Attaining a NV Concealed Firearms Permit

Nevada is an open-carry state, which means persons may openly carry their handguns without a permit. However, Nevada, which is a ‘shall issue’ state, requires a permit to carry concealed and Breitbart News learned about the process, while in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Day 1 : Pre-Qualification Range Test

In Nevada, concealed firearm permit applicants must successfully complete a range test in order to qualify for a state permit to carry concealed. Applicants may first practice at the range before the qualifying test with either a semi-automatic fire-arm or a revolver. The permit will allow the individual to qualify to conceal carry any handgun, regardless of which firearm the applicant shot with during the range test, a recent change in the law since October 1, 2013.

Individuals may bring their own handguns to shoot at the range for the test. Some places in Nevada offer gun rentals and purchasing of ammunition for the test. Thirty-six rounds are fired by the permit applicant on a B-27 full sized target during the entire test. Six rounds are placed in two semi-automatic magazines and the range instructor tells the applicant to fire each round at the target until the first magazine is emptied. The applicant must then drop the empty magazine and load the second magazine and fire at the target. :

At 3 yards: 6 rounds right hand only, reload, 6 rounds left hand only, one minute time limit
At 7 yards: 12 rounds freestyle (two hands) (fire 6, reload 6, fire 6), one minute time limit
At 15 yards: 12 rounds freestyle (two hands) (fire 6, reload 6, fire 6), one minute time limit

At least 70 percent of the rounds must hit the target. The target is later scored and 252 is passing, while  360 is the highest score an applicant can receive. If a firearm holds only five rounds, an equivalent 30 round course is used instead and the applicant must score 210 of 300 points. 

An eight hour classroom seminar on Nevada’s gun laws as well as gun safety guidelines among other issues is required the following day. Some applicants opt to take their range test on the same day as the class. Breitbart News spoke to Las Vegas Gun Store’s range officer Tom Allen about the process who explained,”Applicants have two attempts per day to pass the range test. But you only have a window of two weeks before your class, then you take your class and you have two weeks after your class to qualify. If you go that fourteen days after your class, you’ve got to take that class over again.” 

Allen said that non-resident applicants come in all time to qualify for the Nevada conceal permit, since the state’s reciprocity law changed. In the past, other states’ conceal carry permits (e.g. Utah & Arizona) were honored in Nevada. This is no longer case. Anyone who wants to carry concealed in Nevada must take the class and test as well as file the application in the state itself.

The Gun Store has non-resident applicants coming in “all the time,” Allen says. “A lot of tourists come in, but we have a lot of residents from California that have family or timeshares out here. Some people like to collect CCW’s,” he added.

Day 2 – 8 Hour Class

Fifty-six people filed into a small building on East Tropicana Avenue in Las Vegas and prepared to listen to the firearms instructor Mike Rogers, a former law enforcement officer. The class is composed of both first time gun owners as well as experienced shooters who either need to renew their current Nevada permit or are from out of state and want a non-resident permit. The class covers a number of issues including: the basics in handgun safety; legal issues associated with firearms that are exclusive to Nevada as well as pertinent on a federal level; various ways to conceal one’s handgun; types of ammunition; basics of marksmanship. At the end of the class 42 multiple choice question quiz was completed by each attendee.

Day 3 – Las Vegas Metro Police Department

The final step in receiving a Nevada concealed carry permit entails going to an assigned local police department within the state to fill out an application, get fingerprinted, photographed, and proof of identification. Additionally, one must provide documentation that he or she has completed the mandated Nevada concealed carry course as well as passed the range test. 

The application fee is $97.50. It should be noted applicants who have moved often in the last ten years must jot down all the addresses where they once resided as well as the dates of the residency, because the Nevada application includes this inquiry. After fingerprints and a photo is taken, an applicant’s information is background checked on various databases in Carson City over several weeks. If an applicant’s background is clean, the person should receive a permit in the mail within 120 days. It should be noted that all Clark County, Nevada residents must register their handguns.

Click here to see which states the Nevada concealed carry permit is currently honored and where it is not currently honored.