Virginia CCW options

[dmorris68]

The VCDL(Virginia Citizens Defense League) Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL)

Has staged an event where everyone open carries into a restaurant they are pretty +Open Carry.

I'm not sure what I would do in this type of situation, open carry is fine if I'm with people who know I carry, but what about friends whom don't need to know I carry at all?

Kinda breaks some of the cardinal rules of not telling everyone you carry.

When Georgia passed HB 89 earlier this year, which loosened our carry rules a bit to allow carry into restaurants that served alcohol (as long as they sold 51% non-alcohol products) and most public transportation, a group of Atlanta GeorgiaCarry folks arranged a similar event in one of the Atlanta restaurants. It was widely publicized ahead of time and the local news was actually there filming, with lots of folks on camera showing off their mostly open-carried guns (GA allows open carry with a permit). While I understood their elation at the improvements to the law, I always questioned the publicity and exposure these people welcomed upon themselves. But their point was that a group of people could carry weapons into a family restaurant and it not lead to blood running in the streets, and I guess they figured what better way to get that word out than the local news...

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[f8lranger4x4]

Just get a cheap paddle holster or something and keep it in the car.

Good idea

[kazzaerexys]

The "Virginia Tuck" is, if I recall correctly, backed by a couple of judicial precedents. Essentially, the judge asked the arresting officer: "How did you determine that the defendant was illegally concealing a weapon on the premises?" Officer: "I saw the grip of the weapon." Judge: "If you saw it, it wasn't concealed. Case dismissed."

No, it is not explicitly codified in the law anywhere.

Use the VA Tuck if that line of reasoning if good enough for you, otherwise get a paddle holster and keep it in the car. Personally, I am going to get some sort of relatively inexpensive cross-draw holster for driving anyway, so I would probably use that if I felt uncomfortable with the VA Tuck.