In May 2021, the Supreme Court of Virginia handed down its opinion in Meyers v. Commonwealth of Virginia.[1] At issue in the case was whether a loaded gun in a zipped backpack in the passenger compartment of an automobile constitutes a concealed weapon in violation of Virginia Code section (§) 18.2-308(A). Overruling both the trial court and Virginia Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court found that it does not.
The case began when Suffolk City, Virginia police detected the odor of marijuana emanating from a parked SUV occupied by three men. Searching the vehicle, they found a zipped backpack which, when opened and searched, was found to contain two BB guns and a loaded .40 caliber handgun.[2] Defendant Dorain Jerod Myers acknowledged ownership of the pistol and was charged with possession of a concealed weapon. Because he had previously been convicted of carrying a concealed handgun without a permit, the new charge was a felony. As the Court noted, Virginia courts have found the concealed weapon statute to apply to “any hidden firearm within arm’s reach of the person - whether or not the person physically carried the firearm.”[3] In response, Myers asserted the statutory exception recognized in Code § 18.2-308(C)(8), which provides that the statute does not apply to “[a]ny person who may lawfully possess a firearm and is carrying a handgun while in a personal, private motor vehicle or vessel and such handgun is secured in a container or compartment in the vehicle or vessel.” The Virginia Court of Appeals has previously held that a firearm is “secured” within the meaning of the exception “if a handgun is simply placed in a latched console or glove box.”[4] The prosecution tried to distinguish Myers’ case, however, arguing that “the same cannot be true of a handgun contained in a zipped backpack because the backpack could be ‘opened with ease.’”[5] Although the trial court and the Court of Appeals sided with the Commonwealth, the Supreme Court knocked this reasoning down “with ease,” observing that
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