This has been discussed for weeks now and all that is being said is "SOMEONE ELSE NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING" "THE MANUFACTURES NEED TO DO SOMETHING". Thats the problem with this hobby, nobody wants to take the lead and do anything about it. You have to sit back and look at us as a whole from the outside and you will see exactly why this is happening.
We are a group of people that is mainly scoffed at by the general public. And sometimes rightly so. Have you seen the Whites commercial? And that is from someone within the hobby. If that thing doesn't embarrass the hell out of you then you will never get it and are definitely not be seeing what the general public sees. Most people when they hear metal detectorist think of an old fart wearing huge ass headphones, ugly plaid shorts with stylish knee high dark socks, roaming the beach mumbling to himself in search of pennies. And seriously have you seen some of the people in this hobby and what some (alot) of people in this hobby do. Like trespass, never fill in holes, cut through fences, etc. etc.
There are a ton of great people in this hobby. Very kind, courteous, law obeying, but there are also a whole lot of ass bags too. And like it or not those are the ones that leave the lasting impressions. We (as a whole) are the ones to blame for this. It's those who don't fill in holes, sneak in on private property, get caught on historical sites, have the selfish get any relic at any cost attitude, find personal belongings and keep them or ask or expect a reward for returning them that give us all a bad name. There are a lot of greedy people who own detectors out there and they are doing a ton of damage. It doesn't matter what the rest of us are doing to try to offset it either.
Case in point: Look at Bob and Ed,like it or not those two have done a ton of damage to this hobby with all of the negative publicity they have generated. Even if they get their case overturned (we all hope) the damage is done. No one (in the general public) will remember that. All they will remember is that they got caught being somewhere they weren't supposed to be with a METAL DETECTOR! THAT IS WHAT IS GOING TO BE REMEMBERED.
It takes a lot of money, time, and know how to lobby to get these laws stopped. Do you really think anyone is going to take us serious? We as a group have proved over the years that we can not form together in any sort of group that has any resemblance of prestige. No one takes us serious because we do not take ourselves and our hobby serious. It's just that...a hobby. It's not worth the time and money to fight these laws. Thats what I see here. And yes I am totally to blame on this. I am not going to take my time to fight any of these laws. I have a life to live, a business to run, a family to tend to. All those things take precedence over fighting these laws. I would support financially if I saw something and someone who I thought was a true fighter.
What do I do? I ask permission, I am courteous, I return all personal belongings if and when possible and refuse any reward, I fill in holes, etc. etc. I have one place I go to twice a year with a friend of mine that is a historical site on private property. It turns up an old coin or two every visit. We give the owner and his wife a dinner out at a nice restaurant and a thank you card every time we go. If this law were passed here in Utah, there ain't no doubt that we'll be getting written permission from that land owner.
This is not the end to metal detecting in Virginia and the manufacturers know this. That is why they are not doing a whole lot about this. Only certain areas can be deemed historical. If a site is deemed historical and it is private property, just get written permission. BFD. There are ways to get permission if you want it bad enough. Might cost you something, but hey, shouldn't it?
