
“It’s nothing I’m ashamed of,” Rees said, adding that he thought keeping two handguns in his car was safer than keeping them at home, where he has “two curious kids.”
“Your successes shape you as much as your failures,” Rees said.
Rees pleaded no contest in court, and said later that the violation occurred a month before he announced his candidacy on June 25.
According to a prosecutor’s evidence summary, Lynchburg police stopped Rees’ car on May 21 because it displayed an expired inspection rejection sticker.
When the two officers asked Rees to look in the glove box for his vehicle registration, he told them he had a loaded .380-caliber handgun in the box.
He also told them there was an unloaded .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun on the floor. Rees did not have a permit for carrying concealed weapons.
If the firearms had been in plain view on the seat, they would have been legal, Rees said. But he also felt he couldn’t leave the guns in sight while the vehicle was parked at work, he said.
Police confiscated both guns, and Judge Harold Black ruled Wednesday that Rees must forfeit them.
Rees said he had planned to take a hunter-safety course that would have qualified him to apply for a concealed-weapons permit. The course was taught by a friend in Appomattox, Rees said, “and I figured that as long as somebody was going to get paid for it, it might as well be someone I know.”
Twice, however, he was required to work on the Saturdays the course was being taught, so he hadn’t yet acquired the proof of firearms proficiency that is required for a concealed-weapons permit.
Rees said his car had failed a state inspection because of bad brakes and taillight.
He had fixed the brakes, he said, and was on his way to buy a light bulb after work, about 5:30 p.m., when police pulled him over.
Although officers charged Rees with two concealed-weapons offenses and having an expired sticker, he was convicted of just one weapons violation.
The inspection charge was dismissed because the car had been fixed, prosecutor Mike Doucette said.
Rees is one of three announced candidates for the 5th District seat. The other candidates are Feda Kidd Morton, a schoolteacher in Fluvanna County, and Laurence Verga, a real estate investor from Ivy in Albemarle County.
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Reader Reactions
Note to Republicans: At your next party meeting, as you’re complaining about big government, taxes, etc., but inevitably conclude that you need to support the status quo candidate best able to bring home the taxpayer booty, don’t be surprised when you get more of the same big government & higher taxes. This is why the Republicans fail to live up to their promises, why gov’t continues to grow, why a big tax cut saves you $50-, and small tax hikes cost you $5000+, and power continues to be centralized. Its all about bringing it back home, whether you admit it or not.
The more time that I’ve had to think about this so-called campaign, the more of a joke that I think it is. It’s great that the guy likes the Fair Tax initiative and wants to support it. It’s true that Congress and America would be a lot better off with a lot less lawyers writing the laws we live by. It’s even true that many of the members of Congress were only part-time legislators and not lawyers (that was 200 yrs ago), but they were pillars of their communities, business leaders and accomplished public servants.
Mr. Rees demonstrates here in his actions that not only is his judgement and sense of reality circumspect, but that he lacks a basic grasp of what it takes to be a member of Congress. Just because we don’t always think the best of our political leaders, it doesn’t mean that most of them aren’t accomplished. It’s a real shame for Mr. Rees that he wasn’t better advised or thoughtful enough to realize this before now.
I did look at the release on the website. Plenty of us have forgotten a decal or inspection until the deadline and I appreciate Mr. Rees’ decision to inform the officer that there were two guns in the car, neither of which were visible to the officer. I can also appreciate that the judge granted a $100 fine because it was a relatively minor violation.
I disagree, however, on the final statement of the release and its assertion that Mr. Rees was/is a “reasonable gun owner”. To be a reasonable gun owner and a responsible parent requires that you have a gun safe in your home. No excuses. I was raised around guns, I was a junior NRA member, and I remember well reloading shotgun shells with my father beginning around age 4. But all of our guns were kept unloaded, locked in a safe, with the ammunition locked separately. Prior to showing, transporting, or storing the guns, we checked to make sure that they were unloaded. As a parent, I believe strongly in educating your children about guns - not talking about gun safety because you may not have one in the house doesn’t help little Johnny when he goes over to Billy’s house where there is a loaded gun in the side table drawer.
But keeping firearms in the glove compartment of your car to keep them secured away from your children is not an appropriate solution. I certainly hope that at this time (4 months and a campaign declaration since the incident), Mr. Rees has re-evaluated how weapons will be handled and stored in his home to ensure the safety of his children and to demonstrate the rules of responsible gun ownership. I wish him the best in the campaign.
Although Mr. Reed is objective in his reporting, Bradley has issued a statement concerning this matter. Please go to www.reesforcongress.com to see the text.
And by the way, Cosmo, I don’t know what you’re talking about, I never called you any names. As I recall, you were questioning whether or not Brad had a mental disability, in not as nice terms. Name calling has never been part of the campaign.
Michael Ernette
Campaign Manager, Rees for Congress
Hip boots and a manure fork could serve him in Congress, especially with a Democratic majority.
But I don’t think the GOP picked him ... he picked the GOP. And it ain’t workin’!
The Democrats picked a Grand Kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan and it worked out well for him - he’s still in the Senate.
You know, forgiveness and all those virtues.
lablover. He has experience driving a fork lift (see his web page). Could that serve him in Congress?
The GOP really know how to pick ‘em. Peace.
Poor thing just needed more street cred.
Yep, looks like he’s pretty much hosed.
If he can’t remember to keep inspection stickers on his car, and to unload his guns when he carries them (he doesn’t need a permit if he transports them according to the law), then he’s not going to be much competition for Perriello.
Next!
Well, well, well.
I remember back a while ago when this “Patriot” first got in the race. I found myself involved in a lengthy verbal dispute with his manager/handler. I think his name was Mike.
Mike told me his boy was what America needs and that he hated lawyers and wanted to chase the lawyers out of Washington.
It all really started when I remarked that, unless your name was Jake or Elwood Blues, it was not a sign of “high intelligence” to have your name tattooed on your knuckles.
Mike (if that was his name) really took me to task for saying that. Boy did he get hot! Called me some rather unkind names, he did.
Well Mike?
My advice, get him a good lawyer. It’s too late for the tattoos.
Since Virginia is a shall issue state and you can take a course on line, there is no excuse as to why he could not have gotten one.
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