Virginians and Guns

[KenP]

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/03/caug...pack-more-guns

A year ago, it would have been unthinkable.

A chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus has taken up residence at Virginia Tech. Membership after just one month: 110.

Before Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people, the idea of condoning guns on campus "never had a chance," said Ken Stanton, a doctoral student and leader of the new chapter.

Students for Concealed Carry was born at the University of North Texas within days of the Tech shooting. It has been planting chapters across the country ever since. In 12 states, the group is helping push legislation that would allow students with concealed-handgun permits to bring weapons to class.

Three weeks ago, national membership was around 10,000. Since the Valentine's Day shootings at Northern Illinois University, it has soared to 18,000.

At first glance, there was nothing unusual: just a dozen friends sitting around a table, eating dinner at the Village Inn in Virginia Beach. Talk flowed about work, kids, cars and politics.

A closer look revealed something more: Everybody at the table had a gun - a pistol or revolver hanging off the hip.

Other customers assumed the armed diners were off-duty cops, security guards or military. They were not. They were government workers, diesel mechanics, grandmothers, computer analysts, railroad workers. Once a month or so, they get together for the particular purpose of taking their weapons out into society.

Members of the group know their choice makes people nervous. Individually, they've been kicked out of businesses, barred at public gatherings and handcuffed by police. That's why they take part in Open Carry Dining Out - a national push to exercise the right to bear arms.

Retired from the Navy, Ron Hyson, 57, lives in Virginia Beach and works for a government contractor. He and his wife are grandparents. His holster holds a .45-caliber Glock, hers a .40-caliber H&K

The folks sitting in a class at Bob's Gun Shop in Norfolk have already made up their minds. Most plan to get a concealed-handgun permit. The three-hour, $40 course fills the training requirement.

Interest in concealed-handgun permits spiked after 9/11. Demand for the class at Bob's went up after natural disasters, like Hurricane Katrina, and man-made ones, like the Tech shooting. Last year, a record 41,472 permits were issued in Virginia. In all, 150,000 Virginians are licensed to carry a concealed handgun.

No one expects to settle the gun quandary any time soon - not even with the Supreme Court about to weigh in. On March 18, the justices are set to hear arguments for and against Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban. It's the first time the court is expected to interpret the Second Amendment head on.

BTW, I'll be renewing my permit soon.