How you ask?
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65541
If you do a search on "Dulles" or "MWAA" more history will turn up. As you can see from the cool responses I got above, apparently nobody here really cared to give us in VA a hand when we needed it.
This began( used loosely ) shortly after last year when the Metro washington airports authority was called on their regulation 8.4 which bans weapons on their "Property". Last year, section 15.2-915 was amended to add Authorities to the statewide preemption list, which includes MWAA - the last "A" stands for "Authority". MWAA's enabling legislation states that the court of competent jurisdiction is in Virginia, and Virginia law applies - See Title 5, Chapter 10 of Virginia Code at
http://leg1.state.va.us
Mwaa was challenged by a VCDL member on their unlawful - preempted - regulation. They didn't back down, in fact, threatening arrest and "to the mat" prosecution for any permit holder caught on their property. They also claim property including sections of state roads rt 28 & 606 around Dulles, as well as the toll road. Unfortunately, they're maintained by VDOT. Further, in Virginia, the rules of statutory construct dictate that when 2 laws deal with the same topic matter, the general assembly is presumed to have full knowledge of existing law and interpretation, and therefore the more recent law shall overrule the older one. That meant that MWAA had been preempted. They fought hard, and efficiently, and got a bill introduced by Senator Stolle - SB660. It sucked huge.
flashback - in '03's session, we dodged the NRA backed entertainment establishment bill which created a very narrow exemption to allow concealed carry in restaurants in VA (Open carry is allowed in all of them now). The alcohol sales provision - 30%, opt in requirement and a few other provisions made this unpalatable to VCDL. Unnoticed by VCDL was that Open carry was not prohibited in this bill... or if not unnoticed, ignored. VCDL went all out to defeat this bill, and in so doing made the "NRA - 800 pound gorilla" remark among others. If you think that VCDL is a great organization, you're right, but for an idea of how bad this ticked off the NRA, call them, and tell them you are from VCDL and want to talk about state legislation. See if anybody calls you back.
Now, return to this year... The NRA put out a collection of spin on why it was "Nuetral" on SB660 and how VCDL had created this problem and NRA was cleaning it up... That letter dripped with vengeance. The NRA supported the original 660 which was a total and complete ban, without any provisions for civilians. Now, go back and re-read that. That tidbit was sent to a VCDL member from their delegate.
I have debated with a friend about this, and it is my opinion that the airport ban will be unassailable in the general assembly as it will be politically unpopular to allow "Gun in airports"! Further, I believe that it is best challenged in court as a new restriction, and a clear infringement of the Virginia Constitution. I hypothesize that if we do not challenge this in court immediately, any further attempt to repeal it will meet with an even cooler reception - Delegates and Senators replying 'This has been in place for a while now, and really seems to make sense, how's it hurting anyone?' - Further, the courts will also use this argument in reviewing the new restriction if it is allowed to go unchallenged. This is just my opinion, but I hate to see the antis make any progress...
So, don't forget to call the NRA and thank them for supporting gun control...