Repeater
Regular Member
Um, desperate?
Amid fears over concealed carry permits, Virginia gun owners seek fix from Utah
When seeking permission from the Godless State, liberty is degraded.
But no, you shall worship the State:
Amid fears over concealed carry permits, Virginia gun owners seek fix from Utah
Out of concern that their concealed-handgun permits could soon be invalid in other states, Virginia gun owners are rushing to get permits from an unexpectedly distant location: Utah.
"I wouldn't say a rush. I would say an avalanche," said James Reynolds, president of Proactive Shooters, a Richmond-area firearm instruction company that has added extra Utah-specific classes to keep up with the demand for the state's permits.
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"If you have a concealed handgun permit in Virginia, nothing will change for you in Virginia," Herring said Wednesday in a radio interview on Washington's WAMU, echoing a line from his original announcement on Dec. 22.
That message doesn't seem to have taken hold among gun enthusiasts, who appear to be seeking out Utah permits out of fear that their home-state permits could lose validity elsewhere. Utah is also one of five states whose permits will still be recognized in Virginia after next month's changes.
Reynolds, who typically holds monthly classes for 50 students at a time at the Bass Pro Shops store in Ashland, said his January course for Utah permits sold out in 48 hours. He added a second class, which was fully booked within four days. His February and March classes, he said, are filling up fast.
"Literally every phone call is: 'I'm calling because of the attorney general's decision,' " Reynolds said.
In a note aimed at residents of states losing recognition in Virginia, the Virginia Citizens Defense League gun-activist group said Utah's permit now offers the most bang for the buck, due to Virginia permits having been "degraded."
When seeking permission from the Godless State, liberty is degraded.
But no, you shall worship the State:
Herring spokesman Michael Kelly said the growing interest in Utah permits is "a consequence of the gun lobby deliberately misrepresenting the impact" of Herring's decision to enforce a reciprocity law approved by the General Assembly.
"Instead of stoking fears and pushing misinformation, the gun lobby should encourage their members and other safe, law-abiding gun owners to join in support of measures like universal background checks and other measures that respect the Second Amendment while keeping guns away from criminals, domestic abusers, and the dangerously mentally ill," Kelly said.
Herring, who attended an event at the White House this week as President Barack Obama announced new federal initiatives to reduce gun violence, said he's enforcing a law that previous attorneys general apparently chose not to enforce.
"Gun violence in Virginia is really front and center for a lot of us," Herring said on the radio show.