Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510310037
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
In the first three months after Virginia's new concealed-weapons law took effect, twice as many people in the Roanoke region filed applications for permits than in all of 1994.
The new law, which went into effect July 1, makes it easier for people to obtain concealed-weapon permits. Generally, citizens without felony or serious misdemeanor convictions can obtain a permit.
A check of 10 Western Virginia courthouses shows that 999 people applied for a permit between July 3 and Oct. 5. Of those, 782 had received permits by the first week of October.
In all of 1994, 459 people applied in those 10 counties and cities, with 425 receiving a permit.
Fewer than 1 percent of the applications were denied this year, compared with a 6 percent denial rate in 1994. Twenty-one percent of the applications were still pending the first week of October.
That's because judges either were waiting for results of criminal background checks or because they had told applicants they must prove they were proficient with handguns before getting their permits.
Judges have found that requiring a knowledge of firearms is one of the few provisions left in the law to give them cause for denying or delaying a permit.
Across Western Virginia, judges were requiring firearms training in most, but not all, cases. For example, a retired police officer or someone else who already may have expertise would not be required to receive training.
Most people who have a military background are exempt from proving proficiency, but that wasn't the case in Salem, where a man who showed a copy of his Army records was turned down until he could take a refresher course in firearms training.
After the new law went into effect, Salem court employees posted fliers throughout the courthouse, stating that applicants must provide proof that they had taken firearms training within the past three years.
Until the new law took effect, applicants had to prove they had a need for the weapon. Proponents of the new law had complained that getting a permit took too much time and expense, and that judges had too much discretion in deciding who would get a permit.
Judges are required to act on applications within 90 days. Next year, the period decreases to 45 days.
Statewide, at least 4,826 permits were issued as of Oct. 1. That's the number of copies of permits the Virginia State Police's records management division had entered into the Virginia Criminal Information Network database, also a requirement of the new law.
Because a part-time employee is responsible for entering the data, however, not all the records received have been put into the system, so the number could be higher.
Donna Tate, office manager of the firearms transaction center for the records division, said court clerks appear to be doing a better job of sending the copies in than they did in the past.
"We're getting quite a lot," she said.
In 1994, the state received copies of 5,954 permits, but there likely were many more issued, Tate said. Just more than 13,000 were approved in a two-year period that ended June 30, 1995.
"We have every reason to believe we weren't getting some," she said, because many localities showed no licenses issued when there probably were some. Individual research at courthouses showed higher numbers than the state had reported.
This year in Roanoke, 147 people applied for concealed-weapon permits between July 3 and Oct. 4. Only 23 applied in all of 1994.
In the first three months, city judges have granted 111 permits and denied one application.
Roanoke County courts had 202 permit applications from July 5 through Sept. 30. Judges have granted 165 applications and have denied six.
At least two denials await documentation of firearms training; if the applicants file certification, they will be granted permits.
Two applications were denied after objections from the Roanoke County Police Department. In one, Chief John Cease said officers had responded to the applicant's home after he had threatened suicide; when police arrived, the applicant was holding a gun and had consumed prescription drugs and alcohol.
In another case, a man was denied a concealed-weapon permit because he had been arrested at least 10 times since 1970 on various charges involving alcohol. His record "led to safety concerns for any police officials coming into contact with him," Cease wrote.
In Bedford County, 110 applications were filed in the first three months of the new law - the same number filed in all of 1994. Only 10 were pending the first week of October, with 100 approved.
Bedford Circuit Judge William Sweeney requires proof of firearm proficiency. The Sheriff's Office documents it with paperwork from a hunting safety class, firearms course or military discharge with proof of firearms proficiency.
Courses offered by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries meet the criteria. Classes also are popular in Wythe County, where some evidence of firearms proficiency is required, mostly by completion of a two-day hunter education course, offered periodically at no charge at Wytheville Community College.
In Wythe County, 105 applications for concealed-weapon permits were received during the first 90 days of the new law. Of those, 71 were granted by the first week of October, and the paperwork was being being completed on the others.
In Montgomery County, where only 51 people applied in 1994, 117 applications were filed through Oct. 5. Forty-two were granted in that period, and 75 are pending.
In Franklin County, 115 applications were filed from July 5 to Oct. 10. Of those, 104 were granted, one was denied and 10 are pending.
The person who was denied had been convicted of driving under the influence within the last three years and did not answer a question on the application accordingly.
In Pulaski County, 57 of 61 applications had been approved through Oct. 5. Four are pending firearms training reports. In Radford, applications doubled from nine in 1994 to 18 in the first 90 days of the new law. Two are pending, and 16 were granted.
In Botetourt County, all but one of the 85 people who have applied since July 2 have obtained concealed-gun permits. The only denial was to a man with two assault convictions. Another 18 applications have been filed in Botetourt County since Oct. 5.
Staff writers S.D. Harrington, Paul Dellinger, Laurence Hammack, Diane Struzzi, Todd Jackson and Richard Foster contributed to this story.
by CNB