The state of Virginia has unusually lax laws governing permits to carry a concealed firearm. Moreover, eight states allow persons with a Virginia permit to carry a concealed firearm even if they do not have a permit from their home state. As a result, “Virginia State Police issued 1,632 concealed-carry permits to nonresidents through the first half of 2012, topping the previous year’s total of 1,321 nonresident permits.”
Indeed, Virginia’s laws are so lax that companies which offer legally-mandated training to concealed carry permit holders have begun advertising Virginia classes to out-of-state customers, emphasizing how easy their training is to complete:
Their home states may impose more stringent requirements, he tells prospects, but they can get a Virginia permit simply by paying $39.99, reading five chapters about firearms and correctly answering 15 of 20 true-or-false questions on a quiz. The customer receives a certificate to be mailed along with other application materials to the Virginia State Police. After passing a criminal background check, the applicant receives a permit to carry a concealed weapon in his or her home state and 26 others that have reciprocity agreements with Virginia.
Customers can take the test up to four times if they have trouble passing, the man in the video says, adding: “I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”
Sample questions on the website seem to bear that out. . . .A competing online training course offered by the Concealed Carry Institute at www.concealed-carry.net also concludes with a 20-question quiz, mixing true-false with multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank formats. The institute says more than 99.9 percent of customers pass the test the first time they take it.
One of the NRA’s top priorities in Congress is a bill that would force nearly every state to honor concealed carry permits issued in the bearer’s home state, no matter how lax that state’s laws may be.
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