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From the Richmond Times-Dispatch (http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/more/MGBY6ICZSAD.html):
State quietly lifts ban on handguns in parks
BY REX SPRINGSTON
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 11, 2003
Signs at state parks say "firearms are prohibited," but people can pack now if they have concealed-weapons permits.
In addition, the state is considering allowing people to carry loaded shotguns and rifles in parks.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation, which runs parks, had banned guns for decades under the theory that it made people safer.
With little fanfare, state officials in late September began allowing people with permits to carry concealed guns into parks. Gov. Mark R. Warner required the change.
"I like this a lot better," said Philip Van Cleave, a Chesterfield County resident and president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group. "Criminals know no boundaries."
Van Cleave occasionally carries a concealed weapon - usually his .40-caliber handgun - into Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield.
"You are out there in the middle of nowhere. If something happens, you are probably on your own."
But Gail C. Horne, executive director of Virginians Against Handgun Violence, said parks are the wrong places for guns.
"That detracts from what we go to parks for, which is to spend leisure time, or time with friends."
Before September, state regulations prohibited guns from Virginia's 34 parks, except in a few areas where hunting is allowed.
That ban was in effect for decades, perhaps since the park system was created in 1936, parks spokesman Gary Waugh said. That right was affirmed, Waugh said, in a December 2001 opinion by then-Attorney General Randolph Beales, a Republican.
On Sept. 9, however, Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore, also a Republican, said the park system "exceeded its statutory authority" by banning legally concealed weapons.
State law specifies where the carrying of a concealed handgun is prohibited. Those places include churches and schools but not parks, Kilgore said.
Warner, a Democrat, directed parks officials on Sept. 23 to admit the concealed guns.
"The Supreme Court of Virginia considers opinions of the Attorney General to have 'persuasive value,'" Warner wrote. "Accordingly, in my view, agencies of the Commonwealth should, as a general rule, defer to an opinion of the current Attorney General."
Waugh said crimes of violence are rarities in state parks, which get more than 6 million visitors a year. The only homicide in recent memory, at Holliday Lake State Park in Appomattox County in the early 1990s, arose out of a domestic dispute, Waugh said.
While concealed weapons have been allowed in parks since September, the conservation department is changing its regulations to officially take the ban off the books. The new rule will take effect Feb. 12.
The agency did not seek public comment on the change. Comments aren't required when an agency changes a rule that conflicts with state law, Waugh said.
Meanwhile, gun-rights advocates have petitioned for other rule changes - to allow guns to be carried openly in parks. If those changes go through, people could wear holstered handguns in the parks, or possibly even carry loaded rifles and shotguns.
Until the conservation department decides whether to approve those changes - the process could last up to a year - parks will leave their "no guns" signs up, Waugh said. The signs will be changed, he said, when it's clear exactly what they should say.
Gun-rights advocates are taking the battle to local parks, too. For example, Van Cleave got Richmond last summer to end the city's ban on guns in parks.
"They had no authority" from the state to ban the guns, Van Cleave said.
Ralph White, manager of Richmond's James River Park system, said guns give a false impression that the parks are unsafe. Also, people with guns tend to shoot signs and harmless snakes, White said.
"A few people will be able to exercise their gun rights at the great expense of the quality of the recreational experiences of everyone else. This is tyranny of the minority."
People who illegally use guns in parks should be arrested, Van Cleave said. Illegal shooting has nothing to do with legally carrying a gun for self-protection, he added.
"This is about being in a park and in a position where you might have to defend yourself."
White said he probably won't do anything if he sees someone carrying a handgun in a holster. If someone carries a shotgun, White said, he would probably escort the person out of the park.
Van Cleave said he wasn't sure that shotguns or rifles could be legally removed from city parks. Practically speaking, however, the debate is mainly over handguns, he said.
Waugh and White said they had not noticed any significant change in park visitors' behavior in the few months that guns have been allowed in state and city parks.
Henrico County is considering lifting its ban on legally concealed guns in parks. Chesterfield allows guns in its parks.
National parks generally do not allow people to carry guns, but there are exceptions, including allowing guns for hunting in some parks.
