Senate Bill No. 228
(By Senators Barnes, Yoder and Love)
____________
[Introduced January 16, 2008; referred to the Committee on
Interstate Cooperation; and then to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to repeal §61-7-6a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended; and to amend and reenact §61-7-4, §61-7-5 and §61-7-6
of said code, all relating to carrying concealed pistols or
revolvers; extending recognition to all licenses issued by
other states to nonresidents of this state; limitations;
requiring the Attorney General to periodically notify the
Governor, Attorney General and licensing authority of each
state of such recognition; requiring the Attorney General to
negotiate and execute reciprocity agreements to secure
recognition of West Virginia licenses when required by other
states as a condition of recognizing West Virginia licenses;
and creating uniform rule concerning the requirement to carry
and exhibit license when carrying a concealed pistol or
revolver for both West Virginia licensees and licensees of other states whose licenses are recognized in this state.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-7-6a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be repealed; and that §61-7-4, §61-7-5 and §61-7-6 of said code be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. DANGEROUS WEAPONS.
§61-7-4. License to carry concealed pistols and revolvers.
(a)
Except as provided in subsection (h) of this section, Any
person desiring to obtain a state license to carry
a concealed
deadly weapon pistols and revolvers shall apply to the sheriff of
his or her county for such license, and shall pay to the sheriff,
at the time of application, a fee of
seventy-five ninety dollars.
of which fifteen dollars of that amount shall be deposited in the
courthouse facilities improvement fund created by section six,
article twenty-six, chapter twenty-nine of this code. Concealed
weapons permits may only be issued for pistols or revolvers Each
applicant shall file with the sheriff, a complete application, as
prepared by the Superintendent of the West Virginia State Police,
in writing, duly verified, which sets forth only the following
licensing requirements:
(1) The applicant's full name, date of birth, social security
number and a description of the applicant's physical features;
(2) That, on the date the application is made, the applicant
is a bona fide resident of this state and of the county in which the application is made and has a valid driver's license or other
state-issued photo identification showing such residence;
(3) That the applicant is twenty-one years of age or older:
Provided,
That any individual who is less than twenty-one years of
age and possesses a properly issued concealed weapons license as of
the effective date of this article shall be licensed to maintain
his or her concealed weapons license notwithstanding the provisions
of this section requiring new applicants to be at least twenty-one
years of age: Provided, however, That upon a showing of any
applicant who is eighteen years of age or older that he or she is
required to carry a concealed
weapon pistol or revolver as a
condition for employment, and
presents satisfactory proof
to the
sheriff thereof
is presented to the sheriff, then he or she the
applicant shall be issued a license upon meeting all other
conditions of this section:
Provided further, That upon
discontinuance of employment that requires the concealed
weapons
pistol or revolver license, if the
individual issued the license
licensee is
not yet less than twenty-one years of age,
then the
individual issued the license licensee is no longer eligible and
must
return his or her surrender the license to the issuing
sheriff;
(4) That the applicant is not addicted to alcohol, a
controlled substance or a drug and is not an unlawful user thereof;
(5) That the applicant has not been convicted of a felony or of an act of violence involving the misuse of a deadly weapon;
(6) That the applicant has not been convicted of a misdemeanor
offense of assault or battery either under the provisions of
section twenty-eight, article two of this chapter or the provisions
of subsection (b) or (c), section nine, article two of this chapter
in which the victim was a current or former spouse, current or
former sexual or intimate partner, person with whom the defendant
has a child in common, person with whom the defendant cohabits or
has cohabited, a parent or guardian, the defendant's child or ward
or a member of the defendant's household at the time of the
offense; or a misdemeanor offense with similar essential elements
in a jurisdiction other than this state;
(7) That the applicant is not under indictment for a felony
offense or is not currently serving a sentence of confinement,
parole, probation or other court-ordered supervision imposed by a
court of any jurisdiction or is the subject of an emergency or
temporary domestic violence protective order or is the subject of
a final domestic violence protective order entered by a court of
any jurisdiction;
(8) That the applicant is physically and mentally competent to
carry
such weapon a concealed pistol or revolver;
(9) That the applicant has not been adjudicated to be mentally
incompetent;
(10) That the applicant has qualified under the minimum requirements set forth in subsection (d) of this section for
handling and firing
such weapon a pistol or revolver: Provided,
That this requirement shall be waived in the case of a renewal
applicant who has previously qualified;
(11) That the applicant authorizes the sheriff of the county,
or his or her designee, to conduct an investigation relative to the
information contained in the application.
