Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

Hey guys just wanted to rant about my CHP process and get some advice. I put in my application on March 21st and on 4/29 got a call from the Clerk saying the judge wanted to meet with me. I was already irritated because I didn't see anywhere under the application guidelines or law that meeting with a judge was required. I showed up anyway because I didn't want to risk getting denied for some reason.

When it comes time for the judge to call up the CHP applicants I can already tell he isn't very gun friendly as he goes on a rant on about how everyone wants a concealed gun these days. When he calls me up he started telling the court how I didn't even look old enough to carry a gun and asked if I was 15 or 16. (I'm 21 and look older). The first thing he did was make me prove that I was a resident because I'm originally from Fairfax and then told me that he wished he could just send me to them for the application anyways.

Then it gets to my prior convictions (1 noise violation) and he tells me that I'm disqualified for 5 years for having the one misdemeanor charge. I told him that I didn't think that was correct according to VA law and he just laughed it off and said come back in 5 years. At that point the commonwealth attorney stood up and said "Actually your honor that may not be right". Instead of referencing the application he had me set another date to come back which is a huge inconvenience.

My question is do you all think he should be doing this? Also on Monday I can get my application notarized and start concealing as the 45 days will be up. Since I know I meet the qualifications I'm wondering if that point I should just let the clerk know I can't make the court appearance and inform them ill just wait for my permit in the mail?

This whole ordeal has been very frustrating so sorry for the rant lol.

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Personally? Contact the VCDL... NOW! They have attorneys that handle azzhatz like that...

And do so with fervor, and aplomb!

+1

VCDL is really good about that.

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They CANNOT require you to appear in front of a Judge.

They CAN require proof of some ID to show that you really live there.

They CANNOT use 1 misdemeanor conviction of a noise ordinance violation against you.

Hmm. Why does all of this not surprise me?

OP, hope things work out for you; and I suspect that they will.

Remember that open carry is still a legal option for you in the meantime.

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Zach. Too bad you are in Radford and not in Montgomery Co. When I got my CHP issued in Montgomery Co. they seemed almost happy to issue it to me. Let us know how this turns out.

Interesting, a clerk at the Stafford County Clerk's Office slid mine to me under a glass window and wished me a nice day. Took longer waiting in line than to actually get the permit.

IMO, Radford is a mini police state anyway. I came to that conclusion when I had 2 kids in college at Va Tech. Same can be said of Blacksburg. And the students at the colleges are seen by the local Gestapo as a source of income, cheap busts on chickensh!t charges, and people who can usually be abused without consequences.

dorminWS wrote:IMO, Radford is a mini police state anyway. I came to that conclusion when I had 2 kids in college at Va Tech. Same can be said of Blacksburg. And the students at the colleges are seen by the local Gestapo as a source of income, cheap busts on chickensh!t charges, and people who can usually be abused without consequences.

You are so right about that. Especially Blacksburg. I am a law abiding citizen who has never been arrested for anything. Yet I have had 3 instances with the Blacksburg police pulling me over without cause and way overstepping the bounds. In none of the 3 cases was I speeding, weaving or etc. In all three cases, even though they pulled me over without cause, they asked me questions that were none of their damn business. Like where had I been and where was I going. And why did the vanity plates not match the description of the car.

Thanks for the responses guys. I am going to go in Monday and get my application notarized (Id like to see them try and refuse) and leave the clerk a "letter" for the judge as I am not wasting my time going in there and sitting among criminals. And I'm going to send VDCL a report of the whole incident.

And I completely agree that this area is a mini police state. The police, judges, and school administration all overstep their boundaries time and time again. I've seen people get tickets for not stoping at a stop sign for a 3 seconds, noise violations for watching TV too loud, and countless other things. The police feel that because we are college students we don't have the same rights as everyone else.

And as for open carrying that is my main method of carry and I plan on keeping it that way. I just turned 21 recently and mainly getting my concealed for the winter time and for when I'm on my motorcycle. I've been open carrying since I was 19

Didn't catch on that you were a college student, OP. Glad to see that the younger folks are positvely representing the gun owning community.

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When my wife applied for hers in Loudoun, they said, "Might take a bit, a lot of folks getting them." and that was it. No grief, no duress, no bullshit.

Don't you need to get the application notarized before you turn it in? That's what we had to do here in Fauquier County. They actually had a notary on site so I just printed the form from the state police website, filled it out and took it in. They notarized my signature, took my $50 and told me it could take up to 45 days due to all the requests.
Something tells me radford isn't even processing these things correctly. you would think the processing would be the same statewide???

Reverenddel wrote:Personally? Contact the VCDL... NOW! They have attorneys that handle azzhatz like that...

And do so with fervor, and aplomb!

+1

Get them to go after him. Wow I am sorry you had to go through it.

DryBones getting it notarized is not required when you first apply but after 45 days if you get it notarized confirming its been 45 days you can carry until the judge makes a decision.

ZachRU wrote:DryBones getting it notarized is not required when you first apply but after 45 days if you get it notarized confirming its been 45 days you can carry until the judge makes a decision.

Sorry, not correct.
The clerk can notarize (or whatever they call it when they witness your sig) or I believe you can get it notarized on your own. I just let my circuit court clerk do mine.

What the clerk is supposed to do on day 46, if the application is still in-process, is to 'certify' the application as a de-facto temporary permit until the actual permit is either issued or denied for cause.

As reference to/for ^^^

18.2-308 ( http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504 ... d+18.2-308 )
From Section D:
"The application shall be made under oath before a notary or other person qualified to take oaths..."
the clerk being a qualified person, and,
"If the court has not issued the permit or determined that the applicant is disqualified within 45 days of the date of receipt noted on the application, the clerk shall certify on the application..."

Hope this helps to clarify.

As others have said, VCDL pursues the kind of abuse you describe. Please consider joining.

Sorry just mixed up the words but the idea is the same

Not the same at all. They are required to have a notarized signature on your application to prove you agree to tell the truth on all the questions. Legal and binding document at the time of application. This is why I questioned radfords procedure and whether there is a statewide required procedure.
MK4's post listing section D show there is a procedure that it appears radford is not following. I agree with other. VCDL needs to get involved and get them to process applications in accordance to state code.

Yep, DryBones, there's definitely a procedure defined explicitly in the statute.

There are threads here that detail the challenging experiences that others have had in certain circuits. The good thing is that the office of the Chief Justice of the Va Supreme Court overseas all of the circuit clerks, and contacting that office has proven to get positive results when the locals have been obstinate.