Please recognize one fundamental principle: Criminals, by definition, do not obey laws.
Accordingly, placing restrictions on legal firearms carry will not impact those intent on doing harm -- the only result is disarming law-abiding citizens, who will obey!
Imposing restrictions on those who already obey the law is easy -- after all, they "obey"! Dealing with those who would violate the law is difficult.
You are avoiding your responsibility by ignoring the criminals and only rendering the law-abiding ineffective in defending themselves and others.
Passing "gun control" ordinances is simple -- but does not address the problem of criminal use of firearms.
I write to strongly support passage of the Firearms Ordinance. ( 21-356).
As a local tax payor who uses the buildings and parks on a frequent basis, I feel I have the right to be on our properties without being intimidated by another bearing a firearm. There is no hunting or other need to carry a weapon at these places. Thank you.
I support the 21-356 Proposed Firearm Ordinance. I enjoy the county parks and need to enter County buildings to vote or for other reasons and feel uncomfortable when I see private citizens carrying/possessing firearms in these areas. Since no hunting or target practice is allowed on County property firearms are not needed. Firearms could be discharged by accident, hurting innocent victims or just scaring everyone.
Thank you for voting to support this ordinance.
I encourage the board to vote YES on banning firearms from county buildings. I understand the concerns of concealed carry folks. But real-world evidence shows that unless they have a lot of tactical shooter training, most people's ability to accurately and effectively defend themselves in an active shooter situation is limited to nonexistent. Even trained law enforcement officers struggle, understandably, to shoot accurately in such stressful situations. Plus, active shooter situations are rare, especially in Virginia, where gun homicides of all types represented only 0.4% of the state's total deaths in 2019, per VDH stats. Best to ban guns from county buildings. It removes the temptation for sudden outbursts of lethal violence, and we're not the Wild West; we don't need to go armed everywhere to ensure our safety. At best, the policy will reduce risk; at worst, it won't significantly increase it.
I urge you to vote "NO" on the proposed firearms ordnance, or at minimum modify the ordinance to allow citizens with concealed carry permits to continue carrying in our public spaces. As we all know, those intent on harming others don't care about any ordinances or any laws. All this proposed ordinance does is take away the ability of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves.
If the County moves forward with this, how will the County ensure my safety and the safety of my family when we visit county parks? Will I see armed law enforcement officers at all times while in the public spaces? If not, then the County has taken away my ability to protect myself and my family. There is no logical reason to do that.
Please vote NO on 21-356 Proposed Firearms Ordinance. Albemarle County has not had any incidents that justify this infringement on the rights of the citizens of the County. It will only embolden criminals against defenseless citizens. On 11/20/20, a tragic shooting resulting in 8 injuries (no deaths) occurred in a Minnesota "Gun Free Zone". The Mayor is quoted "Mayfair [Mall] has a strict no-gun policy, [Wauwatosa Mayor Dennis] McBride shared and said, “guns have no place in shopping malls or other places in which crowds of people gather… If the shooter had complied with that policy, no one would have been hurt yesterday.” This is an example to the Board that Gun Free zones do not deter criminals and only serve to take away the rights of law abiding citizens.
I urge you to vote NO to this proposal for gun control on County property. This primarily is a solution in search of a problem. Albemarle County has not had any consistent incidents that would get close to justify this infringement of the rights of citizens of the county. Are there statistics and empirical evidence behind this proposal?
And even if we did have a problem of firearms on County property, how will the police cover these areas confidently? Many parks and other locations are remote and difficult to access quickly. Who will be there in an emergency when lives are threatened? In Alexandria for example, shootings went up 40% the month their ordinance went into effect. Because we all know criminals don’t follow the law.
The reality is this isn’t a need of the County and does nothing but make our citizens more vulnerable while violating our 2nd amendment rights. Please vote no to the ordinance.
Vote “no” on this ordinance. Alexandria’s shooting went up 40% beginning the month their ordinance took effect and has stayed up. Parks have remote areas that police simply cannot cover or secure. This ordinance will only embolden those bent on harming others.