(b) The sheriff shall conduct an investigation which shall
verify that the information required in subdivisions (1), (2), (3),
(5), (6), (8) and (9), subsection (a) of this section are true and
correct.
(c)
Fifteen dollars of the application fee shall be forwarded
by the sheriff to the Superintendent of the State Police not later
than the tenth day of the month following the month in which the
sheriff collected the fee. Fifteen dollars of the application fee
shall be forwarded by the sheriff to the Courthouse Facilities
Improvement Fund created by the provisions of section six, article
twenty-six, chapter twenty-nine of this code not later than the
tenth day of the month following the month in which the sheriff
collected the fee. Sixty dollars of the application fee and any
fees for replacement of lost or stolen licenses All other fees
received by the sheriff
under this section shall be deposited by
the sheriff into a Concealed
weapons Pistol or Revolver License
Administration Fund. Such fund shall be administered by the sheriff and shall take the form of an interest bearing account with
any interest earned to be compounded to the fund. Any funds
deposited in this Concealed
weapon Pistol or Revolver License
Administration Fund are to be expended by the sheriff to pay for
the costs associated with issuing concealed
weapons pistol or
revolver licenses. Any surplus in the fund on hand at the end of
each fiscal year may be expended for other law-enforcement purposes
or operating needs of the sheriff's office, as the sheriff may
consider appropriate.
(d) All persons applying for a license must complete a
training course in handling and firing a handgun. The successful
completion of any of the following courses fulfills this training
requirement:
(1) Any official National Rifle Association handgun safety or
training course;
(2) Any handgun safety or training course or class available
to the general public offered by an official law-enforcement
organization, community college, junior college, college or private
or public institution or organization or handgun training school
utilizing instructors duly certified by such institution;
(3) Any handgun training or safety course or class conducted
by a handgun instructor certified as such by the state or by the
National Rifle Association;
(4) Any handgun training or safety course or class conducted by any branch of the United States Military, Reserve or National
Guard.
A photocopy of a certificate of completion of any of the
courses or classes or an affidavit from the instructor, school,
club, organization or group that conducted or taught said course or
class attesting to the successful completion of the course or class
by the applicant or a copy of any document which shows successful
completion of the course or class shall constitute evidence of
qualification under this section.
(e) All concealed
weapons pistol or revolver license
applications must be notarized by a notary public duly licensed
under article four, chapter twenty-nine of this code.
Falsification of any portion of the application constitutes false
swearing and is punishable under the provisions of section two,
article five, chapter sixty-one of this code.
(f) If the information in the application is found to be true
and correct, the sheriff shall issue a license. The sheriff shall
issue or deny the license within forty-five days after the
application is filed if all
required background checks
authorized
required by this section are completed.
(g)
Before any approved license shall be issued or become
effective, the applicant shall pay to the sheriff a fee in the
amount of fifteen dollars which the sheriff shall forward to the
superintendent of the West Virginia state police within thirty days of receipt. Any such license All licenses issued under this section
shall be valid for five years throughout the state, unless sooner
revoked.
(h)
All persons holding a current and valid concealed weapons
license as of the sixteenth day of December, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-five, shall continue to hold a valid concealed
weapons license until his or her license expires or is revoked as
provided in this article: Provided, That all reapplication fees
shall be waived for applications received by the first day of
January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, for any person
holding a current and valid concealed weapons license as of the
sixteenth day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five,
which contains use restrictions placed upon the license as a
condition of issuance by the issuing circuit court. Any licenses
reissued pursuant to this subsection will be issued for the time
period of the original license.
(i) Each license shall contain the full name, social security
number and address of the licensee;
and a space upon which the
signature of the licensee shall be signed with pen and ink;
and the
telephone number of the concealed pistol or revolver license
verification service operated by the Superintendent of the West
Virginia State Police pursuant to subsection (l) of this section.
The issuing sheriff shall sign and attach his or her seal to all
license cards. The sheriff shall provide to each new licensee a duplicate license card, in size similar to other state
identification cards and licenses, suitable for carrying in a
wallet, and such license card is deemed a license for the purposes
of this section.
(j) (i) The Superintendent of the West Virginia State Police
shall prepare uniform applications for licenses and license cards
showing that such license has been granted and shall do any other
act required to be done to protect the state and see to the
enforcement of this section.
