FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (WUSA9) — Did you know in Virginia it’s legal to drive with a loaded rifle or shot gun in your car? If you wanted to change that, it would be up to your city or county-not the state.
This month a group of lawmakers begged Fairfax County to do just that.
In Fairfax County, that decision must come from the board of supervisors. A week ago, 15 state lawmakers wrote a letter begging them to consider the change.
The 36th district State senator Scott Surovell said in 2015, he approached the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors about a ban on driving with loaded guns in the car.
“The last thing we need in congested traffic here in Northern Virginia, where tempers flare and people get angry, is a bunch of loaded guns in cars,” he said. “Especially shot guns and rifles.”
However, since 2004 only Loudon County, Fauquier County, and the city of Alexandria banned loaded guns on highways.
But in Fairfax County it is not. Last week, Surovell and 14 others sent a letter to the Board of supervisors asking them to enact a ban.
How would it work? Surovell says it would be more of a deterrent because it would be a $100 fine. However, it wouldn’t give police the right to search your car.
“The only time this would ever happen is if someone was stopped for an additional traffic offense,” he explained.
Tuesday, the board of supervisors voted to study a possible ban-not pass one. Critics said the ban is impossible to enforce and would add another layer of guns laws.
