New Guy

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Howdy all. I'm 18 and recently got into a situation with some guys snooping around my friend's house while we were there. Everything turned out OK, but I realized I never want to be in that situation unarmed again. I'm not really sure of the legallity of an 18 year old carrying open in VA, so some insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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You may openly carry if you may lawfully own or posess a firearm if you are over 18 . That said, be sure you are prepared for all the responsibilities and legalities involved in such an act.

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You can not purchase a handgun or its ammo until 21, but if given as a gift you may own one at 18. Open carry age in Virginia is 18, and I found out in my area of Chesterfield County (guys in green) that all of them know that law.

My first open carry experience will be sometime in April, allthough i have been around andhandled firearms since i was 10.

I really am waiting for an OC outing to be my first experience.

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KnightSG7 wrote:

You can not purchase a handgun or the ammo until 21, but if given as a gift you can legally own at 18. You may also open carry at age 18, andI found out in my area in Chesterfield County that EVERY officer knows that law...

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An 18 year old may buy ammo and a handgun via private (non FFL) sale, so long as it is not a straw purchase.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_purchase

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amnmike wrote:

Howdy all. I'm 18 and recently got into a situation with some guys snooping around my friend's house while we were there. Everything turned out OK, but I realized I never want to be in that situation unarmed again. I'm not really sure of the legallity of an 18 year old carrying open in VA, so some insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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I hope you called the police to make a report.....just make sure your sure of your reasons for carrying, and that you've really thought it through. Your life can change forever in less than 5 seconds. I don't want to discourage you from carrying, but what you described above has me worried a little, mainly due to lack of details and how the guys got about to snooping in the first place.....all I'm saying is that a gun should be your last option, good to have, but last to use. Make sure your friend does everything else they can to prevent the snoopers from coming back before escalating the issue.

While what I'm saying might be off base, you can see how revealing so little will cause a person to go off one way verses another.By the way, welcome to the board, hope you learn a great deal.

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Not a great legal reference, LW.

A straw purchase is any purchase where the buyer is not eligible to own the purchased item according to the law and therefore purchases the item through a proxy buyer.

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Not true. One can conduct a straw purchase and the would be recipient not be a prohibited person.