(k) (j) In the event If an application is denied, the specific
reasons for the denial shall be stated by the sheriff denying the
application. Any person denied a license may file, in the circuit
court of the county in which the application was made, a petition
seeking review of the denial. Such petition shall be filed within
thirty days of the denial. The court shall then determine whether
the applicant is entitled to the issuance of a license under the
criteria set forth in this section. The applicant may be
represented by counsel, but in no case shall the court be required
to appoint counsel for an applicant. The final order of the court
shall include the court's findings of fact and conclusions of law.
If the final order upholds the denial, the applicant may file an
appeal in accordance with the Rules of Appellate Procedure of the
Supreme Court of Appeals.
(l) (k) In the event If a license is lost or destroyed, the
person to whom the license was issued licensee may obtain a
duplicate or substitute license for a fee of five dollars by filing
a notarized statement with the sheriff indicating that the license
has been lost or destroyed.
(m) (l) The sheriff shall, immediately after the license is
granted as aforesaid, furnish the Superintendent of the West
Virginia State Police a certified copy of the approved application.
It shall be the duty of the sheriff to furnish to the
Superintendent of the West Virginia State Police at any time so
requested a certified list of all such licenses issued in the
county. The Superintendent of the West Virginia State Police shall
maintain a registry of all persons who have been issued concealed
weapons pistol or revolver licenses
and provide instantaneous
verification of the validity of any license issued under this
section to any criminal justice agency within the United States
twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, electronically or by
telephone. The superintendent shall maintain and operate a
concealed pistol or revolver license verification service, which
shall be operational twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week,
through a dedicated telephone number, for the purpose of responding
to law-enforcement inquiries from any law-enforcement agency within
the United States concerning the validity of a license issued under
this section.
(n) All licensees must carry with them a state-issued photo identification card with the concealed weapons license whenever the
licensee is carrying a concealed weapon. Any licensee who fails to
have in his or her possession a state-issued photo identification
card and a current concealed weapons license while carrying a
concealed weapon shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty or more than
two hundred dollars for each offense.
(o) (m) The sheriff shall deny any application or revoke any
existing license upon determination that any of the licensing
application requirements established in this section have been
violated by the licensee.
The sheriff shall revoke any license
issued under this section if the licensee becomes unable to meet
the criteria for initial licensure specified in this section. Any
licensee under this section who becomes ineligible for continued
licensure shall immediately surrender the license to the issuing
sheriff.
(p) (n) No person who is engaged in the receipt, review or in
the issuance or revocation of a concealed
weapon pistol or revolver
license shall incur any civil liability as the result of the lawful
performance of his or her duties under this article.
(q) (o) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of
this section, with respect to application by a former
law-enforcement officer honorably retired from agencies governed by
article fourteen, chapter seven of this code; article fourteen, chapter eight of this code; article two, chapter fifteen of this
code; and article seven, chapter twenty of this code, an honorably
retired officer is exempt from payment of fees and costs as
otherwise required by this section, and the application of the
honorably retired officer shall be granted without proof or inquiry
by the sheriff as to those requirements set forth in subdivision
(9) (10), subsection (a) of this section, if the officer meets the
remainder of the requirements of this section and has the approval
of the appropriate chief law-enforcement officer.
(r) (p) Except as restricted or prohibited by the provisions
of this article or as otherwise prohibited by law, the issuance of
a concealed
weapon permit pistol or revolver license issued in
accordance with the provisions of this section shall authorize the
holder of the permit licensee to carry
a one or more concealed
pistol or revolver pistols, revolvers or any combination thereof
anywhere on the lands or waters of this state.
A license issued
under this section does not authorize the licensee to carry any
other type or class of concealed deadly weapon.
(q) (1) The Attorney General shall, not later than the last
day of June and the last day of December of each year, notify the
Governor and concealed pistol or revolver licensing authority of
each state in writing of the provisions of section six of this
article and make written inquiry of whether the other state will
extend full faith and credit to licenses issued under this section. The Attorney General shall negotiate and execute reciprocity
agreements on behalf of this state with other states that require
a reciprocity agreement to accord full faith and credit to West
Virginia licenses issued pursuant to this section. The Attorney
General shall seek to establish, by reciprocity agreement or
otherwise, the extension of full faith and credit to West Virginia
licenses by all other states whose laws permit the same without a
requirement for any additional license, qualification or payment of
any fee by a West Virginia licensee. The Attorney General shall
maintain efforts to obtain a reciprocity agreement from any state
that may generally honor licenses issued by this state but affords
greater recognition, including exemptions from obtaining an
additional license if regularly employed, attending an institution
of higher education or conducting a business in that state, to
licenses issued by states that have executed reciprocity agreements
with that state. If a reciprocity agreement is reached or full
reciprocity otherwise exists, the requirement to recontact the
other state semiannually shall cease while the agreement is in
force or full reciprocity is otherwise in effect.
