INFRINGEMENT ON CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS
ANTI-GUN DEMOCRAT ISSUES ORDER WITHOUT CONSULTING LEGISLATURE FOR APPROVAL
"FOR THE (ALLEGED) SAFETY
OF POLICE & CITIZENS"
ABOVE: VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL MARK HERRING
Virginia Attorney General Unilaterally Eliminates Concealed Carry Reciprocity
Republicans, gun rights activists question legality
of voiding 25 state agreements
BY STEPHEN GUTOWSKI
SEE: http://freebeacon.com/issues/virginia-attorney-general-unilaterally-eliminates-concealed-carry-reciprocity/; republished below
in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
The Virginia attorney general announced on Tuesday that he would unilaterally eliminate gun carry reciprocity agreements with 25 other states on Feb. 1, a move that will affect millions of Americans.
Attorney General Mark R. Herring, a Democrat, released a statement with the details of the action he is taking.
“To ensure Virginia’s law and safety standards for concealed handgun permits are applied evenly, consistently, and fairly, I have recommended the State Police terminate the reciprocity agreements with 25 states whose laws are not adequate to prevent issuance of a concealed handgun permit to individuals that Virginia would disqualify,” Herring said. “The State Police has accepted that recommendation and has begun sending letters to the 25 states informing them that as of February 1, their permits will no longer be recognized by Virginia.”
He called the move a “commonsense step” and said it would make Virginia police safer. “To me, this is a commonsense step that can help make Virginians and our law enforcement officers safer by ensuring that our concealed carry laws and safety standards apply to everyone in Virginia, whether they are a resident or a visitor,” he said. “Strong, consistent enforcement of Virginia’s laws and safety standards can prevent disqualified people who may be dangerous or irresponsible from utilizing a concealed handgun permit, and it’s what the law requires.”
The attorney general did not provide examples of those with out of state gun carry permits who have committed gun crimes in the Commonwealth.
Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller said the department doesn’t have any statistics on such crimes.
“That’s not something we readily track,” she said.
Herring said a large number of states with which Virginia has reciprocity agreements do not employ the same standards for issuing permits as Virginia does.
He said his office determined 25 of the 30 reciprocity agreements would need to be vacated. Those states are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Once Herring’s order goes into effect on Feb. 1, 2016, Virginians will not be able to carry in many of those states and gun carry permit holders from those states will not be able to carry in Virginia.
The only state permits Virginia will continue to honor are those from West Virginia, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.
Open carry without a permit by anyone who can legally possess a firearm will continue to be legal for both residents and non-residents.
Some states whose permits will no longer be honored in Virginia may still honor Virginia permits depending on their state gun laws. The attorney general identified Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee as states which would continue to recognize Virginia’s permit.
Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wyoming will no longer honor Virginia’s permits due to the attorney general’s actions.
The Virginia State Police said the change was a normal part of a continual process of review that involves both the agency and the attorney general.
“This is a consistent process for the State Police and the list consistently changes,” spokeswoman Geller said, “because, obviously, the laws change. … So we’re consistently reviewing [the agreements] with states all across the nation. We’ve been doing it ever since the reciprocity agreements came into effect back in the mid to late 90s.”
Geller could not remember the last time a state reciprocity agreement was canceled. “I’d have to check with our legal office to see if we’ve got that on file,” Geller said. “I’m not sure.”
Geller said the State Police had no specific plan beyond information posted on their website and media reports to inform Virginia residents or the residents of the 25 states in question about the change.
When asked again about the scale of the change to reciprocity agreements, Geller said, “It’s significant.”
Virginia Republicans and gun rights activists were caught off guard by the holiday announcement and are still deciding what to do in response. They expressed skepticism that the attorney general’s move is legally permissible and harshly criticized the move.
“I had no hint,” said Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. “No hint anywhere that there was a review anywhere or that anything was going to change.”
