Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

Open carry in a National Forest.

From this link VCDL carry guide http://www.vcdl.org/CarryInfo in a National Forest it is prohibited to open carry. New Castle Va is in the Jefferson National Forest.

My son asked if it was legal to carry while we were on a jeep run at Potts Mountain (not Potts Slope where the gun range is located). I told him yes but now I am concerned I was incorrect. It appears to be only CC. The VCDL will have an open carry day in New Castle right in front of the courthouse so there must be some overriding rule.

Anyone shed some light on this topic?

So, Congress approved a law allowing loaded firearms in national parks starting Feb. 22, 2010. The law allows people to openly carry legal owned or possessed handguns, rifles, shotguns and other firearms and also may carry concealed guns as allowed by state statute.

Basically, there are no longer any federal laws restricting possession of non-NFA weapons in National Parks. However, state laws will apply within state boundaries of said park. There are still some Federal restrictions on some NFA items, such as machine guns, for example.

More details can be found at the National Park Service website... https://www.nps.gov

Your information is not correct. The national forest is not a national park. The same rules don't apply.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO ... 066182.pdf

Not to be too picky, but you said I was wrong, and then posted a document that supports my point.

I said that there are no federal laws that cover non-nfa weapons, it's up to the state. The very first sentence in the document you linked say "First, the primary laws governing possession of firearms and other weapons on National Forest are State Laws."

So, I'm a little confused as to what I'm wrong about. That is, with the exception of saying park instead of forest... But the law I mentioned covers both (federal public use lands).

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Thanks for the additional posts.

I remain fully confused. The VCDL will have an Open Carry day hosted in New Castle just in front of the Court House. New Castle is the Jefferson National Forest. There must be some exception somewhere. What am I missing?

The town is not federal property. The forest surrounding the town is federal.

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Oh jeez.

• The second exception to this law allows people with a concealed weapon permit
to carry a loaded, concealed, handgun either on their person or in their vehicle
while on National Forest. This does not apply if the person is engaged in a
primitive weapons season or chase only season.