The Roanoke Times is crapping themselves over the fact that it’s easy to get a license to carry in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
And I have my permit. Even though I have never laid a finger on a pistol in my life.
To me, that’s final proof that Virginia’s concealed carry law is insanely weak, utterly ridiculous and absolutely reckless.
It makes about as much sense as the General Assembly giving blind people permits to drive.
In Pennsylvania, it’s even easier than in Virginia.  But hey, even though we have about three times the number of licensees as Virginia, it’s not causing mass hysteria and blood running in the streets.  I suppose it probably comes as a shock to the Roanoke Times that people who aren’t into shooting typically don’t tend to get concealed carry licenses.  And lets not forget about Vermont and Alaska, which require no license to carry at all.  Real dangerous states, those two.  People shooting each other by mistake all over the place right?
And there’s all this crime being committed by Virginia CCW holders….
I seriously think a lot of these people think the world ends at the end of their nose.
How the heck did he get a permit without laying a hand on a pistol? Unless the rules are different in Roanoke than Fairfax County, in order to get a permit two classes are required (although some classes combine the training): safety training and target shooting.
Just verified on the VA state police website Resident Carry Permit page. I really have to wonder where the guy got his proof of training; if it’s forged or otherwise illegally obtained, he’s in big trouble.
Virginia does not require range time to get a CHP if certain approved courses are taken. The NRA Home Firearm Safety course does not have a range component and can be used to meet the training requirement for a VA CHP.
So it is entirely possible to get a CCW in VA without having had to handle a firearm on the range.
Thanks, Matt. I was not aware of that.
I wonder what their reaction would be to the way it is up here in VT?
Why would you go out and get the permit, and then not familiarize yourself with the weapon, before and after, that you intend to carry?
Or did they do this to promote their agenda?? Hummm, let me think???
Fairfax County is more restrictive than a lot of other counties. A hunter safety course is also a valid class in most places and those don’t require handling of a gun
Considering open carry is legal in Virginia without even a permit does it really matter? It’s not like someone who wants to break the law is going to bother to apply for the permit
If they think VA is bad, SD will make them crap their collective chaps. All we have to do is fill out a form at the SO, pay $10, and wait 4-6 weeks for our permits. No classroom or range requirements whatsoever.
I think that guy would really crap his pants if it dawned on him that open carry in VA doesn’t require a permit at all.
Haz-mat the Resident NH permit is the same. $10, and about a week’s wait. Marko’s PD never even took his money when he reached for his wallet.
Just a hair North (or West) is Vermont, no permit needed. If you can own the gun, you can carry the gun.
And again except for a few states (like Mass BOOO!) you don’t need to do anything besides fill out the ATF form and get a background check to OWN a gun.
Essentially after that it’s only the law keeping you from carrying.
Note that these people never raise an expressed concern about people carrying, just concerned of people breaking the law while carrying.
So they have that nice little double standard. Let’s say somebody isn’t bothered that waiving a gun around, or threatening people, or worse yet assaulting or murdering people with his or her gun is a very serious crime. But somehow this person is concerned about the lesser crime of obeying the permitting process? Huh?
When Sung Cho decided to kill a bunch of his classmates, suddenly he didn’t seem to mind that his Campus is a “Gun Free Zone” and that carrying his guns there could get him expelled, and that carrying them concealed without a permit would have been a crime….
This is the second column this guy has written on the subject. He wrote the first (much the same as this) right after the law took affect in July. I sent him an email and reminded him that even before Cuccinelli’s law passed, you did not have to have touched a firearm or ammunition to qualify for a permit – you only had to sit through anything from a hunter safety course (which also does not require range time) to one of many courses taught by an NRA certified instructor (some that do and some that don’t require range time). The only difference is now the law clarifies that online or other electronic courses qualify. They were never banned before but some circuit courts (which issue the permits) did not accept them.
Robert Marcus is the President of the state firearms retailers association and he has had a number of problems with the city of Norfolk so if Cuccinelli’s bill helps him, good.