[King Prout]

Del. Chap Petersen (D-37), one of only two Northern Virginia lawmakers on the committee, said Howell's bill and the proposed lifting of the concealed-weapon restaurant ban both boil down to a balance between the restaurant owner's right to a safe establishment and the gun owners' right to bear arms.

"There needs to be some meeting of the minds between the two groups," he said. "I do believe that restaurant owners should know who on their property has firearms."

what is this guy smoking? a restaurant is private property. If the restaurant owner does not want people to carry firearms on the premesis, all he has to do is post the policy "no guns" - any patrons who disobey can be asked to disarm or leave; if they refuse to do either, they are guilty of criminal trespass and can be jailed and fined for that offense. I see no justification for the state to get involved in legislating this interaction of property rights and arms rights.

when government wankers start chirping the magic word "balance" I begin to see red.

whadda maroon.

[glock rocks]

You bring an interesting point, at least in today's society.

In my state, if you are a business open to the public, then concealed permit carriers are within the law to carry concealed on that property where the general public is allowed. Can a store owner throw you out and give you a trespass warning because he doesn't like your looks? Probably, unless you're an obvious "protected minority" class...

So... a truly private property owner in my state has such a right to forbid anything he pleases (no... no tattoos allowed), but a property owner who declares his property open to the general public does not, at least in terms of the concealed carry laws. Interesting situation, eh?