YORKTOWN (AP) -- People who attend York County school board meetings do not have to leave their firearms at the door when meetings are held off school property, the attorney general said in an advisory opinion.

With the exception of schools or school property, Virginia law allows residents to have firearms in public buildings or at public events, Attorney General Robert McDonnell wrote.

The York school board holds its monthly board meetings in Yorktown's York Hall, a public building.

The issue came up in September 2005 when a resident, Chet Szymecki, wore his holstered .45-caliber gun to a board meeting. He had checked with the sheriff's office beforehand to make sure he could do so.

Szymecki spoke at the meeting, which was telecast, and his gun was clearly visible, according to a newspaper story about the meeting

While board members expressed concern then, Szymecki broke no laws, McDonnell wrote in the Jan. 29 opinion in response to questions from York County Attorney James E. Barnett.

York Board Chairman Page Minter said it was the only time in his 16 years as a board member someone had a gun at a meeting.

McDonnell wrote that a "school board meeting is a meeting of adults with official business and policy making duties." Students may attend such meetings, but they do so voluntarily, he said.