Culpeper Town Council Defeats Police Chief's Anti- Gun Ordinance

Culpeper Chief of Police Scott Barlow tried to get the Culpeper Town Council to ban all discharge of firearms inside the town's Corporate Limits but was unsuccessful. The council voted Tuesday, September 9th, 6-2 not to change a local gun ordinance that allows people to obtain special permits to discharge guns within the Town Limits. With the vote, residents will still be able to discharge guns for such things as killing garden pests like groundhogs.

The Town Council Public Safety Committee will continue to look at the permit process to ensure that town citizens discharging firearms know how to do so properly and have enough land on which to safely shoot their gun but for now, the law stands.

Pro-gun advocates urged the Council to let state laws regarding wrongful discharge of firearms to address the issue. According to the Culpeper Star Exponent, Vice Mayor Billy Yowell said he said he understood the chief’s safety concerns in more congested areas, but that there had been no problems through the years with the ordinance as written.

Gun owners need to remain vigilant. This is the second time in three years that an anti-gun ordinance has come up in the Culpeper area (the first time was the a proposal by a member of the Board of Supervisors in 2005). If you live in a locality that is proposing an anti-gun ordinance, be sure to contact VSSA so we can lobby the elected officials and urge members in the area to contact their representatives.