Governor also moves to allow firearms in state forests
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has directed the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation to stop enforcing a law that prohibits people from openly carrying guns in state parks, and endorsed changing state code to allow people to carry firearms in state forests as well.
The directive on state parks follows an advisory opinion McDonnell issued in 2008 as the state’s attorney general, when he found that the DCR lacked the authority to prohibit people from carrying firearms.
Then-Gov. Tim Kaine, however, responded to McDonnell’s opinion by ordering the department to continue enforcing the gun ban in state parks such as Lake Anna and Mason Neck, saying that it was consistent with the department’s legal authority.
McDonnell also signed off on changes to state regulations that would allow both open and concealed carry of firearms in state forests such as Conway-Robinson State Forest in Prince William County. Those changes must still go through a public comment stage.
McDonnell’s moves mark a victory for gun advocates that stands in stark contrast to measures being considered elsewhere in the country, where debate is focused on stricter gun control proposals following the Jan. 8 shootings in Arizona of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and 19 others, six of whom died.
“We’re going in the right direction,” said Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun rights advocacy group.
Joshua Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, argued that with Virginia’s so-called “gun show loophole” that allows gun purchases without background checks, dangerous people could end up open-carrying in parks frequented by families and children.
“You have no idea whether they’re qualified to own a gun or to use a gun,” he said. “So on a public safety level, that’s my concern.”
In 2002, former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore issued an opinion saying that DCR had exceeded its authority when it prohibited concealed handguns by valid permit holders within state parks.
Former Gov. Mark Warner followed Kilgore’s advice and ordered the department to cease the ban.
