Virginia Governor Signs the Guns Allowed In Restaurant Bill

Virginia Governor Signs the Guns Allowed In Restaurant Bill

Virginia –-(AmmoLand.com)- Today the Governor signed most of the gun bills that were on his desk. He made suggested changes to the other bills and sent them back to the General Assembly for a vote. NOTE: the bills below will not become effective until JULY 1st.

So don’t carry concealed in a restaurant that serves alcohol, or if you don’t have a CHP, don’t have a handgun within reach, but locked in a compartment or container in your vehicle until then.

ALSO, VCDL will be celebrating the restaurant ban repeal on July 1, so mark your calendars. We will be having celebrations at specific restaurants across the Commonwealth. Details to come in a week or so.

Many thanks to Governor McDonnell for standing up for Virginia’s gun owners and helping to restore some more of our Second Amendment rights this year!

Key bills signed into law:

• SB334 and HB505, Senator Hanger’s and Delegate Gilbert’s restaurant ban repeals, respectively. YES!
• HB109, Delegate Cole’s bill that repeals the law that allows counties to register handguns and tax them.
• HB1191, Delegate Griffith’s bill that allows a Circuit Court Clerk to sign off on a CHP if there are no problems with the application.
• SB3 and HB8, Senator Smith’s and Delegate Carrico’s bills, respectively, to clarify that CHPs can be renewed through the mail.
• SB408, Senator Vogel’s bill to allow non-CHP holders to lock their loaded guns in a compartment or container in their vehicle.
• SB533, Senator McDougle’s bill to clarify that first time CHP applicants have a right to an ore tenus hearing if they are turned down for their permit.

The following bills have suggested amendments that the House and Senate can vote up or down. If voted up, they become law. If voted down, the Governor can sign the bill without his changes or he can veto the bill:

HB885, Delegate Athey’s bill to allow a non-CHP holder to have a loaded handgun in a locked container or compartment in a vehicle has a suggested amendment, which VCDL likes, that the container or compartment does NOT have to be locked. The problem is that this suggested amendment was not made to the matching Senate bill (Vogel’s SB408). Since SB408 is now law (but not yet effective) and requires the container or compartment be locked, I’m not sure how the situation would be resolved if both bills are signed into law. Whatever it means, we need to push for the Governor’s amendment to HB885.

HB1217, Delegate Lewis’ bill to allow elementary schools to teach firearm safety has a suggested amendment that would repeal a last minute change that allows the school to pick a somewhat anti-gun curriculum. VCDL supports the Governor’s amendment for that repeal.

ACTION ITEMS:
You need to send a message to your Senator and your Delegate, asking them to support Governor McDonnell’s changes to HB885 and HB1217.

To send a message on HB885 and HB1217 to your Senator, click here;
https://tinyurl.com/y2pxp9h

To send a message on HB885 and HB1217 to your Delegate, click here:
https://tinyurl.com/yye2w6n

About:
Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right. Visit: www.vcdl.org