THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 3, 1995 TAG: 9508030527
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Nearly 2,700 Hampton Roads residents applied for concealed-weapons permits last month - an increase in some cities of almost twice or three times the applications filed in all of 1994, Circuit Court statistics show.
The sudden increase in requests to carry weapons came with the start of a law passed by the last General Assembly. It allows virtually any Virginian 21 or older to carry a gun if he or she does not have a criminal record.
Norfolk Police Chief Melvin C. High said the number of potential gun holders is worrisome.
``We're extremely concerned about the sizable number of applications,'' High said in a statement. ``We're particularly concerned with the potential hazards to police officers.''
In Chesapeake, police spokesman Tony Torres said the police department is not concerned with the numerical increase in concealed weapons. However, he said, there is a concern that weapons will fall into the hands of the wrong people.
Circuit Court clerks in the area's seven cities reported a total of 2,667 applications completed in July.
In four of the cities - Virginia Beach, Suffolk, Hampton and Newport News - the number of applicants during July surpassed the 1994 total.
Norfolk had 80 fewer applicants for the month than in 1994. Chesapeake had 548 applications and Portsmouth had 325. Comparative figures for 1994 in those cities were not available.
Under the old concealed-weapons law, applicants had to appear before a judge to receive a permit. Judges could deny the requests if they did not see a good reason for the applicant to carry a gun.
The crush of new applicants was heaviest during early July, court officials said.
``It was kind of scary at first,'' said Myra Harrell, assistant to the clerk of court in Portsmouth. ``But it's slowed down a little bit now.''
Chesapeake averaged just 45 requests a month under the old law. ``It's been going steady every day,'' said Clerk of Court Lillie M. Hart. ``It's not as many as in the first two weeks.''
Gary Wright, chief deputy clerk of court in Norfolk, said one of the 200 new applicants had been denied a permit. He had a criminal record in New York.
Virginia Beach has sifted through nearly half - 334 - of the 647 applications filed last month, said Chief Deputy Clerk Mike Davy. Of those, 10 were denied.
People who apply are given background checks by the state police. The troopers use computer databases to look for felony convictions. The same method is used for the so-called ``instant check'' when someone buys a handgun in Virginia.
After filling out the applications, gun seekers must pay a fee and then await background checks and court approval, which may take weeks or months. ILLUSTRATION: GUN PERMITS RISING
Graphic
KEN WRIGHT/Staff
[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]
KEYWORDS: GUN PERMIT by CNB