COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2650
(By Delegates Linch, Faircloth, Harrison, Proudfoot, Staton,
Warner and Collins)
(Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary)
[March 2, l998]
A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article one, chapter seven
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty- one, as amended; and to amend and reenact section five-a, article
twelve, chapter eight of said code, all relating to restricting the
power of counties and municipalities to control the purchase,
possession, transfer, carrying, transport, sale and storage of
certain weapons and ammunition; and providing certain exceptions
thereto.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article one, chapter seven of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended and reenacted; and that section five-a, article twelve,
chapter eight of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
CHAPTER 7. COUNTY COMMISSIONS AND OFFICERS.
ARTICLE 1. COUNTY COMMISSIONS GENERALLY.
§7-1-3. Jurisdiction, powers and duties.
The county commissions, through their clerks, shall have the custody of all deeds and other papers presented for record in their
counties and the same shall be preserved therein, or otherwise
disposed of as now is, or may be prescribed by law. They shall have
jurisdiction in all matters of probate, the appointment and
qualification of personal representatives, guardians, committees,
curators and the settlement of their accounts and in all matters
relating to apprentices. They shall also, under such regulations the
rules as now are or may be prescribed by law, have the superintendence
and administration of the internal police and fiscal affairs of their
counties, including the establishment and regulation rule of roads,
ways, streets, avenues, drives and the like, and the naming or
renaming thereof, in cooperation with local postal authorities, the
division of highways and the directors of county emergency
communications centers, to assure uniform, nonduplicative conversion
of all rural routes to city-type addressing on a permanent basis,
bridges, public landings, ferries and mills, with authority to lay and
disburse the county levies. They shall, in all cases of contest,
judge of the election, qualification and returns of their own members,
and of all county and district officers, subject to appeal as
prescribed by law. Such The tribunals as have been heretofore
established by the Legislature under and by virtue of section
thirty-four, article VIII of the constitution of one thousand eight
hundred seventy-two, for police and fiscal purposes, shall, until
otherwise provided by law, remain and continue as at present
constituted in the counties in which they have been respectively
established, and shall be and act as to police and fiscal matters in
lieu of the county commission herein mentioned, until otherwise provided by law. And until otherwise provided by law, such the
clerk as is mentioned in section twenty-six, article VIII of the
constitution, as amended, shall exercise any powers and discharge any
duties heretofore conferred on, or required of, any court or tribunal
established for judicial purposes under said section of the
constitution of one thousand eight hundred seventy-two, or the clerk
of such the court or tribunal, respectively, respecting the recording
and preservation of deeds and other papers presented for record,
matters of probate, the appointment and qualification of personal
representatives, guardians, committees, curators and the settlement
of their accounts and in all matters relating to apprentices. The
county commission may not limit the right of any person to purchase,
possess, transfer, own, carry, transport, sell or store any revolver,
pistol, rifle or shotgun or any ammunition or ammunition components
to be used therewith nor to so regulate the keeping of gunpowder so
as to, directly or indirectly, prohibit the ownership of the
ammunition.
Provided: That no provision in this section may be
construed to limit the authority of a county to restrict the
commercial use of real estate in designated areas through planning or
zoning ordinances.
CHAPTER 8. MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.
ARTICLE 12. GENERAL AND SPECIFIC POWERS, DUTIES AND ALLIED RELATIONS
OF MUNICIPALITIES, GOVERNING BODIES AND MUNICIPAL OFFICERS AND
EMPLOYEES; SUITS AGAINST MUNICIPALITIES.
§8-12-5a. Limitations upon municipalities' power to restrict
the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying,
transport, sale and storage of certain weapons and ammunition.
The provisions of section five of this article notwithstanding,
neither a municipality nor the governing body of any municipality
shall have the power to may limit the right of any person to purchase,
possess, transfer, own, carry, transport, sell or store any revolver,
pistol, rifle or shotgun or any ammunition or ammunition components
to be used therewith nor to so regulate the keeping of gunpowder so
as to directly or indirectly prohibit the ownership of such the
ammunition. Nothing herein shall in any way impair the authority of
any municipality, or the governing body thereof, to enact any
ordinance or resolution respecting the power to arrest, convict and
punish any individual under the provisions of subdivision (16),
section five of this article or from enforcing any such ordinance or
resolution:
Provided, That any municipal ordinance in place as of the
effective date of this section shall be excepted from the provisions
of this section: Provided however, That no provision of this section
may be construed to
limit the authority of a municipality to restrict
the commercial use of real estate in designated areas through planning
or zoning ordinances.