VA Attorney General Mark Herring is apparently unfamiliar with federal law concerning firearms or purposefully ignoring them (I suspect the latter):
The audit, conducted jointly by the attorney general’s office and the Virginia State Police, found that the requirements to acquire a concealed carry permit in 25 of the 30 states currently recognized by Virginia weren’t strong enough to keep a person from obtaining a permit who would be disqualified under Virginia law.
Those who would be disqualified in Virginia include people convicted of a felony, domestic abuse, or drunk driving. Mentally ill people and those dishonorably discharged from the military are also barred from carrying handguns in Virginia.
These offenses already render one a prohibited possessor federally, meaning they can't legally carry a gun much less seek a permit to do so concealed. It's not like the ATF has it on their site or anything, oh wait, they do (bold my emphasis):
The Gun Control Act (GCA) makes it unlawful for certain categories of persons to ship, transport, receive, or possess firearms. 18 USC 922(g). Transfers of firearms to any such prohibited persons are also unlawful. 18 USC 922(d).
These categories include any person:
Under indictment or information in any court for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
who is a fugitive from justice;
who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance;
who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution;
who is an illegal alien;
who has been discharged from the military under dishonorable conditions;
who has renounced his or her United States citizenship;
who is subject to a court order restraining the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of the intimate partner; or
who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence (enacted by the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997, Pub. L. No. 104-208, effective September 30, 1996). 18 USC 922(g) and (n).
The Arms Export Control Act (AECA) prohibits the issuance of licenses to persons who have been convicted of:
Section 38 of the AECA, 22 USC 2778;
Section 11 of the Export Administration Act of 1979, 60 USC App. 2410;
Sections 7903, 794, or 798 of Title 18, USC, relating to espionage involving defense or classified information;
Section 16 of the Trading with the Enemy Act, 50 USC App. 16;
Section 30A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 USC 78dd-1, or section 104 of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 15 USC 78dd-2;
Chapter 105 of Title 18, USC, relating to sabotage;
Section 4(b) of the Internal Security Act of 1950, 50 USC 783(b), relating to communication of classified information;
Sections 57, 92, 101, 104, 222, 224, 225, or 226 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 42 USC 2077 2122, 2131, 2234, 2272, 2275, and 2276;
Section 601 of the National Security Act of 1947, 50 USC 421, relating to the protection of the identity of undercover intelligence officers, agents, and other sources;
Section 371 of Title 17, USC, when it involves conspiracy to violate any of the above statutes; and
International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 USC 1702 and 1705.
All of the states which allow for concealed carry must meet the above listed requirements because it's federal law. What I've emphasized in bold are the very things Herring has listed. People realize that when applying for a concealed carry license you must undergo a thorough background check, yes? Are there certain restrictions not being reported by the media or listed by Herring's office? Because these are all federal regulations.
I'd also be interested in seeing the number of criminal acts committed by those who have CHL as opposed to those who do not—states like Texas list them publicly and they account for barely a fraction of crimes committed, with the vast majority carried out by those illegally carrying. Nevertheless, Herring just killed the ability of law-abiding
We need equal carry now.
