A new bill approved in Virginia’s House of Delegates on February 10 would allow victims of domestic violence access to concealed handguns even if their handgun permit was not approved yet.
House Bill 1852 applies to domestic violence victims with protective orders against their abusers. They would need to apply for a permit to have a concealed handgun, but then they could have access to a gun even before their permit cleared. Republicans (who else?) Todd Gilbert of Shenandoah County, Nick Freitas of Culpeper, Rick Morris of Suffolk County, Ron Villanueva of Virginia Beach and Michael Webert of Fauquier County introduced the bill.
Virginia’s current law forbids carrying a concealed weapon until a permit has cleared. That process can take up to 45 days after the application is filed. That 45 days could be a very vulnerable period for someone who has experienced domestic abuse and has also filed a protection order.
As long as the victims have applied for a permit, they would legally be allowed to carry in the meantime, instead of being defenseless while they wait for the permit to clear.
“The essence of this is that we want to empower people, especially women, who find themselves in a position where they are in fear of their lives, to be able to protect themselves in a manner that they see fit,” said Todd Gilbert, one of the bill’s supporters.
Of course, there is opposition. Others, like Delegate Mark Levine, a Democrat from Alexandria, says that the presence of a gun would only endanger the victim further. For those abusers who are set on violence, he feels that the presence of a gun might not stop them, or could perhaps be taken away and used against the victim. He says that guns are not the answer to domestic violence situations. We feel that if a women (most abused are women) wants a gun to protect herself, then she should be allowed to have one.
