NORFOLK, Va. — The new concealed carry law went into effect this January in Virginia.
If you want to get a concealed carry gun permit, you now must take an in-person class to get one. Before January, you could get a permit after completing an online course.
13News Now reached out to local places offering these in-person classes to gauge interest since the change. We heard back from three businesses: Bob’s Gun Shop in Norfolk, Piece Be With You in Williamsburg, and the 1st Virginia Public Safety Training Academy in Virginia Beach.
We asked each of them to rate the current interest for concealed carry classes. The choices were low, average, high, or very high.
1st Virginia Public Safety Training Academy says the interest has been "high." Both Piece Be With You and Bob’s Gun Shop responded that interest has been "very high."
Steve Dowdy from Bob’s says they used to offer 30-person classes once a week before the pandemic. They’re now doing two 10-person classes a week, but because of the increased demand, Dowdy said they could easily offer four or more of these a week. They’re booked through the end of April.