[David Park]

Yesterday, Gov. Warner signed nearly all the gun bills that VCDL was tracking. (See http://www.vcdl.org/ ) Unfortunately, that includes some dumb anti-gun-rights bills like the ban on weapons in airports unless they're locked in your luggage. I think the only bill that wasn't signed regards CCW while hunting; it was sent back to the Senate for some minor wording changes.

As of July 1, we will have full pre-emption (all pre-1987 local laws are dead; ex.: no more ban on open carry in Alexandria), reciprocity/recognition with a lot of new states including Florida, the ability to buy long guns anywhere in the USA (repealing the old "contiguous states" law), the ability to buy more than one handgun a month if you have a carry permit, and some other stuff. And, of course, the repeal of firearms permits (w/waiting period) in large counties, so look for the upcoming 1000-table gun show (http://www.cegunshows.com/) at the Dulles Expo Center! :eek: :D

I'm sure VCDL will send out an email update soon with all the details.

[mtnbkr]

<doing the happy dance>

BTW, what was the issue with hunting and CCW? I thought it was legal to CCW while hunting if you had a permit

Chris

[XLMiguel]

So far, so good, warner's been pretty much a stand-up guy re: 2nd A issues. Still lotsa heavy ifting to be done, esp. about the airport BS. Write early, write often, join/supprot VCDL!

edited for typos :rolleyes:

[The Undertoad]

Well, sucks about the airport bill, but the rest of it sounds good to me! Now I reeeally need to get the CHL, so I can buy more than one gun a month. :D

[El Tejon]

Congrats to Ol' Virginny ridding themselves of that inane "one book a month" law!!!:cool:

[Diggler]

Any reciprocity with PA in that thar' bill?

[David Park]

One gun a month is still around, it just doesn't apply to certain people (permit holders and C&R private sales). And last I heard, the PA reciprocity was being held up on the PA side, but maybe the new laws will help. We'll have to wait for the VA state police to announce the official reciprocity/recognition list.

Here's the email from VCDL's president, which mentions some stuff I missed (like non-residents can apply for carry permits!):Uncork the champagne and prepare to celebrate the BEST year for gun
owners in Virginia since 1995! Your hard work, countless emails and
phone calls have moved mountains!

Governor Warner has signed every gun bill that came to his desk,
except one (SB326 - a cleanup bill). SB326 had an extremely minor
wording change and I expect it to be approved by the House and Senate
and passed into law next week.

The magnitude of this victory for gun owners in Virginia is
staggering and I am proud that VCDL led the way by drafting some of
the key bills and by supporting all of the pro-gun initiatives.

The main changes to VA law effective 7/1/2004 are:

* Full preemption for everyone including non-permit holders. No more
city pistol purchase permits, park bans, etc. Virginia will now have
one set of statewide, consistent gun laws! This bill was put in at
VCDL's request. Thank you Delegates Cole and Hogan!

* No more county pistol permits or waiting periods (congratulations
Fairfax and Arlington!) This bill was put in at VCDL's request.
Thank you Delegate Cole!

* No one-gun-a-month for permit holders or curio and relic
collectors. Thank you Delegate Janis!

* More states will recognize Virginia permits and Virginia will
recognize more permits from other states - including two we just
recently stopped recognizing - AZ and ID! Thank you delegates Athey
and Abbitt (Abbitt put in VCDL's version).

* Non-residents can apply for Virginia permits

* If there is a delay in issuing a permit, you will be automatically
given a 90 day temporary permit.

* You will be able to buy long guns in any other state that allows
such a purchase and gun owners from other states can by long guns
here.

* If you are denied a permit, the court must tell you why and what
you can do to appeal it.

The one downside was SB660, the airport terminal ban, was also signed
into law. We will work to correct all the problems in that bill next
year.

One more item I was holding until HB530 was signed into law is that a
enormous (1,000 table) gun show is coming to Northern Virginia! C&E
Gun shows, who does the huge 600 table Richmond gun show at the Show
Place, is going to host the new show in Fairfax county, The show is
scheduled for July 31st through August 1st at the Dulles Expo Center.
For more information, click here:

http://www.cegunshows.com/dulles_ad.htm

What a victorious year! I want to thank all of you for answering my
repeated calls to action in what was a continuous flood of alerts
following fast changing events in the General Assembly. Together we
have all advanced the rights of gun owners not only in Virginia, but
across the nation! Bravo, VCDL, bravo!

