H. B. 4004


(By Delegate Love)
[Introduced January 10, 1996; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]




A BILL to amend article two, 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 twelve-a, relating to the commission or attempted commission of a crime involving the use or presentation of a deadly weapon; penalty.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article two, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section twelve-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-12a. Crime committed involving the use of a deadly weapon;
penalty.


Any person who commits or attempts to commit any felony involving the use or presentation of a firearm or other deadly weapon is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a definite term of imprisonment in the penitentiary of three years. The violation of the provisions of this section constitute a separate crime and the penalty provided herein is in addition to the penalty provided by statute for the commission or attempted commission of the underlying felony.

NOTE: This bill creates a mandatory sentence for using a firearm or other deadly weapon in committing or attempting to commit a felony by providing that use of a firearm or other deadly weapon in committing another felony is in and of itself a separate crime.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.