I fully support the right to carry concealed or openly in state forests. There are several issues at play here.

First is the issue of danger. It has been argued state forests are inherently safe places where a concealed weapons permit holder does not need to carry a pistol. Without arguing statistics, one could make the same argument about parts of Virginia. Well, Fairfax is safe so no concealed weapons there, but such and such a place is dangerous so you can carry there. What you end up with is a patchwork of laws that are difficult both to follow and enforce, not to mention being unfair.

If a citizen has gone through the proper training and background checks to have been issued a Concealed Weapons Permit (CWP) by the state of Virginia, there is no reason why that should not apply to state forests. After all, the state forest may be safe 999 times but it only takes 1 time to make that pistol necessary. The same goes for any other place.

Secondly, most people seem to somehow associate those who lawfully have a CWP and carry a weapon with criminals. The argument goes that having more armed citizens is somehow bad. Yet, emotions aside, who can make the argument that someone who has taken a mandatory training course, read up on VA state laws, and been through a background check, not to mention payed the $50 fee for the permit and another $100 or so for the course, not to mention the cost of a firearm, which is several hundred dollars, -- that this person who spent so much time, effort and money is dangerous? Illegal guns are the real danger, people who commit violent crims don't bother to go through that process.

In short, there is no good reason to  ban the carrying of handguns in state forests while making it legal most everywhere else.