(2) For the purposes of participation in reciprocity with
other states, the official government-issued law-enforcement
identification card issued to a law-enforcement officer in this
state who is exempt from obtaining a license under the provisions
of section six of this article but who is not a qualified law-enforcement officer under 18 U.S.C. |926B and a letter of
authorization for a retired or medically discharged member of the
state police to carry handguns issued by the superintendent under
the provisions of section twenty-five, article two, chapter fifteen
of this code shall be deemed a concealed pistol or revolver license
issued by this state.
(3) On the first day of each regular session of the
Legislature, the Attorney General shall publish and deliver to each
house of the Legislature a report enumerating:
(A) The states honoring West Virginia licenses;
(B) The states that issue licenses similar to the license
described in this section that have declined to enter into
reciprocity agreements with this state and do not otherwise honor
licenses issued by this state, the reasons stated therefor and
whether each such state has a reciprocity agreement with any other
state or otherwise recognizes licenses issued by any other state;
(C) Specific recommendations for amending this section that
would result in additional states honoring licenses issued under
this section; and
(D) Recommendations on the feasibility and expedience of the
amendments proposed pursuant to paragraph (C) of this subdivision.
The Legislature does not intend to enact any changes to this
section that would require existing licensees to complete new
training or otherwise substantially burden or inconvenience existing licensees.
§61-7-5. Licensees to carry license and identification while
carrying concealed pistols or revolvers.
(a) A person licensed to carry concealed pistols and revolvers
under the provisions of section four of this article or authorized
to carry concealed pistols or revolvers in this state pursuant to
a license or permit issued by another state that is recognized in
this state pursuant to the provisions of section seven of this
article
shall, whenever the person is carrying a concealed pistol
or revolver:
(1) Carry his or her license or permit on or about his or her
person or in a place from which the person may retrieve it within
a reasonable amount of time;
(2) If the license or permit does not contain the person's
photograph or does not contain the person's current residence
address, the person must carry a driver's license or a photo
identification issued by that person's state of residence or the
United States that contains the person's photograph and current
residence address, on or about his or her
person or in a place from
which the person may retrieve it within a reasonable amount of
time; and
(3) Whenever the person is required to make a disclosure of
carrying a concealed pistol or revolver to a law-enforcement
officer pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, the person shall, upon request of the law-enforcement officer, produce the
documents the licensee is required to carry pursuant to this
subsection for inspection by the law-enforcement officer.
(b) (1) Whenever a person subject to the provisions of
subsection (a) of this section is carrying a concealed pistol or
revolver, is approached or addressed in an official manner by a
law-enforcement officer and the law-enforcement officer asks the
person whether the person is armed or otherwise poses to the person
a question as to whether the person is carrying any type of deadly
weapon, the person shall disclose to the law-enforcement officer
that the person is carrying a concealed pistol or revolver and is
licensed or otherwise authorized by law to lawfully do so.
(2) Whenever a person subject to the provisions of subsection
(a) of this section is carrying a concealed pistol or revolver in
a motor vehicle, the vehicle is stopped by a law-enforcement
officer, any law-enforcement officer present asks whether the
driver of the vehicle or any passenger in the vehicle is armed or
otherwise poses to the person a question as to whether the person
is carrying any type of deadly weapon and the question can be heard
and understood by the person sufficiently to give the person
adequate notice of being so questioned, the person shall disclose
to the law-enforcement officer that the person is carrying a
concealed pistol or revolver and is licensed or otherwise
authorized by law to lawfully do so. It is a defense to a violation of this subdivision that the person was a passenger in a
vehicle, not occupying either the front passenger seat or a
passenger seat immediately to the rear of the driver of the vehicle
and was asleep or otherwise did not hear or should not have been
reasonably expected to hear request of the law-enforcement officer
for disclosure.
(c) Any person who violates any provision of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than fifty dollars or more than two hundred dollars
for each offense. A violation of this section does not authorize
the forfeiture of any pistol or revolver that was in the otherwise
lawful possession of the person carrying the same.
