In December, gun control whackos were thrilled to hear about Virginia’s decision to end gun-law reciprocity agreements with 25 other states whose licensing laws were weaker than theirs. As part of a recommendation from Attorney General Mark Herring, Gov. Terry McAuliffe directed Virginia law enforcement agencies to no longer recognize concealed carry permits originating in Alaska, Florida, Idaho, and many other states.
“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 at the time.
Only a few days before the rule was to go into effect, however, McAuliffe announced that reciprocity would remain in place after all. The governor has negotiated a new compromise with Republicans in the legislature that will protect concealed-carry reciprocity while strengthening gun control in other areas.
“This bipartisan deal to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and people who cannot pass background checks will save lives,” McAuliffe said Friday. “Give and take is essential to every negotiation, but the balance of this deal changes Virginia law permanently in ways that will keep guns away from people who would use them for harm.”
Scorned, gun control groups leapt at the chance to accuse McAuliffe of betraying them. The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence released a statement calling the compromise a “mistake” that would allow people convicted of crimes in other states to bring concealed-carry guns into Virginia.
These groups, though, must surely be aware – on some level – that would have been the case regardless of McAuliffe’s position. Virginia certainly doesn’t have the resources or political will to set up checkpoints at the state border, ready to inspect every arriving driver for illegal concealed carry. Therefore, the situation is now as it always was and always would have been: if you want to bring your gun to Virginia, you almost certainly can. The only difference is that the state cops aren’t going to be throwing innocent people in jail for confusing disparities in the law.
It’s not a new thing for liberal gun-control nuts to think that laws have some kind of magical power to cut down on violence, but it’s newly amazing every time you see it in action. How can so many Americans be so blind to the realities of the world? Would McAuliffe’s now-defunct change in reciprocity have saved even a single life? It’s hard to see how. But to hear the gun control crowd tell it, this is a dark day for American violence. It’s silliness…but it’s a dangerous kind of silliness. A scary kind.
Thankfully, this time, reason and logic won out over idiocy.
