The Virginian-Pilot
©
RICHMOND
Mike Standing owns an Oceanfront restaurant. He owns guns. He can’t see a reason to combine the pair.
“Why would somebody want to have a gun in a restaurant?” said Standing, of Waterman’s Surfside Grille in Virginia Beach. “In case the crab legs came alive and got angry?”
Standing’s question is a relevant one now that a bill to let permitted owners bring a concealed weapon into bars and restaurants has passed both houses of the legislature. The House approved it Thursday.
The measure, SB476, lets people bring concealed handguns into bars and restaurants – as long as they don’t drink while they’re there.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Emmett Hanger Jr., R-Augusta, requires people with concealed weapon permits to notify a designated restaurant employee of their firearm.
The bill makes it a misdemeanor crime for the person to consume alcohol. Current law lets a person carry a gun into an eatery only if the weapon is visible.
“I’ve been waiting for this bill for years,” said Del. Harvey Morgan, R-Gloucester. “I thought it was absolutely insane for someone who was legally carrying a firearm to find a way to dispose of it to get a bite to eat.”
Opponents of the bill argued that no good can come from it.
“Guns and alcohol don’t mix,” said Del. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond. “They lead to trouble.”
After a passionate debate, the bill passed 62-36 on a largely partisan vote.
While Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is expected to veto the measure, he said earlier this week he hadn’t yet read the bill or decided what to do.
“My strong feeling,” Kaine said in an interview, “has been that bars and Pizza Huts where families go to have pizza with their kids, that more weapons in those places does not lead to public safety.”
Kaine also is expected to veto another measure passed Thursday by the House .
That bill, SB436, would allow people without concealed weapons permits to put handguns in a locked glove compartment or other interior compartment of a car.
State law now requires those weapons be in plain sight in a vehicle. The bill, opposed by police, passed on a largely party-line vote, 69-29.
Kaine hasn’t said what he’ll do with the bill, but he vetoed a similar one two years ago.
It takes a two-thirds majority – 67 votes if the full House is present – to override a veto.
Staff writer Warren Fiske contributed to this report.
Richard Quinn, (757) 222-5119, richard.quinn@pilotonline.com
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New Concealed Weapons Bill
I support the bill, I am a Armed Security Officer in Virginia. While working we can make arrest and issue summons just like a police officer. Problem is when we work in areas where we make large numbers of arrest for drugs, beatings, and etc. the courts smack them on the wrist and sends them back on the street. We then run into them on our off duty time and that's why I carry a concealed weapon off duty, but with out this bill I have to find somewhere to eat that doesn't serve beer, wine, etc. and it's getting harder and harder. Remember gun control only effect those of us who follow the law. Those who don't could care less, if they break a gun law, what's one more, or two, or so on. I've ran into three people I've arrested and helped to send to jail only to run into them in life off duty. The first time I had no weapon, they did, I ran. I wised up and the second two times I did and called for back up. Not everyone who carrys a weapon is a gun nut, some of us face real danagers because we do a job that helps protect the public.
“Why would somebody want
“Why would somebody want to have a gun in a restaurant?” said Standing, of Waterman’s Surfside Grille in Virginia Beach. “In case the crab legs came alive and got angry?”
Mr. Standing's comment is a pretty fair example of how those who have no valid argument to support their position will resort to stupidity to try and ridicule their opposition.
How many people have been assaulted/robbed/murdered in places where they were "supposedly' safe? I myself was standing in front of Yale University when three thugs attempted to mug me. I was lawfully carrying a concealed pistol, and when I opened my coat and showed them the pistol, they went away and left me alone. IN FRONT OF YALE UNIVERSITY!
The Police cannot prevent violent crime to an individual. I am a former police officer and I can tell that that is a fact! In fact the Supreme Court and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals handed down similar decisions: "The police have no legal responsibility to provide for the protection of the individual citizen". The police investigate crime AFTER it has taken place.
