I’m kidding… about the slavery. So far.

But the Washington Post is reporting that Virginia’s radically-anti-gun Democrats are moving forward with a plan to strip the basic human right of self-defense from those who travel through the state by severing concealed carry reciprocity agreements with 25 of the 30 states with which is currently has reciprocity arrangements.

Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) plans to announce Tuesday that Virginia will no longer recognize concealed carry handgun permits from 25 states that have reciprocity agreements with the commonwealth.

The move also means Virginians with a history of stalking, drug dealing or inpatient mental-health treatment cannot obtain a permit in a state with comparatively lax laws and carry a handgun legally at home.

Herring said severing the out-of-state agreements can prevent people who may be dangerous or irresponsible from carrying a concealed weapon.

“To me, this is a commonsense step that can help make Virginians and our law enforcement officers safer by ensuring that Virginia’s laws on who can and cannot carry a concealed handgun are applied evenly, consistently, and fairly,” he said in a statement provided to The Washington Post.

“Our General Assembly has already identified who can and cannot conceal handguns in Virginia, and we cannot have that decision undermined by recognizing permits from other states with more permissive standards.”

…

This year, Herring’s office began a review of reciprocity agreements Virginia has with 30 other states. Attorneys discovered that 25 of those states had concealed handgun permit regulations that were weaker than Virginia’s.

The State Police superintendent accepted Herring’s recommendation to sever agreements with those states, effective Feb. 1, according to Herring’s office.

The states are: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Agreements will remain with West Virginia, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah.

Post propagandist Jenna Portnoy of course refuses to tell the entire truth about Herring’s treachery, which is that reciprocity agreements  are based upon actual reciprocity.

Virginians with concealed carry permits are going to soon see most, if not all of the 25 states targeted by Herring rescind their arrangements, so that Virginia’s carry permits are recognized in only six states instead of 31—only one of which is nearby—rendering the permit essentially useless for thousands who live near Virginia’s borders and commute into other states for work or recreation.

Virginians are learning the hard way this morning that the Party of Tyranny has a laser-like focus on removing the rights of citizens at every turn. Perhaps they’ll be a little smarter the next time they go the ballot box, because elections do have dire consequences.

* * *

Herring’s unilateral decision serves to stress the importance of a national concealed carry reciprocity act, a concept supported by the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, the National Rifle Association (NRA). There are numerous bills in the House and Senate pushing for national concealed carry reciprocity which should now be fast-tracked to protect the rights of concealed carriers from spiteful petty tyrants like Herring and his liege, carpetbagging Clinton crony governor Terry McAuliffe.

Update: Virginia Republicans are going to challenge Mike Bloomberg’s, Herring’s unilateral decision.

Virginia Republicans and gun rights activists were caught off guard by the holiday announcement and are still deciding what to do in response. They expressed skepticism that the attorney general’s move is legally permissible and harshly criticized the move.

“I had no hint,” said Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. “No hint anywhere that there was a review anywhere or that anything was going to change.”

“We’re going to want to look at the criteria that they used [to review the agreements] and I bet you we find criteria in there that doesn’t apply.”

“We were surprised to see that,” Bill Howell (R.), Virginia speaker of the house, told the Washington Free Beacon. “I find it interesting that the attorney general said he was going to take the politics out of the attorney generals when he’s really injected them in an even greater way than we’ve seen in recent time.”

The speaker went on to say he is not convinced the attorney general has the power to void all of the 25 reciprocity agreements he is targeting. “We’re doing research on this right now but there’s probably about half the states, maybe more than that, we have written agreements with and I don’t think the attorney general or anybody can just go in and abdicate a written agreement,” Howell said. “So the number of states it impacts may be a lot less than what we’re seeing right now.”

Howell also indicated that the Republican majorities in the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate are looking at legislative action to reverse Herring’s order.

In addition, Chris Cox, executive director of NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, blasted the decision.

“Plain and simple, this is putting politics above public safety. This decision is both dangerous and shameful. The Attorney General knows that permit holders are among the safest groups of citizens in the commonwealth and the rest of the country. At a time when people are scared and desperately need the ability to defend themselves, Herring has chosen the path of making self-defense harder.”