"Henrico officials are considering lifting a ban on carrying legally concealed weapons into county parks.

During its meeting Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors will consider a proposal sought by gun-rights' groups that would allow people with permits to carry concealed weapons to do so at Henrico parks.

Members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League argue that since Virginia allows people with permits to carry concealed weapons in most public places, that law should extend to county parks.

"There's not any sense to the [county's ban]," said Philip Van Cleave, president of the Newington-based group. "You can step one step into a county park and you go from a law-abiding citizen to, 'Whoa, we've got to look out for this guy.'"

Legally concealed weapons can be carried into parks in the city of Richmond and Chesterfield County. Henrico is one of a handful of municipalities with enforceable laws banning guns in local parks, Van Cleave said.

Fauquier and Loudoun counties and the cities of Norfolk and Williamsburg also have laws predating a 1987 state law that took the issue out of the hands of local officials.

On Wednesday, the Virginia House of Delegates Militia and Police Committee voted overwhelmingly to defeat a proposal to ban all guns in the General Assembly building and state Capitol.

Dozens of residents from Henrico and other state localities have called and written letters to the county asking that the weapons-in-parks ban be lifted.

"I don't think the county has the right to say that people can't carry [guns] and protect their families," said Omar Hassan of Glen Allen, who is a member of the VCDL as well as the NRA, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership and other gun-rights groups.

Henrico County Manager Virgil Hazelett said he sees little sense in keeping the ordinance on the books.

"I think that the request is appropriate considering all the information we have," Hazelett said. "There is no reason not to permit them in the parks."

Hazelett said that in individual briefings with the members of the Board of Supervisors, none has challenged the issue.

"It appears that everyone is comfortable with the proposal," he said.

Local gun-control groups say they plan no opposition to the proposal.

"We're not in favor of it," said Gail Horne, executive director of Virginians Against Handgun Violence. "It's our position that there are a lot of places where guns are not appropriate.

"You like to think of children and families at a park, and you don't typically think of a park as someplace where you would need a weapon."

But Van Cleave said a park is exactly the place where someone might need a weapon to defend themself.

"When you're walking in a park, it's isolated and you never know what you'll walk into the middle of," he said. "There's nobody around to help you. You can scream out in the middle of the woods and will anybody hear you?"

Hazelett suggested that there has been a general shift in public sentiment regarding guns after Sept. 11 and even after the sniper attacks in Northern Virginia: "People are wishing to feel more comfortable - more secure - wishing to take their security into their own hands."

Horne questioned whether putting guns in a parkgoer's hand is the right answer to that fear.

"The reality is that the way to combat that or oppose that is not to arm every citizen in every situation," she said. "I would hate to see us endorse that as the solution." " (Chris Dovi, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 19, 2002)

For related article, see Gun Regulation: There is frustration but is there any danger? and