Posted on 05/31/2012 4:29:34 AM PDT by marktwain
Virginians who can lawfully possess firearms do not need concealed-weapons permits to keep loaded handguns within reach in vehicles, according to Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II.
The official advisory opinion does not codify anything new — that job would be the General Assembly’s — but clarifies what some had seen as a potentially nebulous recent change to state gun law.
Before 2010, absent certain exceptions, the law that prohibited carrying a concealed weapon without a permit also barred transporting a handgun “in a concealed manner” in a vehicle. This included guns that were stored in glove compartments or center consoles.
The 2010 legislature, however, added another exemption for “any personwho may lawfully possess a firearm and is carrying a handgun while in a personal, private motor vehicle or vessel” — an exception that applies when the gun is securedin a container or compartment. Itneed not be locked, according to Mr. Cuccinelli.
The opinion, released this week, was in response to an inquiry from state Sen. Stephen D. Newman, Lynchburg Republican.
“You have what appears to some to be contradictory sections of the code now, and I think the attorney general did a really good job,” he said.
Mr. Newman asked for the opinion because a constituent was having trouble getting a clear answer on the applicability of the law, he said.
“This individual had gone to numerous law enforcement agencies and had asked the same question and had gotten different answers from each one,” he said. “On something like a gun charge, you just can’t have that. It’s important to have law laid out very clearly.”
Employers can still bar firearms on their property, Mr. Cuccinelli said.
“The Constitution of Virginia protects the right to bear arms, but it also recognizes the importance of property rights,” he wrote.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
ping
fair enough. Now don't ever ask to look inside my car because it's MY PROPERTY.
Of course this gets clarified two days after I get my notice in the mail that my CHP has been approved.
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