************************************************************
VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL).
VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to
defending the human rights of all Virginians. The membership considers the
Right to Keep and Bear Arms to be an essential human right.

VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org
************************************************************

[David Park]

To read the text of all the new laws, go to VCDL's homepage (http://www.vcdl.org/) and click on the Legislation Tracking Tool link. It's really cool.

The current law on CCW while hunting reads:[The penalty for carrying a concealed weapon] shall not apply to:
7. Any person actually engaged in lawful hunting, as authorized by the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries, under inclement weather conditions necessitating temporary protection of his firearm from those conditions; Once the wording of the new law is fixed, the following will be added to the end of the sentence above: , provided that possession of a handgun while engaged in lawful hunting shall not be construed as hunting with a handgun if the person hunting is carrying a valid concealed handgun permit So right now you can cover up in bad weather (which is most hunting weather in VA), permit or no permit. The new law, when signed, will explicitly state that CCW with a permit is legal while hunting, providing legal protection from overzealous Game Wardens.

Many of the signed bills change the same parts of the law, so I'm waiting for the new Code of Virginia to be published before I really dive into figuring out all of the new stuff.

[Ironbarr]

Between TFL and THR, I've seen many questions re gun law in Virginia, whether out-of-state permits, buying/selling across state lines, LEO carry, reciprocity and recognition, gun shows, private sales, and probably a dozen other subjects. Conditions here are good compared to other states - AND - on July 1, 2004 it will be Much Better.

I suggest that you use the VCDL.org links posted in some of these posts, and the peruse the VCDL site. If you have an interest in current and future information regarding our RKBA efforts and gun shows around the state, please join the free VA-ALERT mail list.

In the meantime - a more direct link to the VA bills that we tracked and worked on - including those 19 recently signed off by Governor Mark Warner (D) that we supported and the 5 we didn't support. Read it all for information - effective July 1, 2004 - here at VCDL's Legislation Tracking Tool. (http://www.vcdl.org/static/2004leg.html)

-Andy

[The Undertoad]

I've been meaning to join VCDL for about two years. Now I think I'm gonna get off my butt and do it. Check will be in the mail as soon as I pay summer tuition and rent. :)

[cookhj]

someone please clarify this buying across state lines thing. does that mean i can go to a dealer in that state and buy something? am i allowed to make a private sale with someone in that state?

[PATH]

Virginia now appears to have more sensible gun laws now. Sounds like great state to set up shop in! All this is good news and I do so enjoy good news.

[David Park]

cookhj, it's still pretty confusing, but not as bad as it used to be. First of all, federal law says handguns cannot be purchased out-of-state; it has to be shipped to a dealer in your state who will then do the transfer. Long guns, however, can be purchased out-of-state, as long as you don't violate federal law, and as long as you obey the laws in both states.

Virginia used to have a few laws that made this last part difficult. First of all, VA law said that you could only buy a gun in a contiguous state. This law is silly in light of all the current federal restrictions (like NICS checks), so it's about time it was repealed. Second, even if you were buying in a neighboring state, you had to obey all the VA gun-buying rules like filling out the VA State Police form that's similar to the 4473. Of course, most out-of-state dealers are not going to put up with that hassle.

Once the new law goes into effect, I will be able to drive up to Pennsylvania and buy a rifle or shotgun, as long as I obey all PA and federal laws. However, the new VA law explicitly states that a NICS check must be performed, so out-of-state private sales are not allowed.

Here are the bills:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?041+ful+HB1144ER
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?041+ful+HB1302ER

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, I'm not an expert, caveat emptor, don't expect an out-of-state dealer to understand all this, etc. Hopefully, a new edition of the Virginia Gun Owner's Guide will be published next year that explains all these new laws to us laymen.

[w4rma]

I love my governor.

[Cool Hand Luke 22:36]

One-gun-a-month must die next. Obviously it hasn't cut the crime rate in D.C. like it was supposed to.

[JohnBT]

"I love my governor."

I don't. He probably signed them all my mistake as confused as he is. JT

[cookhj]

ok, so as long as i go to the other state and buy it from a dealer, that's fine. cool, i can deal with that.

