imported post
There is no reason to sew confusion - forget the VSP - they have nothing to do with circuit court CHP applications.
18.2-308(D) is very clear and has been in effect for almost a decade before the VSP was even authorized to issue non-residents CHPs: "Any person 21 years of age or older may apply in writing to the clerk of the circuit court of the county or city in which he resides, or if he is a member of the United States Armed Forces, the county or city in which he is domiciled, for a five-year permit to carry a concealed handgun. There shall be no requirement regarding the length of time an applicant has been a resident or domiciliary of the county or city."
A primary rule of statutory construction is that the mentioning of one thing implies the exclusion of the other - in this case, the statute provides that any person may apply to the circuit court of the locality in which he resides. The mentioning of the military domiciliary exception clarifies that "residents" need not necessarily be domiciliaries, and that domiciliaries are generally excluded from applying unless they are also residents.
Only military persons have an exception to apply to the circuit court in the locality in which they are domiciled. A civilian domiciled in Fairfax County but residing in Pennsylvania may not apply for a CHP in Fairfax County, but since 2004, may apply for a CHP from the VSP. But a military person domiciled in Fairfax County but residing at Fort Lee, VA or Baghdad could apply for a CHP in Fairfax County.
A civilian residing in Fairfax County but domiciled in Pennsylvania cannot apply for a CHP from the VSP – he must apply to the Fairfax County Circuit Court. Interestingly, most Sheriffs in PA will expect that a PA domiciliary residing in VA have a VA CHP to obtain a PA LTCF!
If VA law required folks to be domiciled in VA to obtain a CHP from their circuit court, the statute would say so. Thousands upon thousands of non-VA domiciled residents of VA have been getting CHPs from circuit courts for many years. The new authority for the VSP to issue CHPs is a new add on gimmick and has nothing to do with circuit court jurisdiction to issue CHPs to residents of the locality in which the circuit court operates. Even if the VSP were to entertain CHP applications from persons residing in VA (which they do not), circuit courts still have the authority and mandate to issue to these same persons - and most localities don't fingerprint, but the VSP always does, and charges double ($100), so why apply to the VSP if you don't have to?
Folks living in VA seeking 1[suP]st[/suP] time CHPs ought to move to localities which do not fingerprint; once you have the CHP, move wherever you want – you will no longer ever be fingerprinted on renewals, even if you move to a fingerprinting locality.