Today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the number of gun crimes at Virginia bars and restaurants has dropped in the past year.  On July 1, 2010, a new law went into effect in Virginia stating that people who have permits to carry concealed weapons may carry those weapons into bars in restaurants provided that the permit carriers do not drink.

The article reports:

The number of major crimes involving firearms at bars and restaurants statewide declined 5.2 percent from July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011, compared with the fiscal year before the law went into effect, according to crime data compiled by Virginia State Police at the newspaper’s request.

And overall, the crimes that occurred during the law’s first year were relatively minor, and few of the incidents appeared to involve gun owners with concealed-carry permits, the analysis found.

These statistics are consistent with what has happened in other parts of the country when gun regulations are changed to make it easier for the law-abiding public to obtain guns and carry them.  Criminals will get guns–whether they are legal or not. However, if a criminal knows that a member of the public may have a concealed carry permit and be carrying a gun, he may think twice before committing a crime.

One aspect of the concealed carry law is that those who have a concealed carry permit have gone through background checks and training in order to obtain the permit. Conscientious gun owners are an asset in the effort to maintain law and order in a free society.  The states that have passed gun laws that allow law-abiding citizens to own and carry guns understand that.