Tomorrow I’ll be attending a firearms class that will broaden the number of states I’ll be able to legally carry while concealed. Immortal Arms of Culpeper is giving the class.
The Virginia attorney general recently altered the reciprocacy agreements to where it negatively affects 26 other states. They will not be able to carry concealed while in VA after 1 Feb 2016 (although open carry is an option). 5-6 of those states require VA reciprocacy, so those are immediately affected. Two of those require you to be a permanent state citizen (ie, they don’t accept non-resident applications) The Utah non-resident license remedies all of the negativity of the reciprocacy changes — all but the two that don’t allow non-resident applicants.
Here’s the deal. This does not affect VA CC permit holders…not in VA, at least. It does affect non-residents (visitors) who may want to carry concealed. It will eventually affect VA CC permit holders that might want to visit NC (for example), as NC will more than likely deny reciprocacy with VA because of VA’s recent changes. It’ll eventually affect most if not all of the 26 states that VA removed from it’s reciprocacy program. Most people are complaining and we’re hoping that we can eventually reverse this decision, but it will take time.
Some options:
- Get a Utah non-resident CC license
- Get a VA non-resident CC license
- Get a PA non-resident CC license
- Get a NH non-resident CC license
- Get a FL non-resident CC license
More reading on the issue is here.
Some people argue that one of those are better than the others. IMO, there are no absolute answers. It depends on what YOU want/need. All of them have cons (they don’t all cover the same states). Some have more prerequisites than others (Utah requires a fee for the class, FL’s license is far cheaper) Pick which you think is best. I opted for the Utah because it’s well-known and when I found out about the changes, I was able to immediately find an instructor who could give me a class within a week of the bad news. With the other state licenses, I’d have had to wait. Utah worked best for my requirements (being able to quickly obtain it). None of the above options will give back South Carolina, by the way.
For those of you who visit VA frequently, look at getting the VA non-resident CC license or carry openly when visiting. IMO, that’s the better way, unless you already have a license that will allow you to carry concealed after 1 Feb 2016.