Delegate Wants to Cut Concealed Carry "Red Tape"

By Hannah Hess, Virginia Statehouse News Tuesday, January 17, 2012

RICHMOND - The Republican-controlled General Assembly may make it legal to carry concealed weapons without a permit, even though gun owners support the current law.

Virginia law requires a permit for concealed carry, but a measure proposed by State Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania, would eliminate the permit requirement, making it legal for all gun owners to carry a concealed weapon.

But two gun owners visiting Dominion Shooting Range in Chesterfield on Friday oppose changes to the law.

“I think you should have to get a permit,” said registered Republican Craig Perry, 58, of Moseley. “I don’t think just anybody should be allowed to have a firearm. They should show safety, and show that they have responsibility to carry a weapon.”

Perry on Friday perused the guns held in glass cases at the shooting range. He applied for and was issued a Virginia Resident Concealed Handgun Permit through the Chesterfield County Circuit Court.

The process of applying is “pretty straightforward,” said David Washington, 53, of Richmond. He arrived at the shooting range wearing ear protection and hauling his gun in a locked black case.

Washington, an Army veteran, applied for his concealed carry permit by presenting proof of an honorable discharge, then swearing all information provided was true. After a thorough background check, his permit should be issued within 45 days, he said.

Applicants for the permits must be at least 21 and pay a fee of $10 or more. In addition to proof of military service, applicants can submit photo-copied certificates for completing certified gun training courses.

If the background check turns up a restraining order, a drug conviction, a public drunkenness charge, a history of stalking or violent juvenile criminal convictions, applicants will be denied concealed-carry permits.

“With the permit, it kind of makes it a little easier for law enforcement,” said Washington, a registered Democrat. “I’m really not into a lot of legal oversight of what we do as citizens ... but in this case, if you want to do it legally, this is the best way to do it.”

It’s now legal for Virginia residents 18 and older to carry pistols and revolvers openly and without a permit.

“What’s going to be more disruptive in public?” Cole told Virginia Statehouse News on Friday. “You know, if you’re carrying, somebody who’s showing their gun off to everybody, or somebody who’s just carrying it concealed?”

“I just think it’s the right thing to do and would do away with a little bit of bureaucratic red tape,” he said.

Cole’s proposal would leave the permit process in place for Virginians traveling across state lines to places that require concealed-carry permits.

Cole has served in the Virginia House for 10 years. He said the proposal has been tried before, but it was defeated in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Since Republicans now rule both chambers of the Legislature and the governor’s office, Cole said he believes 2012 could be the year it passes.

But Democratic Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, said the perception that his caucus has been a roadblock to pro-gun legislation is false.

“It’s not like the Senate was exactly anti-gun,” he said Friday. “We passed a lot of bills which strengthened Second Amendment rights.”

As a member of the Senate Courts of Justice committee, Petersen helped clear the way for a bill legalizing concealed carry for permit holders in restaurants, as long as they do not consume alcohol.

Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell signed that measure into law in April 2010.

Senate Republicans booted Petersen, who has practiced law for 18 years, off the Courts of Justice committee when they seized control of the evenly divided Senate on Wednesday, using Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling’s tie-breaking vote.

“With the Republicans controlling both bodies, you’re probably going to see more” pro-gun legislation, Petersen said. “Higher quality? I don’t think. But more.”

Delegate Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, vows to vote against Cole’s proposal. She said the permit process is a major benefit to public safety within the state.

“If a police officer stops a car, they can run the license plate and they will know if that person has a concealed-weapons permit,” McClellan said. “That gives them some information we probably want them to have about whether or not that individual is armed, and that would go away.”

H.B. 139 has been assigned to the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety.

View the bill's full text by clicking here.