Putnam: 'Knee-jerk reaction' by Virginia to end conceal-carry agreement

BY THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam criticized Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, who announced Tuesday that the commonwealth will no longer recognize concealed-weapons licenses from Florida and 24 other states.

"The real losers of the Virginia attorney general's decision are law-abiding gun owners in half the states in our country," Putnam said in a release. "Florida has more than 1.4 million concealed weapon licenses and our crime rate is at a 44-year low. The Virginia attorney general's politically expedient decision to end reciprocity for concealed weapon licenses is a knee-jerk reaction that tramples on people's Second Amendment right."

Virginia had reciprocity agreements about conceal-carry permits with about 30 states. In announcing an executive action to sever the majority of the agreements, Herring's office targeted states considered to have concealed-weapons permitting weaker than what is required in Virginia. Herring is a Democrat, while Putnam is a Republican.