So far, the primary location is Gravelly Point Park along the George Washington Memorial Parkway. If and when the rally starts to look like it will attract more participants, the George Washington Memorial Parkway has some other spots within it that are on the Potomac and relatively close to DC. Gravelly Point is only about a mile and a half from the National Mall in Washington, DC, and it is right between Reagan National Airport and the Pentagon. Very visible, very close. But, while the green space is big enough at Gravelly for just about any size crowd, the parking is limited. There are about 150 to 200 parking spaces, but we would only be able to reserve 20 or so.
If the Restore the Constitution rally/ Muster Outside DC concept takes off and it looks like there will be too many participants for Gravelly Point with it’s limited parking spaces, there are several other small parks within the George Washingon Memorial Parkway National Park that can be used in addition to Gravelly Point. One such park is Turkey Run Park to the northwest along the Potomac. It’s about 6-7 miles from the National mall, but still only 2 or 3 miles from the DC border and only about a mile from CIA Headquarters. Another small park near Turkey Run is Fort Marcy, which is basically right across the Potomac from DC.
These smaller parks along the northern portion of the GW Pkwy suit the purpose of mustering as close to DC as possible, but they may not be the best for a large rally with a speaker’s podium and 1000’s of attendees. Either way, as long as it does in fact become legal to carry in these parks, I do forsee at least some usage of them, even if not for the “main event.”
A much larger location along the GW Pkwy that has more parking and would be conducive to holding a large rally with a speaker’s podium would be Fort Hunt Park on the southern end of the GW Memorial Pkwy. It’s about 10 miles south of the National Mall and about 6 miles from the DC border.
Links to the home page for the George Washington Memorial Parkway and a good zoom-able map are below:
George Washington Memorial Parkway National Park
Map
From what I’ve read, there is no overnight camping in any of the GW memorial Pkwy, so, while it may be suited to gatherings as close to DC as possible, some of us may want to consider Prince William Forest National Park as an area to stage the weekend prior to the main event. It does allow overnight camping for tents and RV’s, and also includes some “primitive campsites” along a hiking trail. It’s about 25-30 miles south of DC and within just about the same range or less from the other parks listed above. Prince William Forest is not part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway National Park. From the map, it looks like some of its land borders Quantico Marine Corps Base.
Links to the Prince William site and map are below:
There may be quite a crowd. This has just hit the web.
http://noisyroom.net/blog/2009/12/22/of-executive-orders-and-trojan-horses/
Can you post some info about laws regarding this? I honestly know very little about gun laws, especially in VA.
* Open carry handgun?
* Open carry rifle/shotgun?
* Transporting across state lines for people not in VA?
Are you getting permits? Do you need permits?
Better make sure all the i’s are dotted and all the t’s are crossed on this one.
You do NOT need a permit to open carry pistol or long arms in Virginia, period. They are one of the few states that are very pro open carry.
I will go find the link to the relevant state/national laws regarding transport and carry and post them here in a special subsection when I return this afternoon.