H. B. 2005



(By Delegate Love)

[Introduced January 10, 1996; referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary.]





A BILL to amend and reenact section six, article seven, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring a license to carry a deadly weapon and exempting magistrates from the licensing requirement.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section six, article seven, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. DANGEROUS WEAPONS.

§61-7-6. Exceptions as to prohibitions against carrying concealed deadly weapons.

The licensure provisions set forth in this article shall not apply to:
(1) Any person carrying a deadly weapon upon his own premises; 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 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 home, residence or place of business to a place of target practice, and from any such place of target practice back to his home, residence or place of business, for using any such weapon at such place of target practice in training and improving his skill in the use of such weapons;
(3) Any law-enforcement officer or law-enforcement official as such are defined in section one, article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of this code;
(4) Any employee of the West Virginia department of corrections duly appointed pursuant to the provisions of section five, article five, chapter twenty-eight of this code while such employee is on duty;
(5) Any member of the armed forces of the United States or the militia of this state while such member is on duty;
(6) Any circuit judge, magistrate, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney or a duly appointed investigator employed by a prosecuting attorney.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt magistrates from the requirement of a license to carry a concealed deadly weapon.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.