VA restores CCW reciprocity

[astrodudepsu]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...8c0240-c5d8-11e5-9693-933a4d31bcc8_story.html


In exchange, Republicans will agree to a major concession: Anyone subject to a permanent protective order for a domestic violence offense will be prohibited from carrying a firearm for the two-year life of the order. The issue had been a nonstarter in the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

It includes an amendment offered by Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax City) that says Virginia will not honor an out-of-state concealed carry permit held by a person whose Virginia concealed carry permit was previously revoked — a practice known as “state shopping.”

In another concession, state police must be present at all gun shows to administer background checks in private sales of guns on a voluntary basis. McAuliffe’s budget includes $100,000 to fund the activity.



My only concern is that last bit. Does this mean that if VSP cannot or will not attend a show it must be canceled? $100,000 isn't all that much money for a whole years worth of shows. We have 6?ish HUGE 3-day shows a year up here in NoVA. I can't imagine that they can pay an officer (even just one) to sit at every show in the commonwealth for that little money.

 

[rotor_powerd]

Sounds like the administered checks by VSP are voluntary.

Sounds like a good deal all around to me.

 

[silver03svt]

Sounds like the administered checks by VSP are voluntary.

Not totally true. ALL firearms sales by DEALERS MUST go through the VSP for a background check on the buyer. Our "gun-show loophole" means a PRIVATE seller can sell to another individual without having that individual go through a background check. What this new law will do is make AVAILABLE a background check to the private sellers IF THEY wish to get one done on the buyers.

 

[silver03svt]

My only concern is that last bit. Does this mean that if VSP cannot or will not attend a show it must be canceled? $100,000 isn't all that much money for a whole years worth of shows. We have 6?ish HUGE 3-day shows a year up here in NoVA. I can't imagine that they can pay an officer (even just one) to sit at every show in the commonwealth for that little money.

We are ALREADY at the shows in force. You just don't see us in uniforms. Our guys are there routinely looking for people committing straw-hand purchases, and also arresting people who are attempting to buy while being prohibited by law (felons, etc.....). At the bigger shows, they MIGHT have a person on site from our Firearms Transaction Unit, behind the scenes, to run ALL checks at the show.

 

[rotor_powerd]

Not totally true. ALL firearms sales by DEALERS MUST go through the VSP for a background check on the buyer. Our "gun-show loophole" means a PRIVATE seller can sell to another individual without having that individual go through a background check. What this new law will do is make AVAILABLE a background check to the private sellers IF THEY wish to get one done on the buyers.

I am very familiar with both processes. I was just stating that it sounds like the VSP will be available for voluntary checks on private sales, like you say.

 

[astrodudepsu]

We are ALREADY at the shows in force. You just don't see us in uniforms. Our guys are there routinely looking for people committing straw-hand purchases, and also arresting people who are attempting to buy while being prohibited by law (felons, etc.....). At the bigger shows, they MIGHT have a person on site from our Firearms Transaction Unit, behind the scenes, to run ALL checks at the show.

As long as a VSP presence isn't required for the show to happen I have no issues. I just would be very angry if the Gov could not send a VSP trooper to run checks for the purpose of killing a show. And I wouldn't out something like that past him for a second.

 

[SolarYellow]

In exchange, Republicans will agree to a major concession: Anyone subject to a permanent protective order for a domestic violence offense will be prohibited from carrying a firearm for the two-year life of the order. The issue had been a nonstarter in the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

Sounds sensible.

 

[silver03svt]

I am very familiar with both processes. I was just stating that it sounds like the VSP will be available for voluntary checks on private sales, like you say.

Just put it out there for others to read also! :thumbsup:

As long as a VSP presence isn't required for the show to happen I have no issues. I just would be very angry if the Gov could not send a VSP trooper to run checks for the purpose of killing a show. And I wouldn't out something like that past him for a second.

All gun shows have to be applied for through us to be put on, so if it comes to a mandate that we be there, you'd probably never hear anything about the show being put on to begin with. That being said, I don't foresee a situation where a show wouldn't be put on, or called off, because VSP wouldn't have somebody available.

 

[RedRocketMike]

Excellent.

 

[CobraBob]

I think it is positive news. Doesn't affect me personally, but it will be good news for many others.

 

[jbs$]

For me this is good news. I live close enough to Va that I can wind up in the state by doing a modest Sunday afternoon ride up the Blueridge Parkway. Accidental hassles with law enforcement are always unpleasant and costly.

 

[astrodudepsu]

UPDATE on the deal. Lots of reading, worth it though.

REAKING NEWS: *** February 1 cutoff date for dropping recognition of 25 states has been extended to March 1 ***


THE “DEAL”

As you've undoubtedly heard from the media, there is a package deal in the works between Governor McAuliffe and the Republicans in the General Assembly dealing with 1) concealed handgun permit (CHP) reciprocity, 2) voluntary background checks at gunshows, and 3) those subject to a permanent domestic violence protection order.

