Part II
Joining Cole in the fight to protect the current open-carry law and amend the restrictions on concealed-carry is Philip Van Cleave, the president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League.
"We're the only state in the union that requires that somebody openly carry in a restaurant as opposed to keeping their guns concealed. There are a few states that won't let you carry in a restaurant at all - but the vast majority of them, if you have a permit, you're perfectly free to carry in a restaurant that serves alcohol," Van Cleave told the AFP.
"We're the lone state that says, Well, we trust you to carry virtually everywhere you want concealed, but in a restaurant, even though you don't drink, and you've got no problems with drinking and driving, because you couldn't get a permit if you did, we know all of that about you, but we still don't trust you to carry concealed.
"Many restaurants would love to see that changed. We run into places where the owner will say, We don't like you carrying in here. [That was a slight misquote - I said, "We don't like you carrying OPENLY in here." - PVC] Geez, I wish you could conceal it. And then we have to explain to them why.
"We're constantly looking at the issue - because this is a constitutional right that we're talking about here," Van Cleave said.
'Not happen again'
Yates has heard from Williams and Robertson to get their read on the events of July 15 - and is not satisfied with what they have had to say.
"I don't want the conduct of the officers on the scene personally called into question. I never felt that they were unprofessional or anything like that. But a friend of mine said, Does being polite excuse being a tyrant? I'm not likening them to tyrants, but again, six cars for nothing wrong? Six cars for going to the bathroom?" Yates said.
"I don't think it's responsible of them to not have some kind of policy to deal with a situation like this," Yates said. "To automatically assume criminality violates the entire tenet of our Constitution. The whole presumption of innocence gets thrown out the window when you start sending a six-car response to a bunch of people going to the bathroom.
"I did not ask for an apology. I did not ask for any kind of money compensation or anything like that. I simply want it to not happen again," Yates said.
Williams noted in an Oct. 1 letter to Yates that he plans to address the issues that have been raised in connection with the Casa di Scotto's incident with his department.
"We are always looking to improve our level of service to the citizens whom we serve, but we will meet with all of our officers and dispatch personnel to remind them that there is no law that prohibits individuals from carrying firearms in public places," Williams wrote in the letter. [That is a good idea. But we do want to make sure that it actually happens - hence our going to the Staunton City Council meeting. - PVC]
Aside from that, though, "We have to handle these kinds of things on a case-by-case basis. That's the way that the courts handle these cases," Williams said.
"This is not something that is common - and people are generally worried when they encounter these kinds of things. And they think it's getting worse. They see reports on TV about school shootings and the other things going on, and they get worried when they think that something might happen. And then they call us - and we have to act," Williams said. [Agreed - you have to act, but NOT overreact! - PVC]
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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
***********************************************
Joining Cole in the fight to protect the current open-carry law and amend the restrictions on concealed-carry is Philip Van Cleave, the president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League.
"We're the only state in the union that requires that somebody openly carry in a restaurant as opposed to keeping their guns concealed. There are a few states that won't let you carry in a restaurant at all - but the vast majority of them, if you have a permit, you're perfectly free to carry in a restaurant that serves alcohol," Van Cleave told the AFP.
"We're the lone state that says, Well, we trust you to carry virtually everywhere you want concealed, but in a restaurant, even though you don't drink, and you've got no problems with drinking and driving, because you couldn't get a permit if you did, we know all of that about you, but we still don't trust you to carry concealed.
"Many restaurants would love to see that changed. We run into places where the owner will say, We don't like you carrying in here. [That was a slight misquote - I said, "We don't like you carrying OPENLY in here." - PVC] Geez, I wish you could conceal it. And then we have to explain to them why.
"We're constantly looking at the issue - because this is a constitutional right that we're talking about here," Van Cleave said.
'Not happen again'
Yates has heard from Williams and Robertson to get their read on the events of July 15 - and is not satisfied with what they have had to say.
"I don't want the conduct of the officers on the scene personally called into question. I never felt that they were unprofessional or anything like that. But a friend of mine said, Does being polite excuse being a tyrant? I'm not likening them to tyrants, but again, six cars for nothing wrong? Six cars for going to the bathroom?" Yates said.
"I don't think it's responsible of them to not have some kind of policy to deal with a situation like this," Yates said. "To automatically assume criminality violates the entire tenet of our Constitution. The whole presumption of innocence gets thrown out the window when you start sending a six-car response to a bunch of people going to the bathroom.
"I did not ask for an apology. I did not ask for any kind of money compensation or anything like that. I simply want it to not happen again," Yates said.
Williams noted in an Oct. 1 letter to Yates that he plans to address the issues that have been raised in connection with the Casa di Scotto's incident with his department.
"We are always looking to improve our level of service to the citizens whom we serve, but we will meet with all of our officers and dispatch personnel to remind them that there is no law that prohibits individuals from carrying firearms in public places," Williams wrote in the letter. [That is a good idea. But we do want to make sure that it actually happens - hence our going to the Staunton City Council meeting. - PVC]
Aside from that, though, "We have to handle these kinds of things on a case-by-case basis. That's the way that the courts handle these cases," Williams said.
"This is not something that is common - and people are generally worried when they encounter these kinds of things. And they think it's getting worse. They see reports on TV about school shootings and the other things going on, and they get worried when they think that something might happen. And then they call us - and we have to act," Williams said. [Agreed - you have to act, but NOT overreact! - PVC]
***********************************************
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
***********************************************
