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Where you can and can’t carry your gun with open and concealed carry permit

Posted at 7:17 PM, Apr 27, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-29 09:57:01-04

COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. -- After a local man was recently charged after bringing a concealed gun into Parham Doctors Hospital, CBS 6 wanted to look deeper into the rules surrounding open and concealed carry laws in Virginia.

It's common to see someone walking into Dance's Sporting Goods with a gun on their side.

Marlon Dance said he wouldn't have it any other way and added almost everyday someone walks in with questions about open carry and concealed carry.

When it comes to open carry Dance explained, "It has to be carried in the open, on your side, it doesn't matter where it is, because most people will carry it on their side, but it has to be visible."

Open carry

Dance said to carry concealed you must have a permit. "Most people who carry concealed, you'd never know they had the guns".

But carrying a gun means not just knowing the law but where you can and cannot carry. "It's your responsibility to know what the laws are," said Lou Smith, a concealed permit holder.

Smith has had a concealed carry permit for five years.

"I know for the most part where you can and can't carry and where you should and should not carry," he said.

No weapons

Hannah Lands open carried until she turned 21 and got her concealed carry permit. "Most times I carry in my purse, if you carry on your person, you just have to recognize that certain items of clothing you might wear, might lead somebody to believe you are carrying."

But open carry and concealed carry have their limitations. On the other hand, if business owners want to keep guns out of their store, they have that right.

"If a business does not want you to walk in with a gun, you can get a decal that's got a gun on it, with a line going through it," according to Dance.

In Virginia you must be 18-years-old to purchase a gun and 21-years-old to hold a conceal carry permit. For more information about Virginia's gun laws click here.

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