ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 46
(By Senators Burdette, Mr. President, and Boley,
By Request of the Executive)
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[Passed March 12, 1994; to take effect August 1, 1994.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact sections ten and eleven, article
seven, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further
amend said article by adding thereto a new section,
designated section eleven-a, all relating to the reasonable
regulation of the use and possession of deadly weapons
generally; the unlawful display or offer for rent or sale of
deadly weapons by persons and employees; unlawful sale,
rental, giving or lending of deadly weapons by person and
employee to person prohibited from possessing the same; use
of a deadly weapon to cause or threaten a breach of the
peace; legislative findings; unlawful possession of deadly
weapon on school bus or property and exceptions thereto;
unlawful possession of deadly weapon with intent to commit
a crime on school bus or property; duty of principal to
report; suspension of driver's license or instruction permit
upon adjudication or conviction; duty of parent, custodian
or legal guardian to report; unlawful possession of deadly
weapon on premises which house court of law or in offices of
family law master and exceptions thereto; unlawful
possession of deadly weapon with intent to commit a crime on
premises which house court of law or in offices of family
law master; and criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections ten and eleven, article seven, chapter
sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said
article be further amended by adding thereto a new section,
designated section eleven-a, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. DANGEROUS WEAPONS.
§61-7-10. Display of deadly weapons for sale or hire; sale to
prohibited persons; penalties.
(a) (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to publicly
display and offer for rent or sale, or, where the person is other
than a natural person, to knowingly permit an employee thereof to
publicly display and offer for rent or sale, to any 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.
(2) Any person violating the provisions of this subsection
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars or shall beconfined in the county jail for not more than one year, or both
fined and confined, except that where the person violating the
provisions of this subsection is other than a natural person,
such person shall be fined not more than ten thousand dollars.
(b) (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly
sell, rent, give or lend, or, where the person is other than a
natural person, to knowingly permit an employee thereof to
knowingly sell, rent, give or lend, any deadly weapon to a person
prohibited from possessing same by any provision of this article.
(2) Any person violating the provisions of this subsection
shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be fined not more than twenty-five thousand dollars or shall be
imprisoned in the penitentiary of this state for a definite term
of years of not less than three years nor more than ten years, or
both fined and imprisoned, except that where the person violating
the provisions of this subsection is other than a natural person,
such person shall be fined not more than fifty thousand dollars.
§61-7-11. Brandishing deadly weapons; threatening or causing
breach of the peace; criminal penalties.
It shall be unlawful for any person 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 section 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 more than one year, or both.
§61-7-11a. Possessing deadly weapons on premises of educational
facilities; reports by school principals; suspension of
driver's license; possessing deadly weapons on premises
housing courts of law and in offices of family law master.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds that the safety and welfare
of the citizens of this state are inextricably dependent upon
assurances of safety for children in school in this state and for
those persons employed with the judicial department of this
state. It is for the purpose of providing such assurances of
safety, therefore, that subsection (b) of this section is enacted
as a reasonable regulation of the manner in which citizens may
exercise those rights accorded to them pursuant to section
twenty-two, article three of the Constitution of the state of
West Virginia.
(b) (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon on any school bus as defined
in section one, article one, chapter seventeen-a of this code, or
in or on any public or private primary or secondary education
building, structure, facility or grounds thereof, including any
vocational education building, structure, facility or grounds
thereof where secondary vocational education programs are
conducted.
(2) This subsection shall not apply to:
(A) A law-enforcement officer acting in his or her official
capacity;
(B) A person specifically authorized by the board of
education of the county or principal of the school where theproperty is located to conduct programs with valid educational
purposes; or
(C) A person who, as otherwise permitted by the provisions
of this article, possesses an unloaded firearm or deadly weapon
in a motor vehicle or leaves an unloaded firearm or deadly weapon
in a locked motor vehicle.
(3) Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
more than one thousand dollars, or shall be confined in jail not
more than one year, or both.
(c) (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon with the intent to commit a
crime on any school bus or in or on any public or private primary
or secondary education building, structure, facility or grounds
thereof, including any vocational education building, structure,
facility or grounds thereof where secondary vocational education
programs are conducted.
(2) Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of
a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in
the penitentiary of this state for a definite term of years of
not less than two years nor more than ten years, or fined not
more than five thousand dollars, or both.
