As Virginia’s general firearms deer season opens Saturday, experts are emphasizing safety measures and thorough preparation for the estimated 250,000 acres of public hunting land available.

President Biden said gun violence is an 'epidemic' and needs lawmakers to take action against it.

The bill requires a state background check before renting a gun at any shooting range in the commonwealth. Safeside Tactical trains staff to look for warning signs about potential mental health issues and has even had to turn away customers over those concerns. Tyler said while he sympathizes with the families, the bill leaves more questions than answers. “You can’t test someone’s mental frame of mind in a snapshot, with a background check,” Tyler said. Ultimately the bill would need to be passed by both the House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate before being signed by Gov.

ROANOKE, Va. – The new year will bring a change to the concealed carry permit application process in Virginia. If you were planning on completing online training for a concealed carry permit, time is running out. SafeSide Tactical, which has locations in Roanoke and Lynchburg, started offering its concealed carry course online earlier this year after having to cut class sizes to maintain social distancing guidelines in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of legislation passed by the Virginia General Assembly, all training for a concealed carry permit must be taken in person starting January 1. It is illegal in Virginia to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.

ROANOKE, Va. – At SafeSide Tactical in Roanoke, the ammo shelves are getting bare and about a dozen are completely empty. When we sell a gun, customers expect to be able to purchase ammo so they can use the gun. To put the gun shortage in perspective, SafeSide Tactical was seeing about a 90% decrease in availability on Thursday. “A lot of folks learned a small part of this lesson in 2013 during the ammo shortage,” said Tyler. Now, we’re really in an ammo crisis.”He said the company is looking at what it can do from a manufacturing standpoint to combat the shortage for local gun shops and ranges.

LYNCHBURG, Va. – SafeSide Tactical staff are busy preparing for Monday morning. According to SafeSide co-owner Mitchell Tyler, there will be six buses in all, with about 400 people heading for Richmond from their Roanoke and Lynchburg locations. “We’re just excited for our customers and our staff to be able to go and talk to our politicians. “The biggest threat that gun owners are to Richmond is at the ballot box in two years. SafeSide buses will leave the Hill City at 5 a.m. and in Roanoke, people will leave at 4:15 in the morning.

ROANOKE, Va. – On Monday, Bedford County was poised to become the latest Second Amendment sanctuary in response to proposed state gun laws. Because of the proposed gun laws and more than 40 localities choosing to take a stance against them, business is up at Safeside Tactical in Roanoke. Co-owner Mitchell Tyler said interest in conceal and carry classes has increased, as have sales of both guns and accessories. So, if retail sales are down on this one segment, we’ll see a natural progression; more people using the range, more people taking training classes," Tyler said. People in Salem were also expected to address the Second Amendment sanctuary issue Monday night during a meet and greet for the city manager.

Over the last two years, we've seen multiple children shot in our region because they had access to a gun. said Mitchell Tyler, Luke Tyler's dad and the co-owner of SafeSide Tactical. The triggers are easy enough to pull for a 2-, 3-year-old," said Mitchell Tyler. Kids as young as 6 can learn about gun safety and shoot on the range. For Luke Tyler, he looks forward to the few times he's shot at the range and always practices safety.