To those above, that find this bill odd....
It was the substitute bill that got passed today, not the original bill (
actual Constitutional Carry) or the amended bill (rural counties only).
Mathis decided to go with the substitute bill, after the Governor told him flat-out that he'd veto any bill along the lines of Constitutional Carry.
Whether the Governor will even sign
this one is debatable, since it applies state-wide, not just in "rural" counties where hunting activities are more common. It did pass the House with a good margin, though; and the Senate should be about the same. Vetoing it would be a bad move by Herbert, and he knows it.
If this does get signed by Herbert, it's still a step in the right direction. It's easier to go from where this bill would put us, to proper Constitutional Carry, than from where we are now.
The article reads that the major issue was with persons out in bad weather hunting getting hit with concealed carry charges. VA statutes just have an exemption for protecting weapons while hunting in bad weather. Seems a much more straight forward way to do this than to have unloaded concealed carry at all times.
I would certainly support concealed carry loaded without permit, this law seems a little off.
As I (briefly) explained above...
It's because the bill was never intended to end up in this form. It was amended enough that Mathis no longer supported the bill, and the Governor flatly stated that he would veto it. So, he had to go to the backup plan (the substitute bill) to at least try to nibble away at the end goal.