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The Roanoke Times, Va., Dan Casey column: Others speak on handgun measureJul 12, 2009 (The Roanoke Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Pete Jennings is a 40-year National Rifle Association member who moved here from New Jersey in 1994 and now lives in Huddleston. One day some years ago, the retired salesman was mugged in Brooklyn. That's one of the reasons Jennings, 74, applied for a concealed-carry permit shortly after he moved to this area. To meet the gun competence requirement in Virginia's concealed-carry law, he completed a two-day course in Roanoke that included live-fire training. He's among the outraged readers who responded to Tuesday's column about a new law that has turned the gun competence requirement into a farce. "They've watered it down to the point where it makes it a damn joke," Jennings said. "That's not right." To summarize: Through the Norfolk-based Concealed Carry Institute, you can now meet Virginia's "competence" qualification for a concealed carry permit with a $39.95, one-hour online course, provided you can pass a 20-question true-or-false and multiple choice quiz at the end. (If you fail, you're provided the correct answers and you get to retake the test for free). I took the course Monday, passed that quiz and earned my certificate -- even though I've never touched a handgun in my life. It is completely nuts that Virginia law would deem me competent enough with a handgun to get a concealed carry permit. Mike Smith of Bedford County agrees. Like Jennings, Smith considers himself a diehard supporter of the Second Amendment and concealed carry. He's an NRA-certified instructor who makes his living teaching gun safety. He can also certify other instructors. Smith, 39, has 13 years of experience in firearms instruction. He charges students $85 for the five-hour NRA FIRST Steps Pistol Orientation. Many of his students ask a lot of questions, he said. That's a chief problem he has with a one-hour streaming video "course." You can't ask a computer screen those questions. "If it was up to me, I would say a person has to have training with an instructor," Smith said. "A classroom setting where a student is sitting in front of an instructor. The student would also have to go to the range and demonstrate firing of a handgun. You need to at least know how to shoot a handgun if you're going to carry for self-defense." Smith acknowledges that he has a stake in the law because of his business. But that's not the big reason he's opposed to it, he said. "It just very much concerns me when someone is carrying a firearm for self-defense and has never had the training," he added. The legislation allowing online courses was introduced by state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax, who is running for Virginia attorney general. Among the people who have contributed $1,000 to Cuccinelli's campaign is Robert Marcus, the owner of the Concealed Carry Institute. (Cuccinelli's opponent in the attorney general's race, Del. Steve Shannon, D-Fairfax, also supported the bill). Before the law went into effect July 1, there was some debate around Virginia as to whether an online course would satisfy the requirement in state law that concealed-carry permit applicants demonstrate gun "competence." Circuit Court judges approve the issuing of concealed-carry permits. Some would accept online training as proof of competence and some would not. Now they must. (The legislation does not change the requirement that applicants must also have a clean criminal background, be mentally stable, not have a restraining order against them, and have not been ordered by a court into drug treatment.) All of Western Virginia's delegates and senators voted for this legislation when it passed the House and the Senate earlier this year. And all of them except one -- Del. Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke -- voted to override Gov. Tim Kaine's sensible veto of the bill. Friday, I spoke to a couple of them about that. State Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, said: "My understanding is it was to clarify existing law, not to change the law." Anyway, "Why would you want to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon unless you have a gun and already know how to use it?" Edwards asked. Sen. Ralph Smith, R-Botetourt, holds a concealed-carry permit and acknowledged he went through a hand-on firearms training course to acquire it. He called the bill "a technical amendment. "There's no perfect system," Smith said. "Whether it's for a concealed weapon or a driver's license, it's not perfect. No one in our government is. But we strive to make it better." In this case, however, it seems the General Assembly's fix made things even less perfect. The law weakens the notion of gun competence almost to the point of meaninglessness. It would be more honest for lawmakers to do away with the competence requirement altogether, rather than pretend that one exists. As Pete Jennings puts it: "Why don't we throw out the driver's license program and say, 'Hey, kid, you want a license? Here you go -- you'll learn to drive by running into things.' " Dan Casey's column runs Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. To see more of The Roanoke Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.roanoke.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, The Roanoke Times, Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |