I support this petition effort.  The good citizens of the Commonwealth should not have their rights to effective self protection, guaranteed under the Virginia and U.S. Constitutions, abrogated simply because they enter state-managed forest lands.  We should not be denied the tools necessary to defend ourselves in the worst extreme when going abroad in remote forest and park land far removed from law enforcement assistance.

Keep in mind the armed citizen offers protection not just to himself, but to his neighbors and park employees as well.  This protection takes the form of both deterring criminals before the fact and thwarting crimes actually in progress.