“We’re going to want to look at the criteria that they used [to review the agreements] and I bet you we find criteria in there that doesn’t apply.”
“We were surprised to see that,” Bill Howell (R.), Virginia speaker of the house, told the Washington Free Beacon. “I find it interesting that the attorney general said he was going to take the politics out of the attorney generals when he’s really injected them in an even greater way than we’ve seen in recent time.”
The speaker went on to say he is not convinced the attorney general has the power to void all of the 25 reciprocity agreements he is targeting. “We’re doing research on this right now but there’s probably about half the states, maybe more than that, we have written agreements with and I don’t think the attorney general or anybody can just go in and abdicate a written agreement,” Howell said. “So the number of states it impacts may be a lot less than what we’re seeing right now.”
Howell also indicated that the Republican majorities in the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate are looking at legislative action to reverse Herring’s order. He said that any legislative option would likely have to overcome or outmaneuver a veto by Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D.), who recently enacted a number of gun control measures through executive action.
Both Herring and McAuliffe’s moves came after their party failed to recapture a majority in the Virginia House and Senate despite millions of dollars in donations from gun control activists.
Gun rights activists warned that the attorney general’s move puts millions of Americans in greater danger.
“Some woman with a child who’s under a death threat by an ex-spouse from Tennessee who comes into Virginia is effectively disarmed so that some politician can look like he’s done something,” Van Cleave said.
The National Rifle Association called the attorney general’s action “dangerous and shameful” in a statement.
“Plain and simple, this is putting politics above public safety,” said Chris Cox, head of the 5 million member gun rights organization’s lobbying arm.
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Virginia Refuses to Honor Concealed Carry Permits From 25 States
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
Virginia's Democrat Attorney General Mark Herring announced Tuesday that the Old Dominion State will no longer recognize concealed carry permits from 25 states that had previously been recognized. The move has angered many who feel it is an end-run around the right to keep and bear arms. There may be political fallout for Herring, as well.Many states honor other states' concealed carry permits. Sometimes reciprocity is required (state A will honor state B's permits only if state B will honor state A's permits). Some states will honor other states' permits regardless of whether the other states honor theirs. This allows a concealed carry permit holder from one state to carry his weapon concealed when traveling to other states.Virginia currently recognizes concealed carry permits from 30 states, allowing those visitors the same level of personal protection they enjoy in their own states. It is good for tourism and other business; those who take seriously their ability and responsibility to defend themselves and their families take that into consideration when planning family vacations and other trips. Now, all of that is changing.Herring said Tuesday that Virginia will no longer recognize permits from 25 of those 30 states, effective February 1, 2016. His "logic" — if this writer can stretch the word that far without it breaking — is that those 25 states have low standards for those who obtain permits leading to them issuing permits to "fugitives, convicted stalkers and drug dealers," according to a report by the Associated Press.That is a strange claim considering that one of those states, Kentucky, performs monthly background checks on permit holders to ensure they are still qualified to hold the permit. As Concealed Nation reported, "Their rationale is simple: if a person commits a felony after getting his or her concealed carry handgun, how else will the Kentucky State Police know about it and be able to revoke his or her permit?" So if a permit holder in Kentucky fails to come up clean on the background check each month, his permit is suspended. According to Concealed Nation, any of the following is cause for immediate suspension:• Felony conviction and/or imprisonment • Indictment for any charge that carries with it imprisonment of up to a year's time • Subject to a restraining order • Renouncing U.S. citizenship • Dishonorable discharge from the armed forces • Documented mental illness • Drug abuse or treatment for drug abuse • Misdemeanor or felony charges of domestic assaultHerring said his office sent letters to the 25 states on Tuesday making them formally aware of his decision. The states are:Alaska Arizona Arkansas Delaware Florida Idaho Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Minnesota Mississippi Montana Nebraska New Mexico North Dakota North Carolina Ohio Pennsylvania