As a 13-year county resident, I urge the board to vote yes on this ordinance to keep our communities safe and complement Charlottesville's ordinance. Weapons don't belong where voters exercise their citizenship and do business, where public employees work, where families gather and where police are entrusted to keep the peace. The Unite the Right attack on Charlottesville and riot at the U.S. Capitol make this issue a moral imperative. Firearms are, or can be, already prohibited in Virginia in polling places, state buildings, college facilities and other public places. Albemarle should join 12 other localities statewide, as diverse as Richmond, Blacksburg and Loudoun County, that have enacted similar ordinances.
This isn't a solution to a problem, but rather an infringement on civil rights masquerading as one. Criminals, by definition, don't obey laws or ordinances and the county lacks the police assets to continuously patrol the spaces in question, so you are effectively giving criminals a target rich environment in which to rob and assault citizens at will. I will not and should not be expected to surrender both self defense and a Constitutionally enumerated right just to enjoy the public spaces that my tax dollars help maintain. Therefore, I urge you to vote against this proposed ordinance.
Please vote no on this ordinance. This will only endanger citizens as opposed to protecting them, as evidenced in the Virginia Beach shooting a few years ago. Protect the rights of county residents to protect themselves and their families. The fact that this proposal does not have any exemption for concealed carry permit holders proves it does not have our best interests in mind. If you care about protecting people, start enforcing the laws on the books instead of looking the other way.
Vote 'NO' on this ordinance.
My wife and I enjoy many of the beautiful +100 acre parks in this county. It is absurd to think of an ordinance passing that will take away law abiding citizens (even CHP owners!!) right to carry a firearm in large wooded parks. I know the social pressure can be daunting to hop on board with things like this, and you don't want to seem as if you don't oppose gun-violence, but this is simply a half-baked solution that doesn't address criminals at all.
Vote "No" on this ordinance. It will embolden criminals against defenseless citizens. Go read up on what is going on in South Africa if you doubt this.
There is no justification for this ordinance other than to infringe on the rights of law abiding citizens that could potentially stop a violent crime occurring when allowed to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
Vote NO on this ordinance. It will NOT effectively prohibit firearms in county facilities and in public parks. What it will accomplish is only to prevent law-abiding gun owners—citizens such as myself—from carrying firearms in these locations. Criminals will not care about the penalty nor respect the firearm ban.
Do not vote to restrict the ability of people, of your own constituents, to lawfully carry a firearm to protect themselves and their families while in county parks. Many of these public parks have remote areas that are not regularly patrolled by law enforcement. This area is becoming progressively more dangerous; we have seen an uptick in violence. This ordinance will do nothing to prevent such violence. It will only prevent otherwise lawfully-carrying citizens from being able to defend themselves in a dire situation. At the very least, add an exemption for citizens of Albemarle county and/or valid Virginia concealed handgun permit holders.
This is a pointless and gratuitous infringement on the rights protected under the Second Amendment - part of a Bill of Rights authored by the most distinguished resident of Albemarle County, I might add - and serves no purpose but a political one. There has been no incident of violent criminality, perpetrated by an otherwise law-abiding gun owner, involving a firearm, in any of the locations you propose to restrict. Furthermore, this places a major burden upon all those citizens who are legally allowed to carry firearms, and who are, demonstrably and by far, the most law-abiding segment of the population of the Commonwealth.
If there is any statistical data to prove that any problem exists, or that supports the contention that any significant effect on criminal behavior would occur, that data should be presented. Otherwise, this proposed ordinance is simply an abuse of authority.
I urge every member of the board to vote “no” on this overbearing and over-reaching ordinance.
As I’m sure the Board has done their due diligence, how many lives is this estimated to save per year? How many lives will this put in danger per year? Since we know, because of the CDC official report, the defensive use of firearms exceeds gun related homicides by an estimated factor of 12x-100x, I find it hard to believe these new gun control measures will save lives compared to allowing a person to defend their life in the defined areas in your bill. If the idea is to save lives, I suggest you look heavily into the fact that basic traffic rules are hardly enforced in the county. 6,000,000 car accidents nationally per year annually, 30,000 gun deaths nationally per year. I think your focus is on the wrong thing.
Please do not pass any ordinance restricting legal firearms possession on County property. Criminals and mass shooters are not going to follow your ordinance. Your firearms restrictions are not going to make anyone any safer.
Dear BOS:
Please recognize one fundamental principle: Criminals, by definition, do not obey laws.
