tom169

The pros and cons of the VA non resident licence depends on the state. E.g. in NC you can use it to conceal carry, but not to purchase a hand gun (which you can do on an NC conceal carry).

civilservant

You need a license to purchase a handgun in NC? That surprises me.

Pulaski

I think he meant ".... without a background check".

tom169

You need a permit to purchase a handgun if you don't have a conceal carry. It's issued by the sheriff Dept of where you live. It's a pain really, requires two in person visits.

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Georgia Boy

Good luck with the test.

LegalEagleTX

We both passed! Very useful course, especially when it came to the law. The range test was fun, and not too hard. I am just waiting on my Texas Hunting License and then I can legally purchase a handgun, meanwhile we will apply for our LTC which will allow us to conceal or open carry. An LTC is not necessary in Texas for carrying a handgun in your vehicle providing it is not in plain view.

scrubbedexpat099

Congrats, any idea what you are looking at getting?

LegalEagleTX

Thanks, we have our name down for a Glock 43x which can take up to 15 rounds. We looked at a Glock 43 but its lower capacity is a negative, especially if it was ever needed. The 43 is in short supply at the moment, as is 9mm ammunition. 9mm has doubled in price over the last few months and is still flying off the shelves.

civilservant

I have been carrying a 43 for 4 years now, it's very easy to conceal and it doesn't interfere with daily activities as all. Honestly if you need more than 6+1 you don't need to be using your weapon anyway, you need to be calling the cavalry.

One thing I would say is practice with your carry ammo. Practice practice practice. No point being able to put 7 on target with a FMJ round (because they;re so much cheaper) while practicing if you can't do it with you hollowpoint defense round.

LegalEagleTX

You'll be in my prayers if you ever needed that 8th round.

civilservant

You could say that about anything - what if you need a 16th round? One has to be balanced against the other, and the concealment of the 43 is worth the trade off in capacity IMO.

Pulaski

You might find this guy interesting - I find him to be one of the most useful producers of YouTube videos on firearms topics, and entertaining too. He often discusses the importance of magazine capacity, and the video below includes one such discussion starting at 7:13. The discussion ends just after the 9 minute mark with a highly relevant observation about the possible ramifications of the last bullets in a 10-12+ round volley in a citizen involved shooting.

civilservant

I agree that, based of the tiny sample that I just watched of his video, he seems very informative. Will have to check his channel out more thoroughly.

AS to his final point - I had not considered that, but it seems eminently reasonable with a little thought. As I said before, if you need more than 6+1, you really need the cops. For your own legal protection as much as anything else.

Pulaski

Conversely, if 6+1 isn't enough, you might need to spend more time at the range.

There are a number of videos of this Sheriff (Grady Judd, of Polk Co, FL - he is a no-nonse guy, and also entertaining to watch in his fairly frequent press conferences - he was the Sheriff covering that recent triple homicide in FL, at night on a back road, near a fishing pond, that hit the national headlines). In the video below he is reporting on a citizen shooting by an Uber driver of an idiot who all but ran the Uber off the road, jumped out of his truck and threatened to shoot the Uber driver. .... One shot was all that was required to get the job done! The dash-cam video starts at 9:10 and only lasts a few seconds.

[Note to moderators this video is NOT graphic - the shooting takes place off-screen.]

LegalEagleTX

I got a call from the range yesterday to say that my Glock43x had arrived. Went down this morning with my hunting license which also arrived yesterday, my I94, passport and drivers license. They took copies of all these and then I had to enter information into a computer which was then sent off to the Feds for a background check. I was warned that it may come back delayed because I am a non-immigrant alien and sure enough it did. So the Feds now have 3 business days to get back to the range and if they don't I can legally buy the handgun. Not sure if that is the same in all States, but it's the case in Texas. I am not envisaging a problem anyway, but its interesting that the Feds are on the clock to deny a purchase.