There have been lots of firearms bills making their way through the Virginia legislature, and most of the bad ones were killed off early. But there is one gun control bill that seems to be making a lot of headway. Currently, non sterile areas of the airport are not subject to airport gun bans. You can carry your firearm in your vehicle, or on your person when traversing non-sterile areas of the terminal, the parking lot, or the access roads leading up to Virginia's airports. But it would appear that all of that is about to change.

Virginia Senate Bill SB660 will make it illegal to carry a gun, knife, or "other dangerous weapon" in the "air carrier airport terminal". Since "other dangerous weapon" is not well defined and subject to change, as is "air carrier airport terminal", this law is subject ot widespread bureaucratic abuse. Under SB660, any agency with an agenda against guns, like the People's Republic of MWAA, could ban guns, knives, cuticle scissors, and fingernail clippers within a 10 mile radius of the airport.

So why has such a horrible bill been making so much headway? Well, as VCDL President Phillip Van Cleave reports, there has been a Phantom Menace working behind the scenes to give the bill traction. That menace is none other than the NRA. Van Cleave reports in his email alert that NRA representative Dawson Hobbs admitted to the committee that the NRA had a hand in drafting the bill. That's right, one of the worst bills Virginia has seen in years was delivered to the legislature on a silver NRA engraved platter.

To those of you that are short sighted, this bill doesn't appear to be that bad. If you don't fly very often, it would probably never even effect you. But sometimes those are the worst bills, and the ones that are so easy to pass. If I hadn't witnessed the gentle erosion of rights over the past few decades, I too might be tempted to write this bill off as unimportant. But like Van Cleave, I see how much room for abuse there is here.

So what are the NEW restrictions that we will have if SB660 becomes law?

* No carry in terminal non-sterile areas, not even with a permit
* No ammunition in checked luggage or anywhere on or about your person
* No other weapons - no hunting knives or any other weapon in checked luggage or on your person
* Airports non-sterile areas where you can carry now will be off-limits with this state-wide ban
* "Air carrier airport terminal" is not defined and could be stretched to be almost anything
* A single bullet in your pocket when you enter the terminal to great (sic) a guest could get you jail time - I don't mean cartridge - I mean a bullet. Of course a cartridge would also get you in trouble. So could a ball-bearing capable of being shot by a slingshot.

I see how this new gun control could easily get out of control. The MWAA already tries to regulate all the land within 20 miles of Dulles airport. If it becomes law, how long before gun grabbers try to amend it to include: banks; schools; churches; government buildings; bars; private homes especially where children are present?

Freedom grabbers typically use baby steps to erode away your freedom to smoke a cigarette, drink a beer, gamble, eat fatty foods, and of course, carry a gun. This is yet another one of those steps down the slippery slope of gun control. And keep in mind that we have the phantom menace of the NRA to thank for it.