Henrico supervisors to weigh ordinance banning firearms from county facilities

It soon could be illegal to bring a firearm into facilities owned or used by Henrico County and those owned or used by entities created or controlled by the county.

The Henrico Board of Supervisors Tuesday will consider approval of an ordinance banning firearms, ammunition and components in all such buildings. The law would apply to everyone (including concealed permit holders) except for law enforcement officers; qualifying retired law enforcement officers (those covered by the federal Law Enforcement Officer’s Safety Act of 2004); private security officials hired by the county or an entity created or controlled by the county; military personnel when acting within the realm of their official duties; and several other specific groups, such as participants in sporting events that involve the use of a firearm.

County officials proposed the change after hearing from Henrico employees in recent months, Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas told the Citizen Monday.

“The impetus was staff concerns we have heard over the past year,” Vithoulkas said. “The concerns are particularly acute in our larger governmental buildings like the Parham Road complex, the eastern government center, our two large mental health buildings and our libraries.”

If the board approves the measures, anyone caught violating it (and later convicted) would be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of as much as $2,500 and a jail term of as much as 12 months.

The potential move has earned criticism from the Virginia Citizens Defense League, which advocates for the right to bear arms.

In a message posted on its website, the VCDL urged its members and supporters to oppose the move by contacting supervisors and showing up at Tuesday’s meeting to speak or show unity.

“We need a strong turnout to stop this ordinance from passing and going into effect!,” the message read. "We also need to flood the Board of Supervisors email and telephones with comments in opposition to this travesty!”

The organization believes that the creation of gun-free zones make those areas more dangerous by suggesting to would-be shooters that they will encounter no armed opposition in such spots.

“Studies have shown that the vast majority of mass murders are in gun-free zones,” the organization posted on its site, as part of a sample letter for members to send to supervisors.  “The massacre in a Virginia Beach government building a few years ago [in 2019, when a city employee fatally shot 12 people and injured four others] is a classic example.”

In an attempt to prevent those types of incidents, the ordinance would grant the authority for the county’s director of public safety or a designee to “provide for security measures, such as the use of metal detectors and increased use of security personnel, designed to reasonably prevent unauthorized access by a person with any firearms, ammunition, or components or combination thereof” to the applicable buildings and facilities.

It already is illegal in Henrico and 12 other cities and counties in Virginia to carry (on public roads, sidewalks, right-of-way or in parks) loaded semi-automatic center-fire rifles or pistols that hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition or shotguns with magazines that will hold more than seven rounds of ammunition.

Statewide, it is illegal to possess firearms in courthouses, airports, childcare centers and preschools during operational hours, and places of worship while religious meetings are being held (unless a "good and sufficient reason" for doing so can be proven).

Supervisors will consider the ordinance during their public meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors Room at the Western Henrico Government Center, 4301 East Parham Road. Members of the public may register online to participate in the meeting in person or virtually.