H. B. 4348
(By Delegates Michael, Williams, Stemple,
Proudfoot, Shelton and Anderson)
[Introduced February 1, 2000; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section fifty-eight, article two,
chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to providing
limited circumstances under which persons living outside
municipalities may shoot or discharge a firearm within five
hundred feet of their dwelling house.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fifty-eight, article two, chapter twenty of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.
§20-2-58. Shooting across road or near building or crowd;
penalty.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to shoot or
discharge any firearms across or in any public road in this state, at any time, or within four hundred feet of any
schoolhouse or church, or within five hundred feet of any
dwelling house or on or near any park or other place where
persons gather for purposes of pleasure, and any person violating
this section is guilty of a misdemeanor: Provided, That any
person operating a gun repair shop, licensed to do business in
the state of West Virginia and duly licensed under applicable
federal statutes, may be exempted from the prohibition
established by this section and section twelve, article seven,
chapter sixty-one of this code for the purpose of test firing a
firearm. The director of the department of natural resources
shall prescribe such rules as may be necessary to carry out the
purposes of the exemption under this section and section twelve,
article seven, chapter sixty-one and shall ensure that any person
residing in any dwelling home within five hundred feet of such
gun repair shop be given an opportunity to protest the granting
of such exemption.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of subsection (a) of this
section to the contrary, it is lawful for a person to shoot or
discharge a firearm within five hundred feet of the person's
dwelling house if:
(A)(i) The person owns the dwelling house and it is used
exclusively by the owner for residential purposes; or
(ii) The person leases the dwelling house and it is used exclusively by the lessee for residential purposes; and
(B) The dwelling house is situated:
(i) More than five hundred feet outside any municipality;
(ii) More than four hundred feet from any schoolhouse or
church;
(iii) More than five hundred feet from any other dwelling
house unless the person who owns, leases or is charged with the
care, custody and control of the other dwelling house has
consented to the shooting or discharge of the firearm; and
(C) The dwelling house is not on or near any park or other
place where persons gather for purposes of pleasure; and
(D) The shooting or discharge of the firearm is not done for
an unlawful purpose.
NOTE: The purpose of the bill is to remove the criminal
penalties for persons living in rural homes who shoot or
discharge a firearm within 500 feet of their homes.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.