Senate Bill No. 46
(By Senators Burdette, Mr. President, and Boley,
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced January 17, 1994;; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article seven, chapter sixty-one of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section designated section
eight-a; and to amend and reenact sections ten and eleven of
said article, all relating to denying or suspending the
motor vehicle operator's license of any person under the age
of eighteen who has been convicted of a crime involving the
use of a deadly weapon; making sales, rentals, grants or
loans of a deadly weapon to a minor a felony offense;
prohibiting the brandishing, exposing, carrying, holding or
unholstering a deadly weapon within five hundred feet of a
school by any person who is not in a private residence or
who is not in a retail or wholesale firearms establishment;
and providing a penalty for violation of these provisions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article seven, chapter sixty-one of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, beamended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
eight-a; and that sections ten and eleven of said article be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. DANGEROUS WEAPONS.
§61-7-8a. Conviction under deadly weapons provisions as cause
for denial or suspension of license for privilege of
operation of motor vehicle.
(a) In accordance with the provisions of sections three and
five, article two, chapter seventeen-b of this code, the
department of motor vehicles shall deny a license or instruction
permit for the operation of a motor vehicle to any person under
the age of eighteen who has been convicted, prior to the time of
such person's application for such license or instruction permit,
of a violation of section eight or section eleven of article
seven of chapter sixty-one of this code
(b) The circuit clerk of each county shall notify the
commissioner of the division of motor vehicles of the conviction
of any person under the age of eighteen for any violation of
section eight or section eleven of article seven of chapter
sixty-one of this code within thirty days of any such conviction.
Within five days of receipt of such notice, the department of
motor vehicles shall send notice to the licensee that the license
will be suspended under the provisions of section three, article
two, chapter seventeen-b of this code on the thirtieth day
following the date the notice was sent unless documentation of
compliance with the provisions of this section is received by thedepartment of motor vehicles before such time. The commissioner
of motor vehicles shall promulgate interpretive rules by the
first day of July one thousand nine hundred ninety-four which
define and describe the type of documentation necessary to prove
compliance under this section.
§61-7-10. Display of deadly weapons for sale or hire; sale to
prohibited persons; penalties.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to publicly display
and offer for rent or sale, to passersby on any street, road or
alley, any deadly weapon, machine gun, submachine gun or other
fully automatic weapon, any rifle, shotgun or ammunition for
same.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly sell,
rent, give or lend any of the deadly weapon arms mentioned in
this article to a person prohibited from possessing same by any
provision of this article.
(c) Any individual, person, association, partnership,
corporation or firm violating the provisions of this section
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not less than five hundred thousand dollars nor
more than five ten thousand dollars or shall be confined in the
county jail for not more than one year, or both: Provided, That
if any such violation of the provisions of this section involves
the sale, rental, grant or loan of any deadly weapon by an
individual to a person who is prohibited from possessing or
carrying, concealed or openly, any deadly weapon under sectioneight of article seven of chapter sixty-one of this code, then
that individual shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be confined in the penitentiary for not less than
three years nor more than five years and shall be fined not less
than ten thousand dollars nor more than twenty-five thousand
dollars: Provided, however, That if any such violation of the
provisions of this section involves the sale, rental, grant or
loan of any deadly weapon by any association, partnership,
corporation or firm to a person who is prohibited from possessing
or carrying, concealed or openly, any deadly weapon under section
eight of article seven of chapter sixty-one of this code, then
that association, partnership, corporation or firm shall be
guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined
not less than twenty-five thousand dollars nor more than fifty
thousand dollars.
§61-7-11. Brandishing deadly weapons; threatening or causing
breach of the peace; brandishing deadly weapons on premises
of educational facility or court; penalties.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person possessing or armed
with a firearm or other deadly weapon, whether licensed to carry
the same or not, to carry, brandish, or use such weapon in a way
or manner to cause, or threaten, a breach of the peace. Any
person violating this subsection shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
less than fifty nor more than one thousand dollars, or shall be
confined in the county jail not less than ninety days nor morethan one year, or both.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person possessing or armed
with a firearm or deadly weapon, whether licensed to carry the
same or not, except for law-enforcement officers on duty, to
carry, expose, brandish, unholster or hold such firearm in his or
her hand or to carry, expose, brandish or hold such deadly weapon
in his or her hand (1) on the premises of, or within five hundred
feet of, any primary or secondary educational facility in this
state, unless expressly permitted in writing pursuant to section
fourteen of article seven of chapter sixty-one of this code, or
unless the firearm or deadly weapon is carried, exposed,
brandished, or held by a person on the premises of a private
residence dwelling which is within five hundred feet of any
primary or secondary educational facility, or on the premises of
a retail or wholesale merchant who legally sells firearms or
deadly weapons which premises is within five hundred feet of any
primary or secondary educational facility; except for valid
educational purposes by faculty or by individuals invited by
faculty or (2) on any premises housing a court of law. Any
person who, without willful intent to do so, violates violating
this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than two hundred
dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or confined in the
county jail not less than six months nor more than one year, or
both. Any person who, with willful intent to do so, violates
this subsection shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon convictionthereof, shall be fined not less than five thousand dollars nor
more than ten thousand dollars and shall be confined in the
penitentiary not less than two years nor more than five years.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to revoke or suspend the
motor vehicle operator's license of any person under the age of
eighteen years who has been convicted of a crime involving the
use of a deadly weapon. The bill also makes it a felony to sell
or give a deadly weapon to a person under eighteen years of age.
It prohibits the possession of a deadly weapon within five
hundred feet of a school and it provides both misdemeanor and
felony penalties for violations.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
Section eight-a is new, therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring are omitted.