(d) It shall be the duty of the principal of each school
subject to the authority of the state board of education to
report any violation of subsections (b) or (c) of this section
discovered by such principal to the state superintendent of
schools within seventy-two hours after such violation occurs. The state board of education shall keep and maintain such reports
and may prescribe rules establishing policy and procedures for
the making and delivery of the same as required by this
subsection. In addition, it shall be the duty of the principal
of each school subject to the authority of the state board of
education to report any violation of subsection (b) or (c) of
this section discovered by such principal to the appropriate
local office of the division of public safety within seventy-two
hours after such violation occurs.
(e) In addition to the methods of disposition provided by
article five, chapter forty-nine of this code, any court which
adjudicates a person who is fourteen years of age or older as
delinquent for a violation of subsection (b) or (c) of this
section may, in its discretion, order the division of motor
vehicles to suspend any driver's license or instruction permit
issued to such person for such period of time as the court may
deem appropriate, such suspension, however, not to extend beyond
such person's nineteenth birthday; or, where such person has not
been issued a driver's license or instruction permit by this
state, order the division of motor vehicles to deny such person's
application for the same for such period of time as the court may
deem appropriate, such denial, however, not to extend beyond such
person's nineteenth birthday. Any suspension ordered by the
court pursuant to this subsection shall be effective upon the
date of entry of such order. Where the court orders the
suspension of a driver's license or instruction permit pursuant
to this subsection, the court shall confiscate any driver'slicense or instruction permit in the adjudicated person's
possession and forward the same to the division of motor
vehicles.
(f) (1) If a person eighteen years of age or older is
convicted of violating subsection (b) or (c) of this section, and
if such person does not act to appeal such conviction within the
time periods described in subdivision (2) of this subsection,
such person's license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle in
this state shall be revoked in accordance with the provisions of
this section.
(2) The clerk of the court in which the person is convicted
as described in subdivision (1) of this subsection shall forward
to the commissioner a transcript of the judgment of conviction.
If the conviction is the judgment of a magistrate court, the
magistrate court clerk shall forward such transcript when the
person convicted has not requested an appeal within twenty days
of the sentencing for such conviction. If the conviction is the
judgment of a circuit court, the circuit clerk shall forward such
transcript when the person convicted has not filed a notice of
intent to file a petition for appeal or writ of error within
thirty days after the judgment was entered.
(3) If, upon examination of the transcript of the judgment
of conviction, the commissioner shall determine that the person
was convicted as described in subdivision (1) of this subsection,
the commissioner shall make and enter an order revoking such
person's license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle in this
state for a period of one year, or, in the event the person is astudent enrolled in a secondary school, for a period of one year
or until the person's twentieth birthday, whichever is the
greater period. The order shall contain the reasons for the
revocation and the revocation period. The order of suspension
shall advise the person that because of the receipt of the
court's transcript, a presumption exists that the person named in
the order of suspension is the same person named in the
transcript. The commissioner may grant an administrative hearing
which substantially complies with the requirements of the
provisions of section two, article five-a, chapter seventeen-c of
this code upon a preliminary showing that a possibility exists
that the person named in the notice of conviction is not the same
person whose license is being suspended. Such request for
hearing shall be made within ten days after receipt of a copy of
the order of suspension. The sole purpose of this hearing shall
be for the person requesting the hearing to present evidence that
he or she is not the person named in the notice. In the event
the commissioner grants an administrative hearing, the
commissioner shall stay the license suspension pending the
commissioner's order resulting from the hearing.
(4) For the purposes of this subsection, a person is
convicted when such person enters a plea of guilty or is found
guilty by a court or jury.
(g) (1) It shall be unlawful for any parent, custodian or
other legal guardian of a person less than eighteen years of age
who knows that said person is in violation of subsection (b) or
(c) of this section, or who has reasonable cause to believe thatsaid person's violation of said subsection is imminent, to fail
to report such knowledge or belief to the appropriate school or
law-enforcement officials.
(2) Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
more than one thousand dollars, or shall be confined in jail not
more than one year, or both.
(h) (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon on any premises which houses
a court of law or in the offices of a family law master.
(2) This subsection shall not apply to:
(A) A law-enforcement officer acting in his or her official
capacity; and
(B) A person exempted from the provisions of this subsection
by order of record entered by a court with jurisdiction over such
premises or offices.
(3) Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
more than one thousand dollars, or shall be confined in jail not
more than one year, or both.
(i) (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon on any premises which houses
a court of law or in the offices of a family law master with the
intent to commit a crime.
(2) Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of
a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in
the penitentiary of this state for a definite term of years ofnot less than two years nor more than ten years, or fined not
more than five thousand dollars, or both.