Accordingly, placing restrictions on legal firearms carry will not impact those intent on doing harm -- the only result is disarming law-abiding citizens, who will obey!
Imposing restrictions on those who already obey the law is easy -- after all, they "obey"! Dealing with those who would violate the law is difficult.
You are avoiding your responsibility by ignoring the criminals and only rendering the law-abiding ineffective in defending themselves and others.
Passing "gun control" ordinances is simple -- but does not address the problem of criminal use of firearms.
Thank you for your attention.
I write to strongly support passage of the Firearms Ordinance. ( 21-356).
As a local tax payor who uses the buildings and parks on a frequent basis, I feel I have the right to be on our properties without being intimidated by another bearing a firearm. There is no hunting or other need to carry a weapon at these places. Thank you.
I support the 21-356 Proposed Firearm Ordinance. I enjoy the county parks and need to enter County buildings to vote or for other reasons and feel uncomfortable when I see private citizens carrying/possessing firearms in these areas. Since no hunting or target practice is allowed on County property firearms are not needed. Firearms could be discharged by accident, hurting innocent victims or just scaring everyone.
Thank you for voting to support this ordinance.
I encourage the board to vote YES on banning firearms from county buildings. I understand the concerns of concealed carry folks. But real-world evidence shows that unless they have a lot of tactical shooter training, most people's ability to accurately and effectively defend themselves in an active shooter situation is limited to nonexistent. Even trained law enforcement officers struggle, understandably, to shoot accurately in such stressful situations. Plus, active shooter situations are rare, especially in Virginia, where gun homicides of all types represented only 0.4% of the state's total deaths in 2019, per VDH stats. Best to ban guns from county buildings. It removes the temptation for sudden outbursts of lethal violence, and we're not the Wild West; we don't need to go armed everywhere to ensure our safety. At best, the policy will reduce risk; at worst, it won't significantly increase it.
I urge you to vote "NO" on the proposed firearms ordnance, or at minimum modify the ordinance to allow citizens with concealed carry permits to continue carrying in our public spaces. As we all know, those intent on harming others don't care about any ordinances or any laws. All this proposed ordinance does is take away the ability of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves.
If the County moves forward with this, how will the County ensure my safety and the safety of my family when we visit county parks? Will I see armed law enforcement officers at all times while in the public spaces? If not, then the County has taken away my ability to protect myself and my family. There is no logical reason to do that.
Please vote NO on 21-356 Proposed Firearms Ordinance. Albemarle County has not had any incidents that justify this infringement on the rights of the citizens of the County. It will only embolden criminals against defenseless citizens. On 11/20/20, a tragic shooting resulting in 8 injuries (no deaths) occurred in a Minnesota "Gun Free Zone". The Mayor is quoted "Mayfair [Mall] has a strict no-gun policy, [Wauwatosa Mayor Dennis] McBride shared and said, “guns have no place in shopping malls or other places in which crowds of people gather… If the shooter had complied with that policy, no one would have been hurt yesterday.” This is an example to the Board that Gun Free zones do not deter criminals and only serve to take away the rights of law abiding citizens.
I urge you to vote NO to this proposal for gun control on County property. This primarily is a solution in search of a problem. Albemarle County has not had any consistent incidents that would get close to justify this infringement of the rights of citizens of the county. Are there statistics and empirical evidence behind this proposal?
And even if we did have a problem of firearms on County property, how will the police cover these areas confidently? Many parks and other locations are remote and difficult to access quickly. Who will be there in an emergency when lives are threatened? In Alexandria for example, shootings went up 40% the month their ordinance went into effect. Because we all know criminals don’t follow the law.
The reality is this isn’t a need of the County and does nothing but make our citizens more vulnerable while violating our 2nd amendment rights. Please vote no to the ordinance.
Vote “no” on this ordinance. Alexandria’s shooting went up 40% beginning the month their ordinance took effect and has stayed up. Parks have remote areas that police simply cannot cover or secure. This ordinance will only embolden those bent on harming others.