State quietly lifts ban on handguns in parks
BY REX SPRINGSTON
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 11, 2003
Signs at state parks say "firearms are prohibited," but people can pack now if they have concealed-weapons permits.
In addition, the state is considering allowing people to carry loaded shotguns and rifles in parks.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation, which runs parks, had banned guns for decades under the theory that it made people safer.
With little fanfare, state officials in late September began allowing people with permits to carry concealed guns into parks. Gov. Mark R. Warner required the change.
"I like this a lot better," said Philip Van Cleave, a Chesterfield County resident and president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group. "Criminals know no boundaries."
Van Cleave occasionally carries a concealed weapon - usually his .40-caliber handgun - into Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield.
"You are out there in the middle of nowhere. If something happens, you are probably on your own."
But Gail C. Horne, executive director of Virginians Against Handgun Violence, said parks are the wrong places for guns.
"That detracts from what we go to parks for, which is to spend leisure time, or time with friends."
Before September, state regulations prohibited guns from Virginia's 34 parks, except in a few areas where hunting is allowed.
That ban was in effect for decades, perhaps since the park system was created in 1936, parks spokesman Gary Waugh said. That right was affirmed, Waugh said, in a December 2001 opinion by then-Attorney General Randolph Beales, a Republican.
On Sept. 9, however, Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore, also a Republican, said the park system "exceeded its statutory authority" by banning legally concealed weapons.
State law specifies where the carrying of a concealed handgun is prohibited. Those places include churches and schools but not parks, Kilgore said.
Warner, a Democrat, directed parks officials on Sept. 23 to admit the concealed guns.
"The Supreme Court of Virginia considers opinions of the Attorney General to have 'persuasive value,'" Warner wrote. "Accordingly, in my view, agencies of the Commonwealth should, as a general rule, defer to an opinion of the current Attorney General."
Waugh said crimes of violence are rarities in state parks, which get more than 6 million visitors a year. The only homicide in recent memory, at Holliday Lake State Park in Appomattox County in the early 1990s, arose out of a domestic dispute, Waugh said.
While concealed weapons have been allowed in parks since September, the conservation department is changing its regulations to officially take the ban off the books. The new rule will take effect Feb. 12.
The agency did not seek public comment on the change. Comments aren't required when an agency changes a rule that conflicts with state law, Waugh said.
Meanwhile, gun-rights advocates have petitioned for other rule changes - to allow guns to be carried openly in parks. If those changes go through, people could wear holstered handguns in the parks, or possibly even carry loaded rifles and shotguns.
Until the conservation department decides whether to approve those changes - the process could last up to a year - parks will leave their "no guns" signs up, Waugh said. The signs will be changed, he said, when it's clear exactly what they should say.
Gun-rights advocates are taking the battle to local parks, too. For example, Van Cleave got Richmond last summer to end the city's ban on guns in parks.
"They had no authority" from the state to ban the guns, Van Cleave said.
Ralph White, manager of Richmond's James River Park system, said guns give a false impression that the parks are unsafe. Also, people with guns tend to shoot signs and harmless snakes, White said.
"A few people will be able to exercise their gun rights at the great expense of the quality of the recreational experiences of everyone else. This is tyranny of the minority."
People who illegally use guns in parks should be arrested, Van Cleave said. Illegal shooting has nothing to do with legally carrying a gun for self-protection, he added.
"This is about being in a park and in a position where you might have to defend yourself."
White said he probably won't do anything if he sees someone carrying a handgun in a holster. If someone carries a shotgun, White said, he would probably escort the person out of the park.
Van Cleave said he wasn't sure that shotguns or rifles could be legally removed from city parks. Practically speaking, however, the debate is mainly over handguns, he said.
Waugh and White said they had not noticed any significant change in park visitors' behavior in the few months that guns have been allowed in state and city parks.
Henrico County is considering lifting its ban on legally concealed guns in parks. Chesterfield allows guns in its parks.
National parks generally do not allow people to carry guns, but there are exceptions, including allowing guns for hunting in some parks.