South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Washington Wisconsin WyomingBecause of reciprocity agreements requiring Virginia to recognize their permits in order for Virginia permit holders to conceal carry in their states, Virginians who previously enjoyed the unhindered right of self-defense in six of those states, will no longer be able to do so. Those states are:Florida Louisiana North Dakota Pennsylvania South Carolina IdahoThe other states (other than Delaware, Minnesota, Washington and Wisconsin — which already do not honor permits from Virginia) will presumably continue to allow Virginians who hold a permit to conceal carry in their states.Herring referred to his decision as "a common sense step that can help make Virginians and our law enforcement officers safer by ensuring that our concealed carry laws and safety standards apply to everyone in Virginia, whether they are a resident or a visitor." He did not cite even one case in which a concealed carry permit holder from another state had made "Virginians and our law enforcement officers" unsafe.According to a report by The Virginian-Pilot, the Virginia Citizen's Defense League has accused Herring of making his decision as a payoff for political contributions:The Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group, sent an email to its list Tuesday morning saying the announcement was done to pay back former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his campaign donations in Virginia legislative races this fall.Bloomberg's Everytown For Gun Safety group spent $2.2 million for two Democrats in state Senate races."I've never heard of a single case of an out-of-state permit holder causing problems in Virginia," said Philip Van Cleave, president of the gun-rights group.Whatever Herring's financial or party considerations, it is clear that this should not be viewed as an isolated incident, but instead as a "first step" in the plan to further roll back the God-given right of self-defense guaranteed by the Second Amendment. Josh Horwitz, executive director of the anti-gun organization Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV), said, "Virginia's lack of enforcement of its own standards has been irresponsible and dangerous." He added, "While the Commonwealth has plenty of room to improve their own standards for issuing concealed carry permits, the actions taken today by the Attorney General are a good first step toward making Virginia a safer place for its citizens and visitors alike."As if disarming law-abiding citizens has ever made them safer. If that tired old theory bore any good fruit, the recent San Bernardino shooting, which claimed the lives of 14 and left another 22 seriously injured, could not have happened. California has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation. Quite the contrary is true. If Californians were afforded the opportunity to defend themselves and a few concealed carry permit holders had been there to act, it is likely that the ISIS-inspired radical Islamists would have been stopped before so many lives were lost.Certain Virginia lawmakers are ready to act to correct Herring's assault on the Second Amendment. Republican state Delegate Rob Bell — who is running for Herring's office — said the decision was just more "Washington-style overreach from a nakedly partisan attorney general." Another Republican delegate, Lee Ware, has introduced legislation to take away the power of the state police to conduct surveys, such as the one on which Herring leaned for this draconian exercise.Herring was narrowly elected to his office in November 2013, when he managed to squeak past the Republican candidate, Mark Obenshain. He ran on a platform that included taking politics out of the office. Virginia House Speaker Bill Howell is not impressed. In a statement he released after Herring's announcement, he said, "Despite promising to take politics out of the Attorney General's office, Mark Herring consistently seeks to interpret and apply the law of the Commonwealth through the lens of his own personal, political opinions." Howell added, "He is damaging the integrity of the office he holds."Not only is he " damaging the integrity of the office he holds," he is endangering lives to do it. As Philip Van Cleave of the Virginia Citizen's Defense League said, "People that have concealed handgun permits are trying to protect their lives, some of them are under threat. Maybe an ex spouse is threatening their lives and they are carrying a gun because they could be murdered the next time they come across that spouse. This is disarming the very people that could use a gun the most."
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“Red” Herring: Virginia AG Revokes Concealed Carry Recognition for 25 States
Published on Dec 23, 2015Virginia’s Attorney General Herring has declared he will not honor concealed carry permits from 25 states beginning this new year. Using the threat of terrorism, he would target the most investigated and vetted individuals and revoke their license, while the Federal government brings in people from areas at war with the USA without ANY investigation of their background.
