By Justin Creech
Staff Writer
Thursday, January 19, 2012

Army and Air Force Exchange Service beneficiaries who reside in Virginia can purchase a firearm at the Fort Belvoir gun shop.

To purchase a firearm, beneficiaries must be a Virginia resident or have active orders to an installation in the state of Virginia.

“We ask the buyer what kind of driver’s license they have first,” said Anne Husen, Fort Belvoir Army and Air Force Exchange Service Senior Store Associate. “If their orders are to anywhere but the state of Virginia we can’t sell them (a firearm). As long as their orders are in the state of Virginia and they live in the state of Virginia we can sell them a firearm.”

Soldiers or their Family members living on Fort Belvoir who buy a firearm must register it with the Fort Belvoir Directorate of Emergency Services within 72 hours.

Buyers fill out the Form 4473 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Firearms Transaction record and Form SP-65 of the Virginia Department of State Police to verify they are eligible to purchase a firearm. Both forms are sent to the State Police upon completion and an approval is usually received right away.

Soldiers also must fill out a Fort Belvoir Registration form which must be brought to the Visitor Processing Operations Center, according to John Kibler, DES Chief of Criminal Investigations.

“Additionally, if you are an E-5 or below you must have your commander authorize that you are allowed to keep it in your living quarters,” Kibler said.

Kibler stressed that Soldiers do not bring the newly purchased firearm into the VPOC during registration. He also stressed bringing the registration card to the VPOC and not the DES headquarters The approval process to purchase a weapon can take up to five days in the worst case scenario.

“If it goes into delay it just means the state police need to look at the application hands on,” said Husen. “We noticed that people with security clearances most of the time go into delay. Not always, but the majority of the time. They get real baffled and I’m like once we hit submit it’s out of our hands.”

Any non-Belvoir residents who purchase a firearm are immediately escorted out of the shop and to their car upon completion of the sale.

“We are called to the counter,” said Elaine Slade, Belvoir AAFES Assistant Store Manager. “We escort them out of the building and the weapon is put into their car and that customer has to leave post immediately.”

An approval from the State Police must be received before the firearm is released to the buyer. No reason is given if disapproval is sent back from the State Police.

“The customer has to call state police themselves,” said Slade.

Gun shop personnel go through a checklist with each buyer at the end of the purchasing process to make sure they know how the firearm works and to make sure it has a lock of some kind.

Purchasers are also given paperwork on firearms safety and where they can and can’t carry the firearm in the state of Virginia.

All sales on both firearms and ammo are final.

“We have a lot of young Soldiers who buy expensive firearms and come back and say ‘My wife said no,’” Husen said. “I’m like ‘Sorry, but we can’t take it back.’”