2019 US Virgin Islands Code
Title 23 - Internal Security and Public Order
Chapter 5 - Control of Firearms and Ammunition
§ 454a. Persons who may be licensed to carry a concealed handgun on a 24-hour basis
(a) To obtain a license to carry a concealed handgun on 24-hour basis, the applicant must be at least 21 years of age, and in addition to the information required to be submitted with an application for a firearm license under section 455(a), an applicant for 24-hour concealed handgun license must also submit either of the following:
(1) evidence of experience with a firearm through participation in organized shooting competitions or current military service; or
(2) evidence that, at the time the application is submitted, the applicant is a certified firearm instructor; or
(3) proof of an honorable discharge from a branch of the United States Armed Forces which reflects firearm qualifications obtained within the ten years preceding submittal of the application; or
(4) certification showing retirement from a Virgin Islands law enforcement agency which reflects firearm qualifications obtained within the ten years preceding submittal of the application; or
(5) a certificate of completion from a handgun training class obtained within the ten years preceding submittal of the application which includes the original signature of the class instructor; and
(6) a full-face frontal view color photograph of the applicant taken within the 30 days immediately preceding submittal of the license application, showing the applicant’s full head, including hair and facial features, and the depiction of the applicant’s head must measure one and one-eighth inches wide and one and one-fourth inches high. The applicant need not submit a photograph if the Commissioner photographs the applicant for purposes of issuing the license.
(b) A person who has been issued a license to carry a concealed handgun on a 24-hour basis, shall carry the license and the valid photo identification at all times when the person is in actual possession of the handgun and shall produce both documents upon request by a law enforcement officer. Failure to produce the license upon request by a law enforcement officer raises a rebuttable presumption that the person does not have a license. The licensee has 24 hours after the request to produce the license and identification to the Commissioner. lf the licensee does not produce the license and the identification card within 24 hours after the request, the Commission may suspend or cancel the license.
(c) As used in this section the term—
(1) “Handgun training class” means:
(A) a law enforcement training firearms safety course;
(B) a firearms safety course offered by a law enforcement agency, an institution of higher education, or a public or private institution or organization or firearms training school that is open to the general public and is taught by a certified firearms instructor; or
(C) a firearms safety course or class that is offered and taught by a certified firearms instructor.
(2) “Training certificate” means a certificate, affidavit, or other document issued by the instructor, school, club, or organization that conducts a handgun training class that evidences an applicant’s successful completion of the class requirements.
(d) In addition to meeting the specific requirements of this section, an applicant for a firearm license under this section must also meet all the other requirements set forth in the other applicable provisions of this chapter and any other applicable provision of the Code.
