Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine vetoed two bills Tuesday that would have expanded the right to carry concealed weapons in locked glove compartments and in restaurants that serve alcohol.
Kaine, a Democrat, said the measures posed a danger to law enforcement officers and others, and argued one of them would run counter to existing laws on gun permits and background checks. The move represents a basic stalemate over gun control that has barred either political party from enacting substantive legislation on the issue this General Assembly session.
One bill, introduced by Sen.Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Winchester, would have let a gun owner skirt the concealed-weapon permit process if he or she kept the gun in a locked compartment in a motor vehicle or boat. Kaine shot down a similar measure two years ago.
The other bill, from Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta, would have allowed permit holders to enter bars and restaurants with concealed firearms as long as they didn’t drink at the same time.
“Allowing concealed weapons into restaurants and bars that serve alcohol puts the public, the employees and our public safety officers at risk,” Kaine said. “I take seriously the objections of law enforcement to this measure.”
The bills had passed both chambers of the legislature by comfortable margins in the Democrat-controlled Senate and Republican-controlled House, where rural downstate Democrats often break with their Northern Virginia counterparts on gun-control issues.
House Republicans protested the governor’s move in floor speeches Tuesday. Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, said the veto “shows disdain for law-abiding gun owners.”
Del. Clifford “Clay” Athey, R-Warren, said the glove-box bill was only a minor alteration of concealed-carry law.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
