Via Uncle comes this post from Tam.

All these people wanting you to set your hair on fire and run in circles with them about ZOMG THE DEEP STATE IS TRYING TO OUTLAW GUN TRAINING IN VIRGINIA haven’t even read the existing law. Consider that fact when deciding how much credence to give to their mouth-noises.

Calm your tits, Herschel, and do thirty seconds of research before running to your keyboard for a change.

Uncle says of this in the comments that “I’m guilty of not reading the whole thing. And MattW is too.”

Okay, whatever.  That’s fine with me.  But I’m not.

So let’s try this again.  I saw the strike-through upon initial read, as well as the italics associated with the addition.  That’s not the point as I’ve pointed out and am doing here again.

So quoting from a recent analysis.

First of all, I was also aware that Senate Bill No. 64 was an amendment to the existing code, not a new code.  However, as I stated in the comments to my analysis, “This seemingly would also prohibit open carry (Virginia is an open carry state) as well as congregations of individuals as happened in Charlottesville. Finally, you’ll notice that the code is “amended and reenacted.” Apparently, no one has enforced a provision to prohibit tactical training thus far. You can bet your bottom dollar they will now.”

Taking a deeper dive into these waters, Max asks this. “Would you want some dudes down the road training in firearms and explosives with the purpose of conducting terrorist activities? I don’t think so.”

But that’s exactly what’s happening as we speak.  There are Islamist paramilitary training compounds operating around the nation today, one of them in Rock Hill, South Carolina.  I recall discussing this face to face a few years ago with John Guandolo at Understanding the Threat.  To the best of our knowledge, this camp is still in operation with no pressure to cease operations.  And take special note – South Carolina also has a law similar to the one in Virginia, i.e., S.C. Code 16-8-20.  To date, no officer of South Carolina has used this law to shut down the camp in Rock Hill.  One of those training camps is also in Virginia, and the Sheriff has defended them.

So there will indeed be bias in the application of this Virginia law.  Besides, what constitutes a “terrorist activity” is in the eyes of the beholder.  To some, an Islamist training camp constitutes a terrorist threat.  Others couldn’t seem to care less (viz. the officers of SC).  To some, patriots training for protection of home and hearth, or for protection against a tyrannical government, constitutes a terrorist threat.

Max and others have to remember that the way this all plays out will be a function of overzealous prosecutors and jurors who are soccer moms from Alexandria, Virginia, whose husbands probably work in some sort of government work.  To them, an open carrier is a terroristic threat, and especially two open carriers who go to dinner with their families.  Two or more guys who go rucking in the mountains while carrying rifles as part of their own personal fitness training would certainly be perceived by soccer moms in Alexandria as a threat.  Remember what David Codrea has recently observed concerning this: “Eyes of the beholder.”

[ … ]

So the law existed before, but it will be reenacted with some modifications.  I see this as a threat to liberties, and the enforcement of it may become a model for other states.

So this amended code does several things.  Virginia is an open carry state.  I don’t really care that some folks like to conceal or that others like to bang on open carriers.  Carry however you wish, just don’t dictate to me how I carry or preach to me what you think is the best tactical approach.  I’ll decide that for myself given the circumstances and my desire for comfort at the time, and whether I have to engage in non-permissive carry.

As regular readers know, I have been from the beginning an outspoken and vocal proponent and supporter of open carry.  North Carolina is a “gold star” open carry state.  Virginia is also an open carry state.  I’ve done some work to make South Carolina an open carry state, albeit to no avail at the moment.

One thing it does is make open carry suspect now.  The amendment includes ” … Assembles with one or more persons with the intent of intimidating any person or group of persons by drilling, parading, or marching with any firearm.”

Intent is an irrelevant feature of the amendment to the code.  An overzealous prosecutor and a soccer mom from Alexandria, Va., can determine anything they want.  I’ve seen it happen in the Charlotte, where the CMPD stopped a black man who was openly carrying.  The Fourth Circuit had to slap down the CMPD.  To this day the CMPD doesn’t accept that ruling.  I know this because I’ve debated CMPD cops about it, and I’ve been told that to this very day they would do the same thing.

This amendment to the code can be applied to step back from being an open carry state.  That bothers me a great deal.  It’s my right for it to bother me a great deal.  I don’t really care what you think about open or concealed carry.

There is another thing this does.  This is an reenactment of the same code that is in existence at the moment.  My brother is a lawyer.  I happen to know that there is a debate about what exactly it means when a statute is “reenacted,” as opposed to legislative inactivity or simple amendment.  I do not now and did not at the time of penning the initial post have the time to go through all of the administrative interpretations in Virginia on how this code had been applied in the past, and whether the legislature will be overruling or affirming administrative application of it, or simply putting it back into the public consciousness.  Again, the legislature isn’t merely amending the code.  They are reenacting it.  That’s slightly different.

Virginia has turned blue.  Progressives now control the governor’s mansion, the house and the senate.  That means that they will get to nominate and appoint many administrative officers and judges.  A reenactment of this code, once again, places it into the public consciousness with both the public and the officers of the state.

You do what you wish in Virginia, just make sure you don’t openly carry while wearing a Gadsden flag t-shirt in a Charlottesville ice cream shop.  You may be arrested for being one-or-more people parading around with firearms for the purpose of intimidation.

And if you teach or train others to perform properly with firearms, you may have a target on your back.  We’ll see how all of this plays out.  The worst may come to pass, or Lord willing, this may have minimal effects.  I hope for the later rather than the former.

So Tam, like you have probably done, I’ve done some looking at how long we have readers.  It’s somewhere around two minutes.  I simply cannot write down an essay every time I post.  No one would read it, and no one would read it if you did that either.  Thanks for playing, but when you wrote that I had not even read the existing law, not only were you incorrect, you didn’t really know that.  You didn’t know that because you didn’t call me or write me to ask.  That’s what you should have done.  If you had, I would have sighed and typed out a long note sort of like this post.  And then you would have known.  You may have disagreed, but that’s okay.  Disagreeing is fine.  Assuming something you don’t know isn’t.

Do you do that with your gun articles too?