As a 13-year county resident, I urge the board to vote yes on this ordinance to keep our communities safe and complement Charlottesville's ordinance. Weapons don't belong where voters exercise their citizenship and do business, where public employees work, where families gather and where police are entrusted to keep the peace. The Unite the Right attack on Charlottesville and riot at the U.S. Capitol make this issue a moral imperative. Firearms are, or can be, already prohibited in Virginia in polling places, state buildings, college facilities and other public places. Albemarle should join 12 other localities statewide, as diverse as Richmond, Blacksburg and Loudoun County, that have enacted similar ordinances.
This isn't a solution to a problem, but rather an infringement on civil rights masquerading as one. Criminals, by definition, don't obey laws or ordinances and the county lacks the police assets to continuously patrol the spaces in question, so you are effectively giving criminals a target rich environment in which to rob and assault citizens at will. I will not and should not be expected to surrender both self defense and a Constitutionally enumerated right just to enjoy the public spaces that my tax dollars help maintain. Therefore, I urge you to vote against this proposed ordinance.
Please vote no on this ordinance. This will only endanger citizens as opposed to protecting them, as evidenced in the Virginia Beach shooting a few years ago. Protect the rights of county residents to protect themselves and their families. The fact that this proposal does not have any exemption for concealed carry permit holders proves it does not have our best interests in mind. If you care about protecting people, start enforcing the laws on the books instead of looking the other way.
Vote 'NO' on this ordinance.
My wife and I enjoy many of the beautiful +100 acre parks in this county. It is absurd to think of an ordinance passing that will take away law abiding citizens (even CHP owners!!) right to carry a firearm in large wooded parks. I know the social pressure can be daunting to hop on board with things like this, and you don't want to seem as if you don't oppose gun-violence, but this is simply a half-baked solution that doesn't address criminals at all.
Vote "No" on this ordinance. It will embolden criminals against defenseless citizens. Go read up on what is going on in South Africa if you doubt this.
There is no justification for this ordinance other than to infringe on the rights of law abiding citizens that could potentially stop a violent crime occurring when allowed to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
Please vote no on this proposed ordinance.
Vote No on this firearms ordinance. This makes no one safer while disarming law abiding citizens. Please consider banning crime instead.
Vote NO on this ordinance. It will NOT effectively prohibit firearms in county facilities and in public parks. What it will accomplish is only to prevent law-abiding gun owners—citizens such as myself—from carrying firearms in these locations. Criminals will not care about the penalty nor respect the firearm ban.
Do not vote to restrict the ability of people, of your own constituents, to lawfully carry a firearm to protect themselves and their families while in county parks. Many of these public parks have remote areas that are not regularly patrolled by law enforcement. This area is becoming progressively more dangerous; we have seen an uptick in violence. This ordinance will do nothing to prevent such violence. It will only prevent otherwise lawfully-carrying citizens from being able to defend themselves in a dire situation. At the very least, add an exemption for citizens of Albemarle county and/or valid Virginia concealed handgun permit holders.
This is a pointless and gratuitous infringement on the rights protected under the Second Amendment - part of a Bill of Rights authored by the most distinguished resident of Albemarle County, I might add - and serves no purpose but a political one. There has been no incident of violent criminality, perpetrated by an otherwise law-abiding gun owner, involving a firearm, in any of the locations you propose to restrict. Furthermore, this places a major burden upon all those citizens who are legally allowed to carry firearms, and who are, demonstrably and by far, the most law-abiding segment of the population of the Commonwealth.
If there is any statistical data to prove that any problem exists, or that supports the contention that any significant effect on criminal behavior would occur, that data should be presented. Otherwise, this proposed ordinance is simply an abuse of authority.
I urge every member of the board to vote “no” on this overbearing and over-reaching ordinance.
As I’m sure the Board has done their due diligence, how many lives is this estimated to save per year? How many lives will this put in danger per year? Since we know, because of the CDC official report, the defensive use of firearms exceeds gun related homicides by an estimated factor of 12x-100x, I find it hard to believe these new gun control measures will save lives compared to allowing a person to defend their life in the defined areas in your bill. If the idea is to save lives, I suggest you look heavily into the fact that basic traffic rules are hardly enforced in the county. 6,000,000 car accidents nationally per year annually, 30,000 gun deaths nationally per year. I think your focus is on the wrong thing.
Please vote no on this issue
Please do not pass any ordinance restricting legal firearms possession on County property. Criminals and mass shooters are not going to follow your ordinance. Your firearms restrictions are not going to make anyone any safer.