At the request of a local gun-control group, the Roanoke, Va., City Council voted Monday to allow the city to ban the open carry of firearms in public buildings, following earlier efforts to ban the open carry of firearms throughout the city, the Roanoke Times reports.
The effort is largely symbolic: Virginia has state firearms pre-emption—authority that the legislature is unlikely to relinquish—and Right-to-Carry permit holders are exempt from the ban. Nonetheless, those supporting the ban reportedly “felt they had to take a stand.” As Grover Price, a local gun-control activist said, “We ask you to make us feel safe.”
If these anti-gun advocates want to “feel safe,” they should consider that armed, law-abiding citizens—whether they carry openly or concealed—prevent crimes and save lives, and Virginia is far safer today than it was before the commonwealth restored that freedom.
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