By 13News Now
Janet Roach:
New at five. A new concealed carry law is now in effect for Virginia. As of January, you can no longer get your permit by taking an online class.
David Alan:
Philip Townsend tells us how the change is impacting local gun ranges.
Philip Townsend:
We told you when the new law went into effect back in January, if you want to concealed carry gun permit in Virginia, you used to be able to take an online course, but now you have to take an in-person class to get one. Hey, how you doing? This is Phil Townsend with 13 News Now. So now that it's been a couple months, we're calling around to places that offer these in-person classes. We wanted to know what the interest has been like following the change. We heard back from three places. Bob's Gun Shop in Norfolk. Peace be with you in Williamsburg and the first Virginia Public Safety Training Academy in Virginia Beach. We asked each of them to rate the current interest for concealed carry classes, low, average, high, or very high. First, Virginia came back with high both. Peace be with you and Bob's said the interest is very high.
Philip Townsend:
One, look at peace. Be with You's website and you see their upcoming classes are all sold out. Jay Herso there says he's seeing a lot of interest from women specifically. Then Steve Dowdy over at Bob's says they used to do 30 person classes once a week because of the pandemic. They're doing two 10 person classes a week, but because of the increased demand, they could easily offer four or more of these a week. They're booked through the end of April. Now, outside of the popularity, the general consensus from these shops is that while having to get a permit in person isn't as convenient cover down, it does come with benefits like the group q and a sessions. You might get an answer to a safety question you weren't thinking about before for 13 News. Now, I'm Philip Townsend.
Credit: 13News Now
We are offering a physical course on VA Carry Permit