Starting this month, Alexandria residents wanting to carry a concealed weapon can apply for a plastic permit at the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office in Old Town.
Clerk Greg Parks recently revamped the city’s concealed carry permits from paper to plastic, and residents can now complete permit applications on his website. All these new measures are intended to streamline the process — which used to be “very inefficient,” Parks told ALXnow — for the public and his staff.
“The whole process from beginning to end, used to be paper-based,” Parks said. “You would literally fill out a paper-based application that the Virginia State Police created. It’s a huge, long application. You’d have to fill it out in ink, you’d bring it in and then my staff would have to take that information and type it into a system.”
The clerk’s office in Prince William County started issuing a similar plastic card in 2023. Clerk offices in nearby Arlington and Fairfax County still use paper cards.
Parks said his office issues approximately 1,000 concealed carry permits per year. Residents now also have the option to have their photo printed on the ID.
The permit process still costs applicants $50 and takes weeks to complete, pending a background check from the Alexandria Police Department and verifications from the clerk’s office. A replacement card costs $10.
Parks, whose campaign goals included modernizing the office’s procedures to “work faster and smarter,” said the changes free up his staff to complete more pressing tasks.
“We make absolutely sure that only people who should have these permits have them,” Parks said. “That whole process happens faster, easier, and my staff can focus on the substance rather than just being typists, essentially.”
The clerk’s office is located at 520 King Street.
