As Virginia residents and concealed carry permit holders, my wife and I strongly support the proposed rule change to allow concealed carry in State  Forrests.

The reasons in favor of the change are obvious. A right to self-defense is inherrent in the right to 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happyness' to use the phrase a fellow Virginian wrote two hundred years ago.

State Forrests are not a magical zone, isolated from  the rest of the Commonwealth and the larger world, where crime is unknown. As much as we might wish otherwise, State Forrests are increasingly subject to the same crime problems seen elsewhere, such as  the local shopping mall or corner filling station.

The reasons our Legislature and Governor have found sufficient to allow concealed carry in the local shopping mall or at the corner filling station, therefore, mandate the rules change.

Please allow us this right.

Jack and Janet Smith

Clifton VA