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Virginia AG candidate Steve Shannon sticks to his gun control
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Democratic VA AG nominee Steve Shannon
For the past eight years in Virginia, pro-gun Attorneys General Bob McDonnell and Jerry Kilgore issued a number of formal and informal opinions supporting gun rights. The formal opinions include declarations that gun owners have the “universal” right to carry handguns concealed and openly in the Old Dominion except where specifically forbidden by the General Assembly, that high school students may store unloaded guns in vehicles on school grounds, and that adults may carry guns to school board meetings except when the meetings are held on school grounds.
Both past Attorneys General, along with the current Republican nominee for Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, have all opposed banning private sales of guns at gun shows while supporting repeal of the Virginia ban on concealed carry in restaurants serving alcohol. But not Democratic AG nominee Steve Shannon – this Northern Virginia lawyer is sticking to his gun control.
As a Delegate to the General Assembly earlier this year, Shannon voted against a bill to repeal the ban on concealed carry in alcohol serving restaurants, Shannon assured the Examiner.com that he remains committed to opposing efforts to reform Virginia’s onerous ban on concealed carry in restaurants even though only 9 other states have such laws.
When Shannon’s campaign was asked to explain his support for maintaining existing Virginia law which requires concealed handgun permit holders open carry their guns into restaurants serving alcohol, Shannon’s spokesperson Miranda Blue provided the following written statement by Shannon:
"I support our concealed carry laws except in bars or other places where alcohol is served.”
Blue also said that Shannon “supports closing the gun show loophole.” But when asked to explain why Mr. Shannon supports limiting private sales of guns inside gun shows where police monitor the premises when such sales would remain legal elsewhere in public parking lots, through newspaper ads, or at garage sales, etc., Blue to deferred to Shannon who supplied the following written statement:
"I believe that everybody who purchases a gun at a gun show should go through an instant background check.”
Shannon’s vote to maintain the open carry requirement in restaurants serving alcohol was out of step with his fellow legislators by a 2-1 margin in the House of Delegates, and bills to ban private gun sales at gun shows never passed either house. Gun rights organizers note that Virginia is like 35 other states which do not interfere in private non-dealer sales of guns, and that only two states, Colorado and Oregon, have singled out gun shows as inappropriate locales for private sales. A 2008 study by the Universities of Maryland and Michigan concluded that
But what irks gun rights organizers the most is Shannon’s lack of any articulable policy rationale for his positions.
“Insisting that we need to fix something that doesn’t exist does not stir gun owners to support candidates” said Philip Van Cleave, President of the Virginia citizens Defense League, speaking about the alleged gun show loophole.
“Freedom is the loophole that Shannon really wants to close, and come on,” added Van Cleave, “why would anyone choose to force open carry in a public restaurant?”
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For more info: OpenCarry.org & DC Gun Rights Examiner
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