First the good news - the bad gun-control bills all got killed off fairly early in the session.
HB 1969, Delegate McClure's preemption bill that would have strengthened the state law prohibiting localities from enacting gun-control ordinances, was amended by the Senate so that it would have essentially gutted the preemption law as it now stands. Fortunately the conference committee changed it to include much better language. The Senate passed the bill in its final form, but the House, which had passed the original strong preemption bill, killed it.
HB 2130, Delegate McClure's bill which improves the concealed carry reciprocity language and cleans up other areas in the concealed-carry section of law, was passed by the House and Senate. PLEASE CONTACT GOVERNOR GILMORE and ask him to sign it into law. Governor Gilmore can be reached at (804) 371-6351, or you can send a message to him online via the Governor's web site at http://www.thedigitaldominion.com/govmail.cfm
HB 2658, Lee Ware's bill to remove the restriction on carry a concealed firearm into restaurants with a license to serve alcohol, passed the Militia and Police committee but was then killed by the full House. This bill's main opponents were Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD - http://www.madd.org/ ), Virginians Against Handgun Violence (VAHV - http://www.vahv.org/ ), and the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association (VHTA - http://www.vhta.org/VHTA_Information/ ).
Melinda Gierisch
SAS Virginia Coordinator