[K-Romulus]

*sniff, wish i was back home, sniff:( *

Did my part for you guys by emailing both state legislators and Gov. Warner - I guess it worked!

Unfortunately that bogus Airport bill passed, making the Dulles Toll Road (even the "local lanes") "airport property" where you can be arrested for having a pocket folder. :rolleyes:

This means I can renew my VA CCW when it expires in December 2004, allowing me to carry while camping in MNF in W VA.:)


On a side note: I remember filling out the VA State Police form when I bought my 10-22 at the Dale City gun show. Here in MD, the only form I would fill out for an identical purchase is the 4473! That's weird!

[Kharn]

Great job, guys!
Now I'll be able to carry in VA when I'm on my monthly pilgrimage to the land of the free (assuming my Florida permit arrives before or soon-after July 1...).

Kharn

[The Reaper]

The WMATA already has banned all "weapons" on their property. The airport bill the govenor signed affects the small "general aviation" and small passenger airports that didn't already have a ban. WMATA covers Dulles, the road to Dulles, Reagan National, and all associated parking areas.

The form is the SP-86 form. It was brought about because VA had an insta-check system before the Federal NICS was in place. My checks were a whole lot faster back then.:(

So this session brought about mostly progress and some setbacks. Still a lot of work to do.

[MJRW]

"The airport bill the govenor signed affects the small "general aviation" and small passenger airports that didn't already have a ban. WMATA covers Dulles, the road to Dulles, Reagan National, and all associated parking areas."

Does that include the Dulles Toll Road between Route 28 and Wiehle Avenue? I take that every day to and from work.

[Smurfslayer]

It's MWAA - Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, not WMATA (metro).

[ScottS]

One-gun-a-month must die next. Obviously it hasn't cut the crime rate in D.C. like it was supposed to.

I don't know why. What's bad about a law that requires you to buy one handgun a month? Sound like a sensible law to me. :)

Scott

[The Reaper]

You're right Smurfslayer, I always switch those two around. Both groups have issues as far as I'm concerned.

What I'm not clear about is if the MWAA rules affect the local toll road lanes or just the access road. I know the road was built on MWAA purchased land. I'm going to check with a FFX Officer I know who works out of the Reston station. He patrols the Toll Road and that area. I'll bet the FFX police don't even know if it is legal to CCW on the toll road or not.

[David Park]

The issue is that MWAA says they can ban weapons anywhere on their property, but they don't have the authority to do so. They are supposed to be subject to state and federal laws, which means they can only ban guns inside the secure area of the terminal (until the new law goes into effect). They have been denying this and saying they have authority to do whatever they want (which is why VCDL started calling them the Sovereign Nation of MWAA), but I think they knew the truth all along, which is why they pushed for the new airport gun ban this year. See the VA-ALERT Archive section of the VCDL site for more details.

So, if I got stopped by MWAA on the toll road, they (meaning the MWAA cops, not Fairfax) might try to arrest me for carrying or confiscate my sidearm, but I would fight the charges and I bet they would be dropped. We'll have to see if they "clarify" their policy after the new law goes into effect.

[Roadrunner]

I'm curious if the MWAA can ban firearms from the Dulles Toll Road and Route 28 (the portion that borders the Dulles Airport's East side) after July 1, 2004. If so, what will the MWAA do with the big gun show at the Capital Expo Center on July 31, 2004? (http://www.cegunshows.com/dulles_ad.htm)

Between the vendors and show attendees, there will be 100s if not 1,000s of firearms traveling up and down the Toll Road and Route 28 that weekend.

[Ironbarr]

They'd either have a fine arsenal and a jailhouse fullup, or one heck of a something or other. Either way, it wouldn't be fun.

Headlines and TV spots galore.

[Teufelhunden]

cookhj:ok, so as long as i go to the other state and buy it from a dealer, that's fine. cool, i can deal with that.

Good job Cook, make VA better AFTER I leave. :rolleyes: I wonder if they'll have reciprocity with GA in case I come back to visit...

-Teuf

Semper Fi.

[madmike]

Is there a list of states VA now recognizes?


I feel a bit sore about such issues, as IN recognizes all licenses from everywhere, and it's only a misdemeanor to carry without one.

[Ironbarr]

Don't be mad... http://www.vcdl.org/ccw.html scroll down to map.

This - hopefully - should be changing as time and State Police move on.

-Andy