by Delegate Glenn Davis
Last week, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring decided it was time to take action to prevent further firearm tragedies in Virginia. Was he banning people in certain age groups from carrying firearms? No. Was he banning people of certain races from carrying firearms? No. Was he banning a certain sex from carrying firearms? No. How about those with certain jobs? No. Maybe those that live in certain cities? Nope. Our AG went after a different category, just as broad as the others, but more absurd. He decided to ban out of state conceal carry permit holders, not from carrying a firearm, but from carrying one concealed.
I know it wouldn’t be legal for the Attorney General to ban the carrying of a handgun by any of the other classifications above, nor am I advocating the thought. I list those categories because as absurd as they sound, at least the Attorney General could make the argument that there has been an incident where an assailant has fit one of those defined groups. A claim that cannot be made regarding the group of people that he did go after, out of state conceal carry permit holders.
To make it worse, not only can Herring not list one tragedy that would have been stopped had his policy been in place, but Herring cannot provide estimates for:
1) The number of out of state conceal carry permit holders entering Virginia annually from states that he deems a concern.
2) The number of out of state conceal carry permit holders entering Virginia annually from states that he deems a concern, and that he also believes would be disqualified based on Virginia law.
3) The number of out of state conceal carry permit holders entering Virginia annually from states that he deems a concern, and that would be exempted as they also hold a permit from a Virginia recognized state like Utah (Utah is seen as having the most widely accepted permit, and 60% of Utah’s 473,000 concealed carry permits have been issued to non-Utah residents).
Additionally, does Herring really believe that a conceal carry permit holder from one of these states, entering Virginia intending to do harm to others, would be deterred from executing their plan because they don’t want to have another crime added to their murder charge? Or in the absurd chance that it was a concern, that they would not just open carry the firearm, which is still legal, to execute their plan?
What is it that prevents some people from understanding the difference between law abiding citizens and murderers? Law abiding citizens get conceal carry permits because it’s the law, and they have no intention or desire to break that or any other law. Murderers don’t bother with conceal carry permits because they have no regard for the law, and they could care less about whether they are legally allowed to conceal their weapons when they are planning their tragic event. Actions like that of our Attorney General only forces law abiding citizens into a position of open carry, and ensures that they become one of the first targets of such a tragedy.
It truly is that simple.
Delegate Glenn Davis is a Republican representing Virginia Beach’s 84th District in the General Assembly.
