I know Va. has a 20rd limit when carrying a handgun, but what’s the law on concealing
multiple?
2 Likes
Welcome to the Community @Nick60
Virginia has a law saying you can only carry 20 rounds on you when carrying a firearm?? I have never heard of such a thing even in anti gun states like CA and NY. They have limits to how many rounds you can carry in a single magazine but last I checked they didn’t have any limits on how many total rounds you could carry.
4 Likes
The firearm itself can’t carry more than 20rds! I’m curious on how many firearms I can conceal at once!
3 Likes
Hello and welcome @Nick60
20 rounds in the magazine or total on your person?
I have never heard of there being a round minimum on your person but I am in NV
1 Like
Welcome
2 Likes
Always best to read the law for yourself. In this case, the 20 round limit is on the magazine, not a limit on how many rounds you have with you, and seems not to apply if you have a permit. From HandgunLaw.US:
§ 18.2-287.4. Carrying Loaded Firearms in Public Areas Prohibited; Penalty.
It shall be unlawful for any person to carry a loaded (a) semi-automatic center-fire rifle or pistol that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material and is equipped at the time of the offense with a magazine that will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition or designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer or equipped with a folding stock or (b) shotgun with a magazine that will hold more than seven rounds of the longest ammunition for which it is chambered on or about his person on any public street, road, alley, sidewalk, public right-of-way, or in any public park or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public in the Cities of Alexandria, Chesapeake, Fairfax, Falls Church, Newport News, Norfolk, Richmond,d, or Virginia Beach or in the Counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Henrico, Loudoun, or Prince William.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to law-enforcement officers, licensed security guards, military personnel in the performance of their lawful duties, or any person having a valid concealed handgun permit or to any person actually engaged in lawful hunting or lawful recreational shooting activities at an established shooting range or shooting contest. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
[Emphasis added]
6 Likes
That’s quite the word salad. I didn’t realize VA was so anti self defense and had magazine limits. But if I read it correctly it sounds like the prohibitions against mags greater than 20 rounds and threaded barrels etc. only apply in the listed cities and don’t apply to people with carry licenses?
@Nick60 I have never heard of any States that limit the number of firearms a person can legally carry at one time as long as they are following all the other applicable laws. Though in CA (and possibly other States) you can only carry the specific firearms listed on your license and depending on the county you can only have 2 or 3 handguns on your license. But it is worth reviewing all the laws in your State or better yet ask a local lawyer with experience in this field to confirm.
3 Likes
Several years ago, when the Virginia state government was under total Democratic party control with Governor Northrup and a Dem-dominated legislature, many gun laws were changed to decrease 2A freedom. One of the biggest was removing state pre-emption, allowing localities to impose their own added gun laws. To keep up with 2A freedom issues and activism in Virginia, track the Virginia Citizens Defense League, one of the best state-level organizations in the nation.
There has been only some progress turning the mess around with a Republican governor and lower house, but the Dem-controlled Senate has still stymied many good bills. This is election year in Virginia (intentionally off-year from the national elections) so support your favorites there to move both houses of the legislature into 2A protective mode.
5 Likes
@Craig_AR, yes, one needs to read the actual laws. Exactly correct, it only applies to those without a CHP who would then only be “allowed” to OC. There is no limit on those that are CHP holders.
3 Likes
And who would check your pockets for an extra magazine?
Any civilian encounter that requires more than 20 rounds, a reload or a 2nd gun is bigfoot-level rare.
2 Likes
That’s not the point. Neither could one readily cc a handgun with a 30+ round mag in it. The point is the government should not be telling us how many rounds we are “allowed” to carry.
Also, if you read what @Craig_AR posted, the “only ones”, of course, are exempt from that law. Our country was founded on egalitarianism, not in creating special classes of citizens.
2 Likes
I picked up one of those Turkish bullpup shotguns that accepts 5,10, and 25 round magazines. Of course it’s not so much for hunting or self defense as it is for wasting time and ammunition on a nice weekend afternoon.
Keep in mind the old Tec-9s came with a 32-round magazine, too.
Weapons of war? Hardly. But I don’t need a Lefty dictating my hobby parameters.
2 Likes
I understand, but anyone who gets a CCW permit/license has already bought into asking permission from government to exercise a right ostensibly guaranteed from government infringement by the 2nd Amendment. So CCW licensees are folks who have agreed/promised to follow the government rules no matter how dumb or elitist.
Welcome Nick60. Move to Texas. We can carry as many guns and as much ammo as we want.
That may be the case, but I have never heard of anyone complaining about having too much ammo or a back up weapon in a gunfight. If you have a spouse (Wife, Girlfriend or any Significant Other) does your spouse also carry? There would be a second weapon to utilize in your defense.
Should The Good Lord place me in harm’s way, I for certain do not want to show up with “just enough” ammo. As an FYI, my EDC is 17+1 (Yes, I carry it +1). I carry two spare 17-round magazines. 10 feet away from me in the Expedition just on the other side of my office door, I have seven 30-round happy sticks, a 50 round drum and enough ammo to probably refill all of them 3 times. My Sub2K is also in the Expedition. It uses all the same magazines. That is just what I have with me every day.
I do not go looking for a fight, but if I am presented with one, I intend to enter it with the odds stacked overwhelmingly in my favor.
4 Likes
Thanks Man! Good to be here
2 Likes
Oh, yes, because cc without a permit/license in states that require it is, of course, the smartest and most rational thing to do. I’d much rather risk years of imprisonment, instead, than carry legally. /sarc
However, if you noticed, it’s those without a permit or the “only ones” that become second class citizens. Welcome to the party. 
1 Like
The question that initiated this string of comments was what was the law on concealing “mulitple” (guns, magazine) in VA that has a 20-round capacity limit on concealed firearms. When a person signs up for a CCW permit/license, it comes with a host of rules and laws that may or may not make sense, and the applicant “consents” (in the Jeffersonian “consent of the governed” sense) to those laws by virtue of paying the fee to the state, taking a pointless training class, obeying forbidden locations and then, in the best case, shelling out several hundred $$ a year to USCCA for insurance. A CCW licensee more or less has to (1) get happy with the 20 round capacity limit, (2) give up the “right” to legally carry concealed or (3) simply carry an extra magazine risking that someone would ever search their pocket. A CCW licensee in VA essentially agreed to the 20-round capacity limit in the first place.
No, that is 100% false. Re-read the law. It states those that do not have a CHP cannot.
3 Likes