Concealed handguns; prohibited from carrying onto premises of restaurants and consuming alcohol. (HB1821)

Introduced By

Del. Joseph Johnson (D-Abingdon) with support from co-patron Sen. Frank Ruff (R-Clarksville)

Progress

Introduced
Passed Committee
Passed House
Passed Senate
Signed by Governor
Became Law

Description

Concealed handguns; restaurants; penalty. Prohibits a person who carries a concealed handgun onto the premises of a restaurant or club from consuming an alcoholic beverage while on the premises. A person who carries a concealed handgun onto the premises of a restaurant or club shall inform a designated employee of the restaurant or club of that fact. A person who consumes alcohol in violation of the provisions of the bill is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor and a person who becomes intoxicated in violation of the provisions of the bill is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Read the Bill »

Outcome

Bill Has Failed

History

DateAction
01/12/2009Committee
01/12/2009Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/14/09 096650576
01/12/2009Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
01/19/2009Impact statement from DPB (HB1821)
01/20/2009Assigned Courts sub: Criminal
01/21/2009Referred from Courts of Justice
01/21/2009Referred to Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety
02/10/2009Left in Militia, Police and Public Safety

Duplicate Bills

The following bills are identical to this one: SB1035.

Comments

Mike writes:

Drinking while carrying--bad

BUT

Required notification of designated employee causes all sorts of problems and is impractical and likely to cause unneccessary conflicts and hysterics.

dbc3804 writes:

Remove the part about notification.

John H. Howard writes:

So went to the trouble to get the concealed permit but now can no go to Applebee's or Red Robin for lunch without locking the gun in the car and risk it being stolen. vote was 22-0 to pass this. The committee that killed this needs to be voted out of office. Vote the people not your own old personal views....

John H. Howard writes:

Pass this bill and use some common sense.

Steve writes:

Today, Virginia's Governor Tim Kaine sent anti gun groups scrambling by vetoing SB1035. This bill would have made it clear to gun owners that in Virginia, you should keep your firearm covered up when in a restaurant and you better not consume alcohol while doing so. Instead, Governor Kaine made his opinion clear that he preferrers that Virginians openly carry their firearms and that the consumtion of alcohol is OK while doing so. He stated that this is a public safety issue. I can only infer that he believes that having a firearm strapped to your side and clearly visible will deter any attempted robbery of a restaurant. The governor must have been giving some thought to the recent rash of restaurant robberies in Oakland California, where almost no one outside of law enforcement is allowed to carry a firearm in public. It took the Oakland police months and dozens of restaurant robberies later to finally put an end to them. Governor Kaine is being proactive in letting would be robbers know that in Virginia's restaurants, they don't stand a chance. I applaud governor Kaine for finally stepping up for gun rights. Even though this might hinder his political ambitions once he is out of office. It's good to have a governor that puts the public's safety first at the expense of his own political career.

Steve writes:

I do not know if Timmy actually did veto the bill today. He hasn’t replied to my emails and I really don’t expect that he ever will. So, yes, I did take literary license at poking him in the nose.

Steve writes:

By not signing SB1035, the governor is continuing to put the safety of our police officers and public at risk.

Police officers have enough to do without having to respond to what amounts to nuisance calls from individuals not familiar with Virginia's gun laws. By allowing concealed carry in restaurants, this would certainly eliminate a considerable amount of these types of calls. Further, there are already laws to keep weapons out of restaurants. It only requires the owner to post a simple "No Weapons" sign on the entrance.

Every time police officers respond to one of these "individual with a gun" calls, their safety and that of the public becomes at risk.

A police officer's self defense training instructs them to draw their weapons prior to contact when confronting an individual with a weapon.

This is a dangerous time The individual that chooses to openly carry a handgun could be killed if they inadvertently make an error in their movements. Innocent by standers could be shoot and killed by officers responding to the initial shots fired. All of this will certainly put an abrupt end to the lives of innocent people, but also to the careers of the police officers involved in the shooting.

By signing SB1035, the governor can increase public safety and that of our police officers.

Rick writes:

This is not driven by common sense but the Democratic agenda, restrict guns until we they can legally take them away. Where are our elected legislators who should override his veto?

John H. Howard - WebMaster writes:

Once again.. Common Sense. Someone with a concealed weapon's permit is carrying their weapon legally and safely. This bill would make the person store the weapon in their car when having lunch at Applebees, Red Robin, TGI Friday's and so on just because the resturant serve's alchol. Plus someone may see you store your weapon and break into your car to steal the weapon. The Govener does not believe that the regular person has enough brains to control a weapon. Well let's see. That is why they have to go though the process to get the concealed weapon's permit... Sign the bill Govener and trust the people..