To many CHP holders, CHP reciprocity is a HUGE deal, especially if they travel out-of-state regularly and want to be able to carry discretely. For example, there is no solution to carrying in South Carolina if we don’t have an agreement between our two states.

There is a lot of misinformation from the media and elsewhere and a lot of people are coming to the wrong conclusions about what the deal does and doesn’t do. Rumors are flying that gun owners only get back the reciprocity that was taken away by Herring and the State Police - that is FALSE. We have gained important ground!

THE DEAL IS STILL IN THE WORKS. Things could still go south as the key bills that make up the deal work their way through the legislature and onto the Governor’s desk. SO, FOR NOW, NOTHING HAS CHANGED. THERE IS NO ABSOLUTE GUARANTEE THIS WILL BECOME LAW, BUT A REASONABLY GOOD CHANCE IT WILL. If it fails, we may not be able to fix the reciprocity situation for another two-long-years.

VCDL has been privy to the deal for several days, as was a national group. VCDL monitored progress of this potentially groundbreaking advancement of our liberty from its genesis, and provided counsel and discussion points during its evolution.

The final product was given the nod by VCDL, however we will be watching like a hawk for any changes that negatively affect gun owners.


IMPORTANT DETAILS ON THE “DEAL”

There are three components that make up the deal, each component represented by matching bills in the House and in the Senate.

#1 - Reciprocity details - gun owners gain ground!

* Virginia will honor the carry permits from ALL states! This is considerably better than current law and something VCDL has been trying to get for at least seven years now.

* Because Virginia will honor all other states, Virginia CHPs will be recognized by all the states we have lost AND we will gain some new states: New Hampshire, Georgia, and Colorado!

* The State Police and the Attorney General will have NO say in the new law. If another state requires a formal agreement to honor Virginia CHPs, the new law requires the Attorney General to enter into any such agreement. If he fails to do this, item #3, below, does not go into effect.

* One other change on the reciprocity law: If your Virginia CHP is revoked for cause, you won’t be able to carry on a non-resident permit from another state. Not a deal breaker.

NOTE: Just because we are honoring all other states, doesn’t mean we can carry in all those states. Someone from New York will be able to carry here, but we won’t be able to carry in New York unless New York is willing to enter into a reciprocal agreement with Virginia, for example.

As more and more states start honoring out-of-state permits, the prospects of our permit being honored by even more states down the road is bright!


#2 - Voluntary gun show background checks

* Background checks for a private sale are COMPLETELY voluntary.

* The State Police shall be at every gun show in Virginia, by law. (Some gun owners were thinking this was some kind of a trick - that if the State Police don’t show up, the gun show would be cancelled. This should put that worry to rest.)

* The gun show promoter shall notify the State Police of the location and times of the gun show at least 30 days in advance, shall provide a free location for the police to set up, and shall have signs letting attendees know of the voluntary background checks at the State Police booth. (I checked with one of Virginia’s largest gun show promoters on this to see if any of it was objectionable and was told, “no.”)

* The State Police may charge a reasonable fee. (If they charge more than you want to pay, you can just walk away and do the transaction without the background check.)

* NO information on the make, model, or serial number of the gun being sold will be provided to the State Police - i.e. no federal Form 4473! The purchaser will have to fill out the Virginia form, which asks a few questions and has the buyer's name, address, and signature. (If you don’t want to fill out that form, you can just walk away and do the transaction without the background check.)

* There is a carrot: if a background check is run, the seller receives some special legal protections that are currently not available for private sales. If a background check is not run, you don’t have any more or any less legal protections than under current law.

Yes, down the road inevitably there will be some bills introduced that attempt to make the background check mandatory. We get bills on mandatory background checks for private sales every year. We will have to fight and defeat those bills in the future, just as we fight and defeat similar bills today.

For those gun owners who would feel safer selling a gun to someone who has had a background check, this provides a new option in addition to the current option of either asking if the person has a CHP or going through the more laborious and expensive route of letting an FFL do the transfer. It also has no effect on private sales conducted anywhere outside of gun shows, where this voluntary option is not provided.


#3 - Persons subject to a PERMANENT domestic violence protection order cannot possess firearms until the order expires

* The ONLY permanent protection order this restriction applies to is one for domestic violence and NOTHING else.

* The subject of the protection order must have had his day in court along with any legal counsel. Temporary protection orders do NOT affect possession of firearms.

* If the judge, after hearing the defense, decides to issue a permanent protection order anyhow, the subject of the protection order will lose his gun rights for the duration of the order (MAXIMUM of two years), and automatically get those gun rights back when the permanent protection order expires. Note: a new permanent protection order could potentially be issued when the perament protection order expires if the judge thinks a danger still exists.

* The subject of the permanent protection order will have 24 hours to turn his guns over to a person of his choice, as long as that person can legally possess firearms.

* The above is basically federal law already, and state law already prohibits a person with such a permanent protection order from purchasing or transporting a firearm.