Posted on 04/12/2008 11:54:54 AM PDT by neverdem
SUFFOLK
Christopher Corbett exercised one of his new rights soon after turning 21: He applied for a concealed-handgun permit.
He said his father, a police officer who has "seen the worst of the worst," was adamant.
"People should be able to protect themselves without worrying if the police are going to get here in time," Corbett said.
The number of applications for concealed-handgun permits is soaring across Virginia, including in Hampton Roads. People don't have to state a reason when they apply, so no one can say with certainty what's driving the trend.
But theories abound.
Some in the firearms industry say it's a response to the Virginia Tech shootings or the crime coverage of today's continuous news cycle. Some of the increases in recent years may have been the result of expiring permits sought after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. One gun shop owner even pointed to the uncertainty of the upcoming election.
Robert Marcus of Bob's Gun Shop in Norfolk said demand for the weekly concealed-carry instruction course there is so high that he added another class this week. The sessions take 35 people each.
Marcus said nearly 100 more have signed up for an online course that he began offering April 3.
Locally, Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Portsmouth all saw spikes in permit applications in 2007, but Suffolk saw the largest increase by percentage.
The sprawling, historically rural but fast-growing city saw applications jump 58 percent last year, and the first three months of 2008 have it on pace for another record, thanks to applicants such as Corbett and Donald Ryan.
Ryan, 72, sought a permit this year for the first time. Health problems have put him in a wheelchair, and he and his wife live at the end of a long street.
"There's some really sick people out there," he said.
A former police evidence technician who served in the Navy, Ryan said he's been around firearms all his life.
Getting a permit to carry a concealed weapon comes with "an awesome responsibility," he said. Guns should be used only "if you are in fear of your life - period," he said. "Property crimes don't count."
This week he opened a letter from the sheriff's office letting him know that his application is almost through the system.
On the notice were the words of caution that Suffolk Sheriff Raleigh Isaacs Sr. includes for each applicant:
"I would like to remind you as to the careful handling of firearms under the watchful eye of children."
The number of concealed-carry permits in Virginia first soared in 1995, the year that the law was liberalized to give judges less discretion in denying permits. Applications jumped to 32,869 - nearly four times the 1994 total, according to numbers compiled by the Supreme Court of Virginia.
The statewide number, which includes applications for both new permits and renewals, spiked again in 2002. Permits are good for five years until they must be renewed, so some of those post-9/11 applicants likely contributed to the recent surge.
Statewide, applications jumped about 61 percent last year from 2006, to about 44,000, according to the Supreme Court figures. As of Thursday, the Virginia State Police database contained 152,267 active concealed-carry permits.
Applicants must be at least 21 and pass a criminal background check. They also have to answer a number of questions, including whether they are subject to a restraining order or are addicted to a controlled substance. They also must prove they have received safety training.
In Suffolk, 194 people applied in the first three months of 2008. Scott Brown was among the 93 seeking a new permit, not a renewal.
Brown, 52, applied in February, months after relocating from Colorado. He said he has owned guns since childhood.
"I've always felt that was one of the responsibilities of citizenship," Brown said. "Every once in a while, we've got these nut cases that just start shooting people. We would complicate the lives of criminals if we all carried guns."
Virginia Citizens Defense League President Philip Van Cleave said highly publicized shootings such as the one at Virginia Tech remind people that the government can't always protect them.
"The police can't be everywhere at once," he said. "If they can't be there, you've got a choice - e ither die or protect yourself. More and more people are looking at it that way."
Dave Forster, (757) 222-5563, dave.forster@pilotonline.com
Kristin Davis, (757) 222-5555, kristin.davis@pilotonline.com
Remember. When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.
L
Who was it said:
“I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy”?
Dunno, but I wish I’d thought of it .....
ROFL, next thing you know because of them being crime conscious they might take a strong stand against Illegal aliens and go to Church, oh wait people have been going to Church in some parts of the country for 100 years? I thought that Christianity was the fault of Adolf Hitler Bush? And they might actually be against Illegal aliens? I thought that they didn’t exist until the economic woes of the Bush Administration.
BITBFE(Bush Is To Blame For Everything)
If the government ever asks you questions about why you want something and demands that you state some sort of need or good cause, you need only use one answer:
"For All Legal And Lawful Purposes."
Remember this exact phrase and use it for everything. Thank me later if you ever get tangled up with bureaucracy and wind up in court.
Put together obamama’s remarks, caught off record in San Francisco, revealing his contempt for rural American gun-toters, along with his on the record voting on gun rights, per this link
http://www.nraila.org/Issues/Articles/Read.aspx?id=286&issue=042
people may be reading the RevWriting on the wall.
They are beginning to suspicion that the obamama is an empty headed elitist who is but a carefully “Polished, Programmed Puppet” under the Svengali control of the Rev. Bullfrog, one of the leaders of the Black Liberationists.
Their goal:
Get their puppet (Black Manchurian Candidate) in power.
Get guns out of the hands of Whitey.
Set off the “Quiet Riots” that are ‘simmering’ and ready to ignite (per link below).
BLACK POWER
http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/Obama.Blacks.Quiet.2.337535.html
Obama Warns Of ‘Quiet Riot’ Among Blacks We keep this man from power or get ready for the takeover - a hundred years ago, there was the Bolshevik Revolution. We keep this puppet out of the White House, or OUR city squares will run red. http://www.theblacknationalist.com/
I'm seeking one too. I live in Illinois and it might be a long long time before I find one.
Thanks!
Just wrote that down and tucked in the case with my sweet little Colt = signed up for course...
and am painting a T-shirt with
"Typical White gun-toting, Jesus-Loving Gramma" on the front and
"God BLESS America" on the back.
Img src="http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r102/tuck7er/th_usa27.gif">
I will never live in a state where it takes an arm and a leg plus your first born to get a permit.
One reason is that they fear that Obama or Clinton gets elected and they plan to restrict weapon ownership by honest, law-abiding people (while leaving guns in the hands of criminals, knowingly)
"For All Legal And Lawful Purposes."
It will astound people, but even we in the Peoples' Republic of Massachusetts have "All Lawful Purpose" licenses.
There are exceptions if some town has a Communist Chief.
Concealed carry is understood. The reason is that cops were tired of getting panicked calls from Concerned Citizens about a "Man with a gun" at the bank- Usually some harmless merchant bringing the day's reciepts.
The other reason is because if a Whale-Saving-Volvo-Driving-Commie (deleted) sees your gun, it can tell the police you "Frightened" or "Threatend" it, and there goes your license.
“I’m seeking one too. I live in Illinois and it might be a long long time before I find one.”
Cost is about $160 or so. You need to show that you have had some kind of safety training. If you are former military, a DD 214 will do.
http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/weapons/index.html
I would recommend a Grayguns Practical Fundamentals class (www.GrayGuns.com).
Me? I’m too young to die and too old to take an ass whippin’
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