"If any person carry any gun, pistol, bowie knife, dagger or other dangerous weapon, without good and sufficient reason, to a place of worship while a meeting for religious purposes is being held at such place he shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor."

That language is from 1950 and hasn't moved since 1975. "Good and sufficient reason" does a lot of work in that sentence — and for over a decade it's been doing that work in favor of carriers, not against them.

"Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli concluded that carrying a weapon for personal protection satisfies the 'good and sufficient reason' requirement, meaning someone legally carrying for self-defense is not violating this statute by bringing that same firearm into a worship service."

An AG opinion isn't a court ruling, but it's what law enforcement and prosecutors have been working from since 2011 with no challenge that's stuck. If you carry daily for self-defense in Virginia, your reason is already baked in — you're not constructing a defense on the fly if someone asks.

"A church's own posted policy, backed by Virginia trespass law, operates independently of § 18.2-283. You can be fully compliant with the carrying statute and still be asked to leave, or face trespass exposure, if you ignore a congregation's own posted restriction."

This is the part people miss. State law and house rules are two different conversations. Being legally clear under § 18.2-283 doesn't mean a congregation has to let you stay — same as any other private property in Virginia. Know the posted policy of wherever you're walking in.

For those of you who carry in Virginia — has your church or place of worship ever posted an explicit no-weapons policy, or is this one of those things that just never comes up until it does?

Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team