Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

From NRA-ILA:

Virginia: Governor McDonnell Approves Changes to Allow Lawful Carry of a Firearm in State Forests!

Governor Robert F. McDonnell has approved changes to the Virginia Department of Forestry’s Virginia State Forest Regulation 4VAC10-30-170 which will permit law-abiding Virginians to carry a firearm in State Forests. These changes will allow for both the lawful carrying of concealed firearms by those who possess a concealed carry permit, as well as open carrying for anyone in lawful possession of a firearm.

The new language to the Administrative Code is below:

4VAC10-30-170. Explosives, firearms, etc.

No person shall bring into or have in any forest any explosive or explosive substance. This regulation shall not apply to the lawful carrying of firearms and firearm ammunition.

(emphasis mine)

Within 14 days of the Governor’s approval, the Governor must submit the final regulation to the Virginia Registrar of Regulations. Once published in the Registrar, a final thirty-day adoption period begins and a public comment forum opens. After the final thirty-day adoption period closes, the regulation becomes effective.

Please contact Governor McDonnell by emailand thank him for improving Virginia’s regulatory environment for lawful firearm owners!

By the way - if you read the entire posting above, you will note that THIS IS NOT YET LAW.

*******************From VCDL Alert***********************
I reviewed my notes from my contact at the Governor's Office and I think somebody had the status of carry in State Parks and State Forests reversed.

I called Dave Summer, the law enforcement manager with the State Parks, this morning and he confirmed that as of yesterday open carry Is perfectly legal in Virginia's State Parks! We have been able to carry concealed in Virginia State Parks for years, but never openly before.

Governor McDonnell ordered Parks to makes this change and VCDL thanks him for doing so.

State Forests will be coming along. I am waiting for Ron Jenkins, Assistant State Forester, to get back will me about the exact status of carry in Forests. I will advise you once I hear back.

Meanwhile, EM Mike Stollenwerk has an article on all this:

Washington DC Gun Rights Examiner: http://tinyurl.com/4ah8vk6

Va. Gov. Bob McDonnell moves to enforce universal right to open carry

[SNIP]

Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) President Philip Van Cleave applauds the governor's actions, but says more needs to be done. "The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and other agencies have promulgated all kinds of obscure open carry bans around the state affecting certain Wildlife Management Areas, all National Forest land" and elsewhere, says Mr. Van Cleave, "and that's why VCDL is backing Senator [Jill Holtzman] Vogel's bill" to preempt state agencies from banning gun carry anywhere in the Commonwealth.




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VA-ALERT is a project of the 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.

VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org [http://www.vcdl.org/]
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