VA Lawyer
Regular Member
imported post
Hello all,
I am newly signed-up to the site (great site by the way!) and a quick search did not reveal the answer to some questions (more hypothetical than anything else) that I have about the laws relating to open carrying in VA. I would be particularly interested to hear if anyone has experience with LEO or court interpretation. I have not researched any court opinions on the specific items below.
If these issues have been beaten to death already, I apologize. I also apologize for the length of this post...
First - the statute:
I believe that the VA Code section regarding open carry is the following (slightly redacted for length):
"§ 18.2-287.4. Carrying loaded firearms in public areas prohibited; penalty.
It shall be unlawful for any person to carry a loaded (a) semi-automatic center-fire rifle or pistol ... equipped ... with a magazine that will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition or designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer or equipped with a folding stock or (b) shotgun with a magazine that will hold more than seven rounds of the longest ammunition for which it is chambered on or about his person on any public street, road, alley, sidewalk, public right-of-way, or in any public park or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public in the Cities of Alexandria, Chesapeake, Fairfax, Falls Church, Newport News, Norfolk, Richmond, or Virginia Beach or in the Counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Henrico, Loudoun, or Prince William.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to [people who's job it is to be carrying], or any person having a valid concealed handgun permit or to any person actually engaged in lawful hunting or lawful recreational shooting activities at an established shooting range or shooting contest. ..."
Second - topics of conversation:
1. This does not speak to rimfire rifles. Does that mean that one could open carry a GSG-5 (for those unfamiliar with the GSG-5, there is a picture here - http://www.gsg5rifle.com/item/77083_GSG-5_Rifle.aspx) under the statute, even in those enumerated restricted areas (Alexandria, Chesapeake, Fairfax, etc.)?
2. As the statute says that one may not carry in only certain areas (again - Alexandria, Chesapeake, Fairfax, etc), it appears that this means pretty much anything can be open carried in other areas (e.g., a silenced, semi-auto AK-47 with a 75 round drum mag and underfolder stock is fine). Your thoughts?
3. "The provisions of this section shall not apply to... any person having a valid concealed handgun permit..." Sounds to me as though if you have a concealed carry permit, you can open carry that AK-47 in Fairfax too. Thoughts?
Again, just curious to see what you guys think and whether you've had any experience with this situation. I first asked over at http://www.ar15.com and they directed me to you folks. Glad to have signed up over here!
:celebrate
Hello all,
I am newly signed-up to the site (great site by the way!) and a quick search did not reveal the answer to some questions (more hypothetical than anything else) that I have about the laws relating to open carrying in VA. I would be particularly interested to hear if anyone has experience with LEO or court interpretation. I have not researched any court opinions on the specific items below.
If these issues have been beaten to death already, I apologize. I also apologize for the length of this post...
First - the statute:
I believe that the VA Code section regarding open carry is the following (slightly redacted for length):
"§ 18.2-287.4. Carrying loaded firearms in public areas prohibited; penalty.
It shall be unlawful for any person to carry a loaded (a) semi-automatic center-fire rifle or pistol ... equipped ... with a magazine that will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition or designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer or equipped with a folding stock or (b) shotgun with a magazine that will hold more than seven rounds of the longest ammunition for which it is chambered on or about his person on any public street, road, alley, sidewalk, public right-of-way, or in any public park or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public in the Cities of Alexandria, Chesapeake, Fairfax, Falls Church, Newport News, Norfolk, Richmond, or Virginia Beach or in the Counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Henrico, Loudoun, or Prince William.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to [people who's job it is to be carrying], or any person having a valid concealed handgun permit or to any person actually engaged in lawful hunting or lawful recreational shooting activities at an established shooting range or shooting contest. ..."
Second - topics of conversation:
1. This does not speak to rimfire rifles. Does that mean that one could open carry a GSG-5 (for those unfamiliar with the GSG-5, there is a picture here - http://www.gsg5rifle.com/item/77083_GSG-5_Rifle.aspx) under the statute, even in those enumerated restricted areas (Alexandria, Chesapeake, Fairfax, etc.)?
2. As the statute says that one may not carry in only certain areas (again - Alexandria, Chesapeake, Fairfax, etc), it appears that this means pretty much anything can be open carried in other areas (e.g., a silenced, semi-auto AK-47 with a 75 round drum mag and underfolder stock is fine). Your thoughts?
3. "The provisions of this section shall not apply to... any person having a valid concealed handgun permit..." Sounds to me as though if you have a concealed carry permit, you can open carry that AK-47 in Fairfax too. Thoughts?
Again, just curious to see what you guys think and whether you've had any experience with this situation. I first asked over at http://www.ar15.com and they directed me to you folks. Glad to have signed up over here!
:celebrate