§61-7-6. Exceptions as to prohibitions against carrying concealed
deadly weapons without license.
The licensure provisions set forth in this article do not
apply to:
(1) Any person carrying a deadly weapon upon his or her own
premises. A person may not be prevented Nor shall anything herein
prevent a person from carrying any firearm, unloaded, from the
place of purchase to his or her home, residence or place of
business or to a place of repair and back to his or her home,
residence or place of business, nor shall may anything herein
prohibit a person from possessing a firearm while hunting in a
lawful manner or while traveling from his or her home, residence or place of business to a hunting site and returning to his or her
home, residence or place of business;
(2) Any person who is a member of a properly organized
target-shooting club authorized by law to obtain firearms by
purchase or requisition from this state or from the United States
for the purpose of target practice from carrying any pistol, as
defined in this article, unloaded, from his or her home, residence
or place of business to a place of target practice and from any
place of target practice back to his or her home, residence or
place of business, for using any such weapon at a place of target
practice in training and improving his or her skill in the use of
the weapons;
(3) Any law-enforcement officer or law-enforcement official as
defined in section one, article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of this
code;
(4) Any employee of the West Virginia Division of Corrections
duly appointed pursuant to the provisions of section five, article
five, chapter twenty-eight of this code while the employee is on
duty;
(5) Any member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the
militia of this state while the member is on duty;
(6) Any circuit judge, including any retired circuit judge
designated senior status by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West
Virginia, Prosecuting Attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney or a duly appointed investigator employed by a prosecuting attorney;
(7) Any resident of another state who holds a valid license to
carry a concealed weapon by a state or a political subdivision
which has entered into a reciprocity agreement with this state,
subject to the provisions and limitations set forth in section
six-a of this article;
(8) Any federal law-enforcement officer or federal police
officer authorized to carry a weapon in the performance of the
officer's duty; and
(9) (8) Any Hatfield-McCoy regional recreation authority
ranger while the ranger is on duty; and
(9) (A) For the purpose of carrying concealed pistols,
revolvers or any combination thereof, but no other type or class of
concealed deadly weapon, any person:
(i) Who, except as otherwise provided by paragraphs (B) and
(C) of this subdivision, is not a resident of this state;
(ii) Who is at least twenty-one years of age;
(iii) Who is not prohibited by federal law or the provisions
of section seven of this article from possessing firearms; and
(iv) Who has been issued a license or permit by any other
state, territory or possession of the United States that authorizes
the person to carry any concealed pistol or revolver, if the
license or permit is recognized as a current, valid license or
permit throughout the state, territory or possession of issue.
(B) Subparagraph (i), paragraph (A) of this subdivision does
not apply to a new resident of this state for sixty days following
the establishment of residence in this state unless, during the
sixty-day period, the person applies for a license under the
provisions of section four of this article and the application is
denied. If, within the sixty-day period, the person applies for a
license under the provisions of section four of this article,
subparagraph (i), paragraph (A) of this subdivision shall continue
to be inapplicable to that person until the application for a
license under the provisions of section four of this article
has
been granted or denied by the sheriff.
(C) For the purposes of subparagraph (i), paragraph (A) of
this subdivision only, a member of the armed services of the United
States who is otherwise a resident of this state and whose
permanent duty station is located outside this state, or the spouse
of any such person, may elect to declare the state in which the
applicable permanent duty station is located, his or her state of
residence and may vary this election from time to time. Nothing
contained in this paragraph may disqualify a person from obtaining
a license under the provisions of section four of this article
on
the basis of place of residence, or disqualify any person, making
an election under this paragraph as nonresident of this state, for
any purpose other than eligibility to carry concealed pistols and
revolvers in this state on the basis of a license or permit issued by another state.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to improve the concealed
handgun license reciprocity process by recognizing any concealed
handgun license issued by any other state to a nonresident of this
state without the requirement of a reciprocity agreement or
recognition of West Virginia permits by the other state as a
condition of such recognition. This bill would continue statutory
authorization for the Attorney General to negotiate and execute
reciprocity agreements with other states as necessary to secure the
recognition of West Virginia concealed handgun licenses in as many
other states as possible. Current §61-7-5, relating to the
revocation of licenses, is repealed and consolidated into
§61-7-4(m). §61-7-5 has been completely rewritten; therefore,
strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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