RICHMOND Va. Gun-control opponents in northern Virginia said they would carry unconcealed weapons into alcohol-serving restaurants every Saturday during April to disprove a political adversary’s assertions that restaurants will turn away armed patrons.
Virginia’s House and Senate passed legislation earlier this month that allowed people to carry concealed weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol. But Gov. Timothy Kaine vetoed the bill last week, saying it would endanger restaurant employees and customers. Currently 34 states allow people to carry guns into restaurants that serve alcohol if the weapons are concealed. Virginia only permits unconcealed weapons to be taken inside, according to the National Rifle Association.
“In Virginia, if you have a concealed carry permit you can carry a concealed [weapon] almost anywhere, but if I take it into a restaurant that serves alcohol I have to take the cover off and go in with the gun in plain view,” said Philip Van Cleave, president of the 4,000-member, Newington, Va.-based Virginia Citizens Defense League gun advocacy group. “This really is much ado about nothing. [A number] of states allow us to carry concealed [firearms]; it’s just Virginia that has one of these screwy laws.”
His and apparently other groups were angered by a comment from state Sen. Richard Saslaw, who avowed that restaurants would not allow people obviously packing guns to enter the premises.
In protest, pro-gun groups say their members will tote guns when they visit restaurants for lunch on April 5, 12 and 19 and for dinner on April 26. The group has not yet named the restaurants where the protests will take place.
Van Cleave, who lives in the state’s capital here, said he carries a firearm “almost all the time."
"Everywhere I go I obey the law, have had to open carry, and it’s pretty much been a nonevent,” he said.
Van Cleave added that every month his group dines at local restaurants following their meetings and that none of the restaurants has ever turned them away for carrying weapons inside. In fact, he said, 40 members of his group yesterday frequented a northern Virginia Fuddruckers restaurant and were fully welcomed inside.
The Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association, which represents approximately 1,100 restaurants in the state, has agreed that firearms advocates have the right to stage their April protests. But the group said it would consider notifying the targeted restaurants so they are not surprised or alarmed, according to published reports.