We are not talking about "gunfights at the OK corral"; we're talking about common sense preparedness.
Back in the day
Men were required to check their weapons at the bar. Sounds like they had common sense! Others seem to not understand what that even means.
No facts georges61555 ? Go on a personal attack....
(laughing)
I guess it is no class then...
Guns SAVE Lives!
No thanks pourshot
I won't be enrolling in one of your classes. I now know I will sleep better knowing you and others will be in the restaurant and on the streets to protecting me. Yeah right! Keep telling yourself that, because it is my personal opinion people who feel they have the need to carry a concealed weapon have extreme low self-esteme problems. They were probably bullied at some point and now they want to get even, and by the grace of the law they legally can do so. You scare me, just as much as a bully of a cop who was the school bully in his day. Certainly not all cops are bullies I happen to know a number of fine offices, but there are rotten apples.
Picture This in Your Mind
Many of the posts from the Anti-Gun Nuts remind me of the lady that jumps up on the table Screaming when she spots a mouse on the floor.
Some miss the point
We all have various reasons for carrying concealed weapons. For some, it is to have the upper hand of surprise in self defense, for others it is the confidence of knowing, and for me it is for defense of myself and family without brandishing it in my childrens faces and making others in the community feel discomfort. Sure, this is not the wild west. I am not in a militia, nor do I necessarily feel that I need to carry into a restaurant. But many seem to be missing the point, which is not the destination, but rather the means of getting there. I walk to most restaurants, and it is on those walks where we are at the most risk. As nice as Ghent is, law obiding citizens in this neighborhood, along with our peers in Park Place have long battled the few criminals in our area who prey on pedestrians, be them waitstaff leaving work with cash tips or families leaving nice restaurants. You don't need to know I have it, I'll be happy to tell my server when I order my coke. Chances are we've already exchanged pleasantries while passing on Colley Ave, and it wasn't a big deal then, was it?
CS vs. Barbie's ilk,(Professional Victims).
It's obvious to me that CS has a pretty good grip on this topic. His responses are well thought out and Quite Reasonable. However; Barbie and her ilk are not at all reasonable, do not understend Any of the implications of this debate, rely on Bogus information, Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics, and above all are too Emotionally Stressed by this topic to really make any Sense. However; as I stated earlier, they are Quite Entertaining.
Hey Miss Barb
I'm sorry that the other gentleman insulted your intelligence. You seem like a very compassionate and considerate person. From reading your comments it seems to me that you have lived a life where you have not been exposed firearms or had to deal with real violence on any level. You are fortunate. But the reality of it all is there are people out there that have been exposed. Honest, hardworking, god fearing, educated and qualified people that are tired of being prayed upon. I know that the thought of guns in your presents makes you nervous, rightly so but in retrospect it is in your best interest that good people are carrying legally. Freedom and safety in this country unfortunatly has been paid for as uncomfortable as it seems in blood. There are people out there that if they had the opportunity to benefit from you would spill yours. You have been lucky enough at this point not to see it. It does exist and I promise that you will not see my gun to protect my family while you eat. I also know that everyone out there is not out to get me...
and back to you....
Sure swd2k you are happy to see me again-because you ALWAYS enjoy making rude remarks about me. So if that makes you happy, enjoy. I have no problem with someone having a different view then me-I really enjoy debating. But to make remarks suggesting that have no brain, you are just turning debating into a demeaning little game.Like a child, and why? I never said that people who have guns are bad or are not law abiding citizens. You need to read the whole post not just parts of it. I am not the one that is going out and thinking everyone is out to get me, so I need a gun. That is basically what you are saying, you never know at any time somebody will come out shooting? And who's to say you are the better shot and SAVE all of us, with out hitting us?? I can still be killed in the cross fire, and you can read that in the paper too. Then what? That is not being safe, and I wont walk around thinking I need a gun because the next guy may have one?? Then again sometimes I forget where I am...Shoot first ask questions later. Great logic.