Three Reasons to Renew Your Permit Early

How early can you renew your concealed carry permit? This is something you should be clear on in the state where your permit(s) was issued. Another key thing you will want to know in advance is if the issuing state will be sending you a reminder. Many states will not. Regardless, you should take some responsibility to be aware of your expiration date.

Most states will allow you to renew as early as 90 or 120 days before the expiration date.  Here are a few reasons why renewing early your CCW permit is a really good idea:

Avoid A Potential Lapse

If you start the renewal process 2 weeks before your concealed carry permit expires and it takes the state or county 6 weeks to process the renewal then you will be without a valid permit for 4 weeks. Most states/counties process renewals with greater priority than new applications, but that doesn't mean they will turn it around in a few days for you just because you were slow to get the ball rolling. It's always a good idea to get your carry license or gun permit renew done as soon as you can, before it expires.

Take Advantage of Past Training

Depending on the state where your CCW permit was issued, you may have to continue to show ongoing training qualification for your renewal. Since training certificates tend to expire after a certain number of months/years, the sooner you get the renewal process going the more likely you will be able to leverage one of those training certificates in your file.

Otherwise you have to plan and schedule a new training course prior to being able to get the renewal process started. If you don't know where to go to get your required training, we have a network of instructors that you can choose from if you're in the area of any.

Avoid Late Fees

There are a few things that are as annoying to me than when my own stupidity, or lack of attention costs me money. Your state may have a late fee that is charged if you start the renewal with an expired permit. Further, depending on how far expired your concealed permit may be, you may have to pay the price of a new application in order to proceed. renewing your license to carry a concealed firearm early will help you avoid that.

Here's a Tip

I don't know about you, but I'd rather not let my gun permit lapse, which is why whenever I know its expiration date is approaching, I make it a point to get it renewed. One thing you may want to consider to make sure you don't forget, is set a reminder in your phone. Today's smart phones have calendars that can be transferred from one phone to the next with nothing more than uploading account information.

You can set a reminder in your phone to take place years down the road, and it'll remind you.

If you look at the expiration date on your CCW permit and put a note in your calendar for the day your state will allow you to renew, you won't ever forget. One day, years from now, your reminder will go off, enabling you to take advantage of renewing it early.

How far in advance does your state allow you to renew your concealed carry permit? Let us know in the comments below.

Also, if you haven't looked into our online Virginia Concealed Carry Class, it's a great way to have the opportunity to get a Virginia Carrier's Permit that allows you to carry a gun in 29 different states, as pictured above.