Mecklenburg County supervisors join protests to concealed gun ruling


The Mecklenburg County Board of Supervisors is protesting a decision by Attorney General Mark Herring to revoke Virginia’s recognition of concealed handgun permits in 25 states, including neighboring North Carolina.

During the board’s regular monthly meeting on Monday night, supervisors adopted a resolution calling on the General Assembly to take action to maintain Virginia’s recognition of concealed handgun permits in the states where reciprocity agreements are currently in place.

The resolution, introduced by supervisor Jim Jennings, states that the Mecklenburg County Board of Supervisors opposes the “decision of the Attorney General to no longer recognize Concealed Handgun Permits from twenty-five other states on Feb. 1.”

As of that date, Virginia will only recognize conceal carry permits issued in-state and in five other states: Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.

The 25 states whose permits will no longer be recognized 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. Herring said these states do not meet Virginia’s standards for issuance of a concealed handgun permit or for recognition of such permits.

This lack of reciprocity also may negatively impact Virginians with a concealed gun permit issued by the Commonwealth. At least six states — Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wyoming — have said they will no longer recognize Virginia’s permits.

Del. Tommy Wright, who chairs the House firearms subcommittee, said he fully supports the resolution passed by the supervisors. Since the attorney general made the announcement, Wright said he’s received innumerable calls from people, many who hunt and vacation in the area, saying they will not return to Virginia for future excursions.

Herring’s ruling, which he announced in December, followed an audit conducted under Virginia law by the State Police pursuant to Virginia State Code § 18.2-308.014. It calls for the Superintendent of State Police, in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, “to determine whether states meet the requirements and qualifications” for recognition of concealed handgun permits by Virginia.

“In order to qualify for recognition of a permit, also known as ‘reciprocity,’ the out-of-state issuing authority must provide the means for instantaneous verification of the validity of all such permits or licenses issued within that state, accessible 24 hours a day, and the requirements and qualifications of that state’s law must be adequate to prevent possession of a permit or license by persons who would be denied a permit in the Commonwealth under this article,” Herring explained.

Mecklenburg Sheriff Bobby Hawkins said the Virginia Sheriff’s Association is supporting a bill introduced by state Sen. Thomas A. Garrett (R-Hadensville) which empowers the General Assembly, rather than the State Police and Attorney General, to determine if other states satisfy Virginia’s statutory qualifications for concealed handgun permits.

Wright said he was familiar with the Garrett bill and views it favorably.

“Yes, there is an issue,” said Hawkins, when asked whether there is a need to update Virginia’s reciprocity agreements with other states, “but I hate to penalize those who are trying to do the right thing. People who get concealed handgun permits are trying to do the right thing.”

Hawkins said local applications for concealed gun permits from out of state individuals have increased significantly since December, as people rush to comply with the change in Virginia’s reciprocity provisions.

The state’s concealed handgun permit law includes a number of provisions disqualifying certain people from carrying concealed handguns, such as those receiving outpatient mental health treatment, or who have been adjudicated legally incompetent, mentally incapacitated, or not guilty by reason of insanity; also, anyone subject to a restraining or protective order, or who has been convicted of stalking, and individuals convicted of a felony.

The 25 states that are set to lose their reciprocity status lack adequate disqualifiers to deny a permit to someone who would be barred from obtaining a permit in Virginia, according to Herring.

Speaking about the audit and update in December, Herring said: “Virginia, and nearly every other state in the country, have recognized that carrying a concealed handgun is a significant responsibility that should be extended only to those who have gone through a process to prove a level of competency and responsibility.

“The standards for proving competency and responsibility are up to each state, and the General Assembly has established Virginia’s standards for whom it considers capable of safely carrying a concealed handgun. Those standards should be applied evenly, consistently, and fairly to anyone who wants to lawfully conceal a handgun in Virginia.”

Wright said he questioned whether the attorney general took steps to mitigate the effects of his ruling on handgun owners.

“To the best of my knowledge,” Wright said, “he [the Attorney General] never contacted anyone from [the non-compliant states] to express his concerns or ask them if they were willing to amend their laws. It’s not like he wanted to fix the problem. These reciprocity agreements had been in place for many years.”

Under state law, Virginia State Police can agree to recognize permits issued in another state if that state’s laws, disqualifiers, and safeguards are adequate to prevent possession of a permit by persons who would be denied a permit in the Commonwealth. Herring added, “For much of the last year, my team and I have worked with the Virginia State Police to conduct an audit and update of the states whose permits are recognized in Virginia. This has been a deliberate, thorough, professional review of the states, which supposedly meet or exceed Virginia’s standards.”

At the request of Dan Tanner, supervisors agreed to send the resolution to neighboring counties and VACO (Virginia Association of County Officials) seeking their support.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *