A person was convicted of Possession of a Concealed Weapon when he was caught with handgun in a closed, but not locked, glove compartment in his car. The question on appeal was whether a person can keep a gun in his car’s unlocked glove compartment without a concealed weapons permit.
The Court of Appeals reviewed the history behind the concealed weapons law – Virginia Code sec. 18.2-308 — and held that the statute required that weapons be “secured” and that “secured” did not mean “locked.” A person in Virginia can lawfully keep a gun in an unlocked glove compartment of his car.
This was a particularly unusual appeal because the Attorney General’s Office, tasked with defending the lower court’s ruling, agreed with the Defendant that the case should have been dismissed.
The case was Doulgerakis v. Commonwealth, No. 0458-12-2 (February 5, 2013).