Virginia CCW

Hello. I live in Virginia, and am retired (recently) military. To try and answer your questions: Virginia has an open carry law, in addition to their CCW laws. ANYONE, who is not otherwise prohibited to own/carry a gun may carry openly in the commonwealth, although a word of caution, there are a few municipalities who frown on the practice and have passed local ordinances that are more restrictive.......such as the City of Chesapeake, which allows you to carry openly but requires that the firearm be unloaded and in the case of a handgun, the gun carried on one side of your body and the magazine(s) or speed clips or what have you carried on another the other side. As for the comment on the fact that you are military qualifying you to carry, that really has nothing to do with it in regard to open carry. However, if you are active duty, reserve, retired, etc., and can produce either a DD-214 or an ID card (in the case of active duty, retired or reserves), you do not have to take the required CCW course in order to qualify for your CCW permit. In regard to the CCW permit, Virginia is a "Shall Issue" state, and as long as you meet the basic qualifications (no felony convictions, no misdemeanors of moral turpitude, no judgement of mental incompetence, etc.), you should not have any problems obtaining your permit. So far, Tenn, West VA, and Florida have reciprocity with Virginia. I would recommend three other things. First, go to the Commonwealth of Virginia's State Police Website to verify the above information, Second, go to Packing.org's website because it is a valuable resource for most state's gun laws, and Third, since you will be going to Northern Virginia, be ABSOLUTELY careful that you DO NOT CARRY IN ANY MANNER while you visit Washington D.C. (they have no carry laws of any kind......in their eyes guns are banned........go figure), and Maryland (which is quickly becoming one of THE most anti-gun states. Good luck!