Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this regulation to prohibit the carry of concealed handguns by licensed citizens. I strongly oppose this regulation for the following reasons:

1) The Governor has no authority for this regulation.  If the General Assembly wanted the Governor to have such power, they would have granted it to him explicitly, as is required constitutionally.

2) It will confuse law abiding citizens. Since the Governor has no legal authority to issue this regulation, a future Governor could undoe this regulation on his or her first day in office. This would be confusing to law abiding Virginia citizens.

3) It will confuse law abiding citizens. This regulation only applies to Executive branch agency offices. It does not apply to other state government offices, such as the General Assembly building. It does not apply to other government buildings where concealed carry of handguns by licensed citizens is allowed, such as county or local government buildings. As a result, law abiding Virginia citizens will be confused, and can easily run afoul of this proposed regulation, leading to potential and unnecessary criminal and civil charges. For example, a single mom with a restraining order against an abusive ex-boyfriend may legally carry her concealed handgun into a county government building, and then accidently illegally carry her concealed handgun into an Executive Branch agency office, resulting in the potential for criminal or civil charges against her.

4) This is a waste of time and Virginia government resources, as the proposed regulation is likely to be challenged and lose in court because the Governor does not have this legal authority.

Thank you for considering my comments. I urge that this regulation be withdrawn.