"A remorseful Del. John S. Reid apologized yesterday after a handgun he was attempting to unload went off in his legislative office, firing into a bulletproof vest hanging in the middle of the door to the reception area.

No one was hurt in the accident, which happened shortly before 9 a.m. on the seventh floor of the General Assembly Building.

Reid said he didn't think anyone was outside the door when the gun went off. The door opens to the area where secretaries work and visitors including constituents, lobbyists and staff members -- frequently walk by.

The vest worked -- the bullet was shattered.

Reid, a Henrico Republican, called it an accidental discharge and said it occurred shortly after he arrived.

The office door was shut. He said he took the .380-caliber Kel-Tec pistol out of his front coat pocket, pulled it from its case, and was pushing the button on the grip to release the magazine when it went off. The gun doesn't have a safety, he said.

The slide cut his right hand between his thumb and forefinger, 'so obviously I wasn't holding it correctly,' he said. 'When the slide comes back, it comes back off the back of the weapon and it cut my hand.'

He said he went out of his office to make sure everyone was all right, then called the Virginia Capitol Police.

Reid, who is 63, obtained a concealed-weapon permit two years ago.

'I wanted to apologize to the entire body,' a chastened Reid told his colleagues on the floor of the House of Delegates. 'Everybody has a right to feel safe here.'

Reid also made an unusual appearance before the daily meeting of the House Democratic Caucus to express his regret, and apologized to the GOP caucus.

'All of us get calls that concern you sometimes. I'd just rather leave it at that,' Reid told reporters after the House session, when asked why he brings a gun to his legislative job. 'It's just the type of thing that makes you uneasy. No direct kind of threats or anything, just things you are uneasy about.'

People can carry handguns -- concealed or openly -- in the General Assembly Building or the state Capitol , as long as they have a concealed-weapon permit. Attempts to ban carrying guns in the complex have failed in past sessions.

Usually when he arrives at his office, Reid said, he takes out the magazine and puts it in his pocket and places the gun in a drawer in his desk. He said he feels safe on the grounds because of the Capitol Police.

Reid received the bulletproof vest in jest last year from Henrico County Sheriff Mike Wade after the delegate had made statements critical of then-Gov. Mark R. Warner, a Democrat. Reid jokingly wore the vest one day last January on the House floor.

'I was thankful it was up there,' he said of the vest's location on his office door. 'I don't know what to say except I was tremendously grateful . . . . I'm thankful nobody was hurt.'

Reid, a House member since 1990 and chairman of the House General Laws Committee, is known for his outspoken style and his anti-tax stances and defense of the rights of gun owners. He is an administrator with Chesterfield County Public Schools. The 72nd District he represents covers parts of western Henrico.

He also owns a revolver, but he said he doesn't know if he will continue to carry a weapon. 'I have some soul-searching to do about that.'

The Capitol Police investigated the incident and spoke to the Richmond Commonwealth Attorney's office. Both agreed it was an accident, said Maj. Mike Jones of the Capitol Police. No charges were filed.

'Any time a weapon discharges absent a malfunction, it is considered operator error,' Jones said. 'Somebody made a mistake and fortunately it was not tragic.'

'The weapon is a pretty well-designed pocket pistol from a safety standpoint,' said Charles Sodan, a clerk at DeGoff's Guns in Mechanicsville.

In 2004, the senior lawmakers who make the day-to-day rules for the Capitol grounds quietly changed the policy to require that all bearers of guns, whether openly carried or concealed, have a concealed-weapon permit. In Virginia, a permit is required to conceal a handgun on one's person but not to own a handgun or carry it openly.

No one knows for sure how many lawmakers carry handguns, though some do.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said the incident raises questions about the presence of guns at the Capitol.

He pointed out that visiting Boy Scout groups and young legislative pages often are around lawmakers and in buildings at the Capitol.

While praising Reid for his forthrightness and apology, Kaine said that guns in the seat of government is something the legislature needs to look at. He was asked about the incident while meeting with reporters late yesterday afternoon outside his offices in the Patrick Henry Building.

Del. Dwight Clinton Jones, D-Richmond, said he doesn't see the need for handguns at the Capitol.

'To me it just highlights the danger of having concealed weapons in public places, particularly in places where there seems to be no real need to have protection,' Jones said. 'I don't doubt Delegate Reid's sincerity, but it kind of gives me chills to think I'm sitting around with people who've got guns.'" (Pamela Stallsmith, Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 27, 2006)

Editor's Note: See also, Guns in the Richmond Statehouse. In a bit of irony, Reid is the author of a bill this session (HB 2741) that would prohibit the use of bows and arrows in heavily populated places in Virginia.