imported post
Your VCU campus cop is absolutely incorrect, and was just making it up. There is no general prhibition against carrying, OC or CC in Richmond VA.
There IS, however, a general prohibition against carrying, or even POSSESSING a firearm on VCU's campus, regardless of whether or not you have a permit, unless you have express written permission from the President of the University:
I want to make 3 points when it comes to dealing with LEO's in general, and Campus LEO's in particular:
Point 1: Don't EVER take the word of a "campus cop" when it comes to the laws of your state or city. Most of them don't know ANYTHING about "real world" law, and the vast majority of them are campus cops because they don't have the intellectual wherewithall to make it through their state's Police Academies. In my experience, I have serious doubts that most campus cops have even read the statutes that govern their jurisdictions, or the statutes that deal specifically with the most common issues with which they deal. In fact, I am beginning to have serious doubts about the general literacy rate among campus police in general.
Point 2: Don't take the word of a "regular cop" as correct when it comes to the law. Cops are NOT lawyers--they are "enforcement officers"--it is NOT their job to interpret the law. It is their job to try and catch you doing something they THINK is wrong, collect the fees and fines, and then let the Courts sort it out...
Point 3: Here is the REAL statute concerning prohibitions of certain types of firearms in specific cities in VA:
§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 that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material and is equipped at the time of the offense 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 law-enforcement officers, licensed security guards, military personnel in the performance of their lawful duties, 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. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
The exemptions set forth in §
18.2-308 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the provisions of this section.
What this essentially means is that as long as your pistol DOES NOT have 1) a threaded barrel, OR 2) a folding stock, or 3) a 20-round (or more) magazine, you are good to go.
And if you have a valid Concealed Handgun Permit (from VA or ANY state with reciprocity with VA), you are exempt from this prohibition, whether CC or OC. At least that's how I read it.
But IANAL.
Contact the VA Attorney General's office:
Good luck sorting this out. When you do get it sorted out, xerox the pertinent statutes and mail copies to the Chief of Campus Police, the Student Board of Governors, and the Dean of Students, and let them all know that the campus police gave you incorrect information regarding the law, and need to be corrected and educated.
