Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • VA AG Sets Record Straight: No In-Person Training Proof Needed When Renewing Gun Carry Permits

    Uploaded by

    AmmoLand Shooting Sports News
    722 views3 pages
    The Virginia Attorney General has just set the record straight: there is NO requirement to show previous in-person training when renewing a CHP. Read More: https://www.ammoland.com/2024/03/va-ag-sets-record-straight-no-in-person-training-proof-needed-when-renewing-gun-carry-permits/

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    The Virginia Attorney General has just set the record straight: there is NO requirement to show previous in-person training when renewing a CHP. Read More: https://www.ammoland.com/2024/03/va-ag-sets-record-straight-no-in-person-training-proof-needed-when-renewing-gun-carry-permits/

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    722 views3 pages

    VA AG Sets Record Straight: No In-Person Training Proof Needed When Renewing Gun Carry Permits

    Uploaded by

    AmmoLand Shooting Sports News
    The Virginia Attorney General has just set the record straight: there is NO requirement to show previous in-person training when renewing a CHP. Read More: https://www.ammoland.com/2024/03/va-ag-sets-record-straight-no-in-person-training-proof-needed-when-renewing-gun-carry-permits/

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 3
    COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA Office of the Attorney General Jason S. Miyares 202 Non Nin Set ‘omey Gene Rishnond, Vigna 23019 T8607 Foca T8691 March 25, 2024 ‘Virginia Relay Services 00281100 i ‘The Honorable Dezarah Jessee Hall Clerk of Court Wise County & City of Norton Circuit Court 206 East Main Street #328 Post Office Box 1248 Wise, Virginia 24293, Dear Ms. Hall: Tam responding to your request for an official advisory opinion in accordance with § 2.2-50S of the Code of Virginia. Issue Presented You ask whether Virginia Code § 18.2-308.02(B), per its 2020 amendments, requires an individual seeking renewal of an existing concealed handgun permit to provide proof of having attended in-person firearms training, Response It is my opinion that § {8.2-308.02(B) does not require an individual who applies for renewal of an existing concealed handgun permit to provide proof of having attended in-person firearms training. An individual ‘with an existing concesied handgun permit need not provide additional proof of competence in order to qualify for renewal Applicable Law and Discussion Applications fora concealed handgun permit must be submitted “in writing to the clerk of the cireuit court of the county or city in which [the applicant] resides.”! Upon submission of a complete application, “{t}he clerk of court shail enter on the application the date on which the application . .. is received.”? Virginia law provides that a concealed handgun permit, once issued, is valid for five years.” An individual with an existing permit may apply for renewal before the five-year period has expired." An application for renewal must be made in accordance " VA. CODE ANN. § 18.2-308.02(A) (Supp. 2023). An applicant must be 21 years of age or older to apply. La 2 Section 18.2-308.04(A) (2021), “An application is deemed complete when all information required tobe furnished by the applicant, inluding the fee for a concealed handgun permit as set forth in § 18.2-308.03, is delivered to and received by the clerk of court before or concomitant withthe conduct ofa state or national criminal history records check.” Section 18.2- 308.02(E). “The application shall be on a form prescribed by the Department of State Police, in consultation withthe Supreme Court, requiring only that information necessary to determine eligibility forthe permit.” id at subsection (A). 9 See §§ 18.2-308.02(A); 18.2-308.010 (2021), 4 See § 18.2-308.010. Honorable Dezarah Jesse Hall March 25, 2024 Page 2 with the procedures outlined in § 18.2-308.02, which are the same as those governing applications for initial permits.’ For a permit application to be granted, the terms of § 18.2-308.02(B) require proof that the applicant has demonstrated competence with a handgun in person and the applicant may demonstrate such competence by one of the following, but no applicant shall be required to submit to any additional demonstration of competence, nor shall any proof of demonstrated competence expire ‘The provision then sets forth what forms of proof satisfy the competence requirement * The statute further provides that “[nJo information or documentation other than that which is allowed on the application in accordance with this section may be requested or required by the clerk or the court.”” Section 18.2-308.02(B) thus expressly requires all applicants to provide proof of having “demonstrated competence with a handgun in person.” The General Assembly added the “in person” language to the statute in 2020. On that basis, you ask whether an individual with an existing permit is now required to present proof of having attended in-person firearms training in order to renew the permit. The primary objective in construing a statute isto ascertain and give effect to the legislative intent, which tilly found in the words of the statute itself.”* Words in a statute, however, are not to be read in isolation; + See id, Renewal applications "may be submitted via the United States mai.” fd. © As of further 2023 amendments, see 2023 Va. Acts chs. 93, 94, che full, current list is as follows: 1,Completing any hunter education or hunter safety course approved by the Department of Wildlife Resources or a similar agency of another state; 2. Completing any National Rifle Association or United States Concealed Carry Association firearms safety or training course; 3. Completing say firearms safety or training course or class available to the general public offered by a law- «enforcement agency, institution of higher education, or private or public institution or organization or firearms training school utilizing instructors certified by the National Rifle Association, the United States Concealed Carry Association, or the Department of Criminal Justice Services; 4.Completing any law-enforcement firearms safety or training course or class offered for security guards, investigators, special deputies, or any division or subdivision of law enforcement or security enforcement; 5.Presenting evidence of equivalent experience with a firearm through participation in organized shooting competition or current military service or proof of an honorable discharge from any branch of the armed services; 6. Obtaining or previously having held a license to carry a firearm in the Commonwealth or a locality thereof, unless such license has been revoked for cause; 7.Completing any in-person firearms training or safety course or class conducted by a state-certified, National Rifle Association-certfied, or United States Concealed Carry Association-certified firearms instructor, 8.Completing any governmental police agency firearms training course and qualifying to camry a firearm in the course of normal police duties; or 9. Completing any other firearms training thatthe court deems adequate, » Section 18.2-308.02(A), Pursuant to § 18.2-308.04(D), “[a] court may authorize the clerk to issue concealed handgun permits, without judicial review, to [qualified] applicants who have submitted complete applications[.J" * 2020 Va. Acts chs. 390, 1130. The General Assembly simultaneously amended subdivision (B)(7) of the provision, which allowed an applicant to demonstrate competency by “{clompleting any firearms training or safety course or class conducted by a state-certfied or National Rifle Association-certified firearms instructor,” by inserting a requirement that such training be obtained at an “in-person” class and deleting the language “including an electronic, video, or online course.” ® Chaffins v. Atl. Coast Pipeline, LLC, 293 Va. $64, 568 (2017) (quoting Crown Cent. Petroleum Corp. v. Hill, 254 Va. 88,91 (1997). Honorable Dezarah Jessee Hall March 25, 2024 Page 3 rather the language is to be read in the context of the statute as a whole.'® Accordingly, the entirety of § 18.2- 308.02(B) is to be considered. Significantly, the statutory provision continues by establishing that an “applicant may demonstrate such competence by one of the following {methods} ....” In turn, it enumerates nine distinct ways by which applicants

    You might also like