RICHMOND (AP) -- Virginia's police chiefs are asking Gov. Bob McDonnell to veto legislation that would allow people to carry concealed handguns into bars, calling it a "recipe for disaster."
Virginia Beach police Chief Jake Jacocks Jr. compared the combination of firearms and alcohol with drinking and driving in a letter sent to McDonnell on behalf of the state association of chiefs.
But their efforts seem unlikely to sway McDonnell, as the governor's office says he will sign the bill.
McDonnell's office says while the governor appreciates the work and comments of the police chiefs, he will continue to protect and uphold the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.
In a statement Wednesday, spokeswoman Stacey Johnson said, "Governor McDonnell will sign this legislation. We thank the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police for their letter and for their service and sacrifice in protecting the public safety of all Virginians. Governor McDonnell believes that the foremost obligation of government is public safety and he will continue to work with the brave men and women of Virginia law enforcement to ensure that our neighborhoods and places of business remain safe and secure. Governor McDonnell will also continue to protect and uphold the Second Amendment rights of law abiding citizens as guaranteed in the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution."
The association says it will ask lawmakers to reconsider its decision if police see an increase in gun violence at bars.
Gudi Seeger, who runs Mo and O'Malley's, is opposed to patrons having concealed guns in her restaurant/bar.
Portsmouth Police Chief Ed Hargis said Wednesday that alcohol and guns do not mix and worries there will be an increase in risks to officer safety and to the safety of the public.
LETTER FROM CHIEF JACOCKS:
Dear Governor McDonnell:
I am writing to you in my capacity as co-chairman of the Legislative Committee of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, as a Chief of Police. The "guns in bars" bills have passed both Chambers of the General Assembly and await your decision to sign or veto. I know you to be a supporter of the Constitutional right to bear arms, as am I. I also know that as a prosecutor you witnessed - albeit well after the fact - lives forever changed because of poor decisions/choices made when alcohol, firearms, or both were in the mix, just as when alcohol, motor vehicles or both were in the mix. My police officers, like first responders across this great Commonwealth have occasion to witness such tragedies first hand, while blood and tears are still flowing, all too often.
Just as drinking and driving do not mix, the possessing and/or handling of firearms and alcohol do not mix. The notion that carry concealed weapon (CCW) permit holders who carry in a licensed ABC establishment are prohibited from consuming alcohol by these bills borders on the absurd. There is no practical way to police this provision, as no law enforcement agency will have officers asking alcohol consumers in an establishment if they are carrying. You are well aware that alcohol consumption lowers inhibitions in most people. Often referred to as "liquid courage," alcohol consumption also fuels aggression in many.
Allowing guns in bars is a recipe for disaster. We can fully expect that at some point in the future a disagreement that today would likely end up in a verbal confrontation, or a bar fight, will inevitably end with gunfire if you sign this legislation into law. Whether it is the armed citizen who drinks in a bar and gets into such a confrontation, or the armed citizen doesn't drink and is pulled into a confrontation by someone who has been drinking - the potential for display and/or discharge of the firearm is unquestionably high. Serious injuries resulting from patrons fleeing in panic once someone yells "He's got a gun!" or a death resulting from either discharge of the weapon or the reaction to the weapon by the establishment’s security personnel will be the rule, rather the exception.
The average CCW permit holder is a well intended and law-abiding citizen. Yet the majority of them have had no training in conflict resolution, conflict management, verbal judo, de-escalation of emotionally charged situations. The mere possession of the weapon likely makes some less apt to just walk away. Worse yet, most have nothing more than rudimentary firearms safety and qualification training, and no firearms retention skills. The vast majority have no preparation for, and likely have given no thought to, how to handle a disorderly drunk who tries to start an argument with them or who insults their female companion. Their focus as a CCW permit holder is appropriately the defense of themselves and their family if confronted with a threat of deadly force or with someone who is breaking into their occupied home. Absent the appropriate training and preparation, anyone possessing a weapon, whether or not they are a CCW permit holder (whether they having been drinking or not) has a high degree of probability or over-reacting in the types of situations they are most likely to encounter in a licensed ABC establishment, and someone is going to die as a result. Law enforcement officers have all of this training, and extensive use of force and deadly force legal training, and we each have to qualify at least annually even after we retire if we want to maintain our national CCW permit. No other CCW permit hold has to adhere to even this simple requirement.
Senator Hanger was recently quoted by WTOP as saying "Most people will have the obligation not to consume alcohol (while carrying concealed), and they will take that seriously and that will be honored." He is later quoted as saying "There is a substantial penalty, because they can lose the right to carry - most people jealously guard that right that they've acquired."
Is the Senator not aware that thousands of people are arrested in VA each year for driving under the influence even though ALL people who are licensed drivers have an obligation not to consume alcohol (if they are then going to drive), and that while most people take that seriously, we have hundreds of people killed or injured on the highways of the Commonwealth because others chose to ignore that obligation? Has the Senator considered the fact that there is a very substantial penalty (far greater than the proposed Class 2 misdemeanor penalty for drinking in a bar while carrying concealed) for driving under the influence - people can lose the their operator's license and their insurance and their job -all things most people jealously guard - and yet thousands of people get behind the wheel of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs every year in the Commonwealth.
As the Senator's assertions about people honoring their obligations is clearly not true for all licensed drivers, how can we possibly believe that those same assertions will be true of all CCW permit holders?
There are a wide range of interpretations on what The Founders meant as they wrote the Second Amendment. I'm not so presumptuous as to suggest I know just what they meant. However, I firmly believe that they never intended for any governing body to knowingly enable human beings - most of whom are all too prone to making bad decisions when tempers flare, even more so when their judgment is clouded by the consumption of alcohol - to better position themselves to wrongly take another's life when for the government to do otherwise would result only in a minor inconvenience. With our rights comes responsibility. It is irresponsible for anyone other than a law enforcement officer to carry a firearm into a bar.
In keeping with your long standing advocacy of public safety, please veto "guns in bars" legislation.
Respectfully,
Jake
