• We are now running on a new, and hopefully much-improved, server. In addition we are also on new forum software. Any move entails a lot of technical details and I suspect we will encounter a few issues as the new server goes live. Please be patient with us. It will be worth it! :) Please help by posting all issues here.
  • The forum will be down for about an hour this weekend for maintenance. I apologize for the inconvenience.
  • If you are having trouble seeing the forum then you may need to clear your browser's DNS cache. Click here for instructions on how to do that
  • Please review the Forum Rules frequently as we are constantly trying to improve the forum for our members and visitors.

Open carry colonial williamsburg

mr1moneyman

New member
Joined
Apr 18, 2015
Messages
5
Location
US
I have been looking into if I can oc in williamsburg virginia. Most of the posts I have been reading are from a few years ago and I am not sure if anything has changed. Does anyone know if oc in colonial williamsburg is still good?
 

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
Welcome to OCDO.

You have not heard anything about Colonial Williamsburg because nothing has changed - not in 165+ years.

Being from "US" is a pretty wide swath of the map. Care to narrow it down so us Virginians can decide if it would be safe to extend a welcome and suggest a meet&greet.

stay safe.
 

hafnhaf

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2013
Messages
230
Location
Williamsburg, VA
even though i live here, i can only hazard a guess. the streets are public property and should be OK. the buildings are owned by the Foundation, and MAY be off-limits. i have never seen any gun-buster signs. the worst they could do would be to trespass you if you refused to leave one of their buildings.

of course, i am not a lawyer, so YMMV.

you could try to blend in by carrying a flintlock pistol...
 

Grapeshot

Legendary Warrior
Joined
May 21, 2006
Messages
35,317
Location
Valhalla
Myself and numerous user/members here have been to Williamsburg many times OCing, including the buildings of the historic area and absolutely never the first problem....nada, zip. Independence and freedom are alive and well there!

Never a problem in the restaurants or discount malls except for The Pottery - no guns there. Not missing anything though, it has become a tourist trap.

Note that in Virginia one does not have to have a recognized/accepted permit/license to OC. Just be over 18 yo and not otherwise restricted. What makes it legal? No statute says you can't......therefore you can.
 

mr1moneyman

New member
Joined
Apr 18, 2015
Messages
5
Location
US
First time posting in here and using a site like this. I am asking about colonial williamsburg.
 

Grapeshot

Legendary Warrior
Joined
May 21, 2006
Messages
35,317
Location
Valhalla
Myself and numerous user/members here have been to Williamsburg many times OCing, including the buildings of the historic area and absolutely never the first problem....nada, zip. Independence and freedom are alive and well there!

Never a problem in the restaurants or discount malls except for The Pottery - no guns there. Not missing anything though, it has become a tourist trap.

Note that in Virginia one does not have to have a recognized/accepted permit/license to OC. Just be over 18 yo and not otherwise restricted. What makes it legal? No statute says you can't......therefore you can.

First time posting in here and using a site like this. I am asking about colonial williamsburg.

Historic area = Colonial Williamsburg. Private property but legal carry has never been and is not now restricted.

For a humorous note read post #11 here.
 

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
Just to echo what Grapeshot said with a bit more detail. The Colonial Williamsburg venue is privately owned by the Rockerfeller Foundation (although I believe one of their subsidiaries now has the day-to-day operations). Their mission is to bring the visitor a chancce of experiencing life in the mid-18th century leading towards but not yet at the Revolution. For reasons that make a lot of sense they do not recreate the brigands and theives and outlaws that exited at the time. But as those sort did exist gentlemen went about armed. Hiding your arms (pistols mostly in this case) was considered the act of a coward and a sneak.

When you go there ask any of the reenactors how the town/city handled a street robbery or a burglary in the night. No police force and the Army was not there to protect the population except from any hostile Indians that might still be wandering about, and from the French and pirates.

stay safe.
 

Citizen

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2006
Messages
18,269
Location
Fairfax Co., VA
SNIP When you go there ask any of the reenactors how the town/city handled a street robbery or a burglary in the night. No police force and the Army was not there to protect the population except from any hostile Indians that might still be wandering about, and from the French and pirates.

stay safe.

French pirates? Oh, that brings something to mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9rT7hvb6Aw

(Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone in Captain Blood 1935; Rathbone as the French pirate, Levasseur. They sure don't make movies like that anymore. <sigh>)

Imagine his majesty's redcoats replying with round-shot! Heh, heh, heh. I'll bet the pirates were a little careful which towns they threatened. Which raises a question: was there anything in Williamsburg in the early 1700's worth pirates trying to take?


PS: According to a Hollywood documentary, Basil Rathbone was generally acknowledge the best sword-fighter actor. His performance against Tyrone Powers as Zorro tells why.
 

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
.

. Which raises a question: was there anything in Williamsburg in the early 1700's worth pirates trying to take?


.

Tobacco. Trans-shipped from other parts.

The Colonial treasury - such as it was.

Goods arriving from England - possibly the biggest target.

stay safe.
 

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
Thanks. I was forgetting Williamsburg was the capital of VA at that time.

Just be glad it was moved from Jamestown. Can you imagine what Patrick Henry would have said about liberty if he had just come from the malarial swamps?

stay safe.
 
Last edited:

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
I thought he made that speech in St. John's Church in Richmond?

After travelling from the Colonial Capital so he could report on how things stood in the House of Burgesses.

Go back and re-read my post - that "if he had just come from" part might be of interest.:p

stay safe.
 

MSG Laigaie

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Messages
3,239
Location
Philipsburg, Montana
Which raises a question: was there anything in Williamsburg in the early 1700's worth pirates trying to take?

As it is , and has been, If you have more than the Bad Guy, he will want to take it from you. Makes no difference if it is a piece of bread, the money in my wallet, or the sneakers on my feet. There will always be Bad Guys.
 

scouser

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2011
Messages
1,341
Location
804, VA
Top