RICHMOND -- Gov. Tim Kaine has set up a confrontation with lawmakers over gun rights by vetoing legislation that would allow people without concealed carry permits to store firearms in locked compartments or containers in their vehicles.

The first-year governor also has rejected legislation that would strip the chief executive of some appointment powers, including a majority of the seats on the Commonwealth Transportation Board.

The Democratic governor vetoed seven measures passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly during the legislative session that ended March 11, his office announced Tuesday. Lawmakers will reconvene April 19 to respond to those vetoes and to changes Kaine has proposed to other bills. A two-thirds majority in both houses is needed to override the governor's vetoes.

In most cases, Kaine's vetoes reflect well-established policy differences between his administration and the legislature. But the firearms measure that Kaine rejected had support from rural Democrats in both houses who typically are allies of the governor. The bill cleared the House by a vote of 69-30 and the Senate by a vote of 23-17.

The bill (HB 1106) would allow motorists to store guns in locked glove compartments or locked containers in their vehicles, even if they don't have a concealed carry permit, which the law now requires. The sponsor of the measure, Del. Clifford "Clay" Athey, R-Front Royal, said during the session that the exemption would allow law-abiding gun owners without permits to safeguard their weapons while traveling.

In a written message explaining his veto, Kaine said law enforcement groups made "compelling" objections to the bill.

"This measure runs contrary to existing state law regarding concealed weapon permits, allowing people who have not completed a criminal background check, and who are untrained with handguns, to possess a firearm in a concealed manner within a locked compartment in their vehicles."

Athey, a new father to twins, was not at Tuesday's House session and was unavailable for comment.

As expected, Kaine vetoed two measures (SB 304 and HB 676) that would give the General Assembly control of nine of the 17 appointments to the Commonwealth Transportation Board, which oversees Virginia's transportation agencies and sets the state's six-year road construction program. The administration voiced opposition to the bills before the Senate and House of Delegates passed them on mostly party-line votes.

"These bills would only serve to politicize the commonwealth's transportation planning process at the very time we should be working together to make the tough decisions that our transportation problems require -- and that our citizens demand," Kaine said in a written explanation of his veto.

Supporters of the bills argued that the transportation board would be more accountable if lawmakers appointed the board's nine district representatives and let the governor appoint the at-large members. Kaine argued that such a shift should be discussed in a broader review of gubernatorial powers that includes allowing governors to serve consecutive terms.

Kaine raised the same point in rejecting a bill (HB 706) that would change the power to appoint the executive director of the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission.

The bill would enable the commission members, rather than the governor, to hire the director. The commission controls half of the state's share of payments from a 1998 multi-state settlement with major tobacco companies. The commission uses its share of the proceeds to compensate farmers and to assist with economic development efforts in tobacco-dependent areas of Southwest and Southside Virginia. The executive director's position has been vacant for several months.

Kaine also vetoed a bill (HB 1545) that would transfer the governor's power to appoint the director of the Tobacco Settlement Foundation to the foundation's board of directors. The foundation directs a portion of the settlement proceeds to smoking prevention programs. Kaine recently reappointed Marty Kilgore, wife of former Republican gubernatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore, to the position.

Other measures Kaine rejected include a bill (HB 493) requiring the state Board of Education to include high school baccalaureate services in its guidelines for religious activity in school buildings. Kaine said the board already has developed policies called for in the bill.

Kaine also rejected a bill (HB 1178) that would scrap a requirement that a member of the minority party have a seat on any three-member "commission on standards" created by the House or Senate.