by Lowell
The following Facebook post by the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) is in response to this breaking story (“Va. will once again recognize concealed carry permits from other states”) in the Washington Post. In short, “Gov. Terry McAuliffe plans to announce Friday that Virginia will restore handgun reciprocity agreements with nearly all states, in a stunning reversal of firearms policy that angered Republicans and gun rights advocates across the nation.”
The reaction from the CSGV is typical of what I’m hearing from progressive Virginia legislators and gun safety advocates. Angry words like “betrayal,” “deal stinks” and “there is no explaining this” are flying around, as well as multiple sources (Virginia gun safety advocates, Democratic legislators, etc.) telling me they weren’t consulted on this beforehand at all. Also, can we say “Mark Herring, meet underside of bus?” Ugh.
I’m going to continue monitoring Facebook and emailing folks for their comment and perspective. Please let me know what you’re hearing as well. But the bottom line with Terry McAuliffe, yet again, is that he doesn’t appear to give a crap what progressive, environmentalists, and others who helped elect him think. Instead, it appears he’s calculated that he can get away with it, and that somehow this is good politically for him (why, who knows?!?). The question is, will Virginians who care about gun safety (and other progressives) let him know this type of behavior is unacceptable? Note his contact info below if you’d like to give him a piece of your mind.
UPDATE: A Virginia Democratic legislator just told me, “This is a bad deal. House Republicans will ‘let’ us pass two measures that are already incredibly popular, even among most gun owners. In exchange, the AG who went out an a limb is about to have that limb cut out from under him and we go to universal reciprocity.”
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