Virginia gun rights advocates pack heat with pride
 

Virginia gun rights advocates pack heat with pride
by Virginie Montet Virginie Montet 1 hr 46 mins ago

FALLS CHURCH, Virginia (AFP) – About 60 gun rights activists gather in a pizzeria in the Virginia suburb of Falls Church, just outside of Washington DC, their firearms openly displayed in waist holsters.

They are celebrating what they expect will be the successful enactment in Virginia of legislation expanding gun rights for residents. Republican Governor Bob McDonnell has pledged to sign the measure.

With gun control legislation stalled at the federal level in Congress, a number of states have taken matters into their own hands to make it easier for residents to pack heat.

As many as 43 states already have some form of open-carry laws that allow citizens to carry firearms in plain view.

"Gun laws (authorizing openly carrying weapons) and popularity of gun ownership have been going up considerably," said Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, carrying a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol strapped to his belt.

Many gun rights proponents feared that President Barack Obama's administration would take steps to curb gun ownership, but Van Cleave said this has not happened.

In fact, says John Pierce, co-founder of the pro-gun group Opencarry.org, Obama "has done more for us than anybody in recent history," by spurring gun owners to organize at the grassroots level. Also positive, they said, was Obama's decision to allow guns on Amtrak trains and national parks.

"There is absolutely no reason for gun owners to feel insecure at this point," he said.

According to some estimates, roughly 200 million guns are in circulation in the United States in a population of just over 308 million.

Only seven states ban the carrying of firearms openly.

In Virginia, where residents can already openly carry firearms, the new law would expand gun rights to allow concealed carry permit holders to bring loaded weapons into establishments that have a liquor license, including bars, nightclubs, restaurants, pizza parlors and bowling alleys.

"It's legal here, it's been a right since the beginning of the country," says gun owner Rose Brahin, a retired 64-year-old secretary.

"We need to protect our right because if you don't use it they are going to take it away."

Even mass killings like the 2007 shootings of 31 people at Virginia Tech University, a short drive away, have not shaken the conviction of gun rights proponents.

"I carry a firearm for personal protection. I openly carry to show my support for the Second Amendment (to the Constitution) which is our right to bear arms," said 23-year-old student Elizabeth Webb, carrying a Smith & Wesson .38.

"It's a personal responsibility to defend your life in the event of an attack."

Ray Fary, a 53-year-old equipment operator, said carrying a gun is becoming more accepted.

"In most places I go, they treat the pistol as if it may as well be a cellphone or something else you carry under the belt," he said.

Coffee shop giant Starbucks Corp. was forced recently to wade into the gun rights debate, reluctantly saying it would allow customers to openly carry firearms into its stores, as long as they are in compliance with local laws.

The decision sparked outrage among anti-gun activists.

"I don't think having at the next table a guy with a gun is a relaxing way to drink a coffee," said Jill Lucas of the group Protest Easy Guns, which is pressing for more background checks on gun owners and tougher gun control laws as a way to stem gun violence.

While gun rights activists say Virginia is the vanguard, others say the state is asking for trouble.

Virginia Beach police chief Jake Jacocks wrote to the governor, "We can fully expect that at some point in the future a disagreement that today would likely end up in a verbal confrontation, or a bar fight, will inevitably end up with gunfire if you sign this legislation into law."

And yet a cop sitting there is totally relaxing. Cowardly hoplophobes.

And just because you aren't mature enough to disagree with someone without wanting to pull a gun, don't put that on me.

It has been a nice surprise to me that Obama hasn't pushed for new gun laws so far.

Virginia is typically an anal-rententive police state, so I'm surprised.

I agree with this characterization for the NoVa/DC area but the rest of the state is generally from the gun-totin' redneck mold.

In the small towns definitely, but I thought the big cities like Richmond and Hampton were liberal strongholds.

A Virginia liberal is different from liberals in a lot of other areas of the country. Even after the VA Tech shooting and strong lobbying by victims of the shooting and their families VA has so far refused to close the "gun show loophole". From what I have seen most Virginians outside the DC area like their guns regardless of their political affiliation.

I passed two guys on sport bikes Friday...both had firearms in holsters in plain view...

NJ has no state laws against open carry, but god help you if you do.

A few years back I was riding with some friends, both cops both dressed in all black, both had carry concealed permits. We stop in a harlet dealership, and someone niticed on of them had a gun on his hip. Without us knowing they called the cops and emptied the store. Cops show up, guns drawn yelling at us to get on the floor. It took 20 minutes and a full body pat down, verification of their permits and calls to their precincts to make sure they were real badges before they let us go. Yeh people are that paranoid. Realize this, we didnt break any laws except to flash a holstered gun while he was pulling out his wallet