New Air Rifle Law Topic of Blacksburg Town Council Elections

It seems some people still have their knickers in a wad over the new air rifle law that took effect July 1 of this year.  The Virginia Tech student newspaper published this Q & A with most of the Town Council Candidates running in this year's election and the new law was one of the questions posed.  Two of the candidates said they would like the new law repealed.

Paul Lancaster:
I think it should be repealed. I think it should be up to the locality. That’s one thing the General Assembly likes to do, to pass a law that may be great for one locality but they think it will apply to everybody. To a person, when the current council voted on that, the town attorney made changes in the town code to accommodate that. They all voted ‘aye’ because they had to, it’s state law, but they all complained that they didn’t want to do it. This is not a town that needs a pellet gun being run around. I can see someone driving around town late at night shooting up windows. It just doesn’t make any sense to me to have it in Blacksburg.

John Bush:
Right now, I would have to say that it should be repealed and left to the localities. It’s interesting to me that we have basically a Republican-led General Assembly — that’s the same party that talks about local rules and local government and states being able to say what they need and what works best for them when they talk about the federal government. But we’re a Dillon Rule state, and what the Dillon Rule essentially means is that localities cannot pass their own laws if it isn’t something the General Assembly has already allowed to happen. When they passed the law that says pneumatic guns can be used in town limits, we didn’t have a choice. We had to pass it. Personally, for this town, I don’t think it’s a good idea.

None of the candidates however were happy with the law, nor were they happy with the Dillon Rule, which governs what localities can and can't do.

I would remind Mr. Bush and Mr. Lancaster that there have been no report of air rifles causing harm to neighbors or their property since the law took effect.

Fairfax County Fixes Air Rifle Ordinance Passed June 21st.

Freddie Kunkle reported yesterday on the Washington Post Virginia Politics blog that last Tuesday (July 19th), the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors revisited action they took at their June 21st meeting and backed down from a possible clash with the Virginia General Assembly over the new state law related to pneumatic weapons (air guns).  The Board voted to relax local prohibitions on air guns, giving up an attempt to at least continue restrictions on air guns on parkland and school property.  That action, which was included in the amended ordinance passed on June 21st, had the consequence (unintended or not) of negatively impacting the county's school air rifle teams.

Previously, the county restricted air guns to more open areas of the county and required their owners to register them with police. Senate Bill 757, which took effect July 1, allows people to shoot air guns on private property with the owner’s permission as long as reasonable care is taken to make sure the projectiles do not cross property bounderies. 

Virginia being a commonwealth guided by the Dillon Rule, which jealously guards the state government’s preeminence over local authority, the board has always recognized that they had little choice but to go along with the new state law. But Supervisor Jeff McKay (D-Lee) and others balked at letting people traipse across parks and school properties with BB guns.

One Supervisor,  Gerald W. Hyland (D-Mount Vernon), reiterated at last week's meeting that he would like to see the county’s delegation in the General Assembly find a way to give some control back to the county on regulating pneumatic weapons when it convenes next year.

Don't look for them to have much success.  Those on various county boards and town councils who oppose the new law predict it will cause all sorts of mayhem and be a danger to communities.  As will all such predictions, they never come true.  So, there will be nothing to which they can point to justify a change.