Senate Bill No. 375
(By Senators Kessler, Mitchell, Edgell, McKenzie, Hunter,
Unger and Bailey)
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[Introduced February 2, 2000; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section seven, 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
seven-a, all relating to making possession of a firearm by
a convicted felon a felony offense.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seven, 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 seven-a, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. DANGEROUS WEAPONS.
§61-7-7. Persons prohibited from possession of deadly weapons.
Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary,
no person who: (1) Has been convicted of a felony in this state
or in any other jurisdiction; (2) (1) Has been discharged under
less than honorable conditions from the armed forces of the
United States; (3) (2) has been adjudicated as a mental
incompetent or has been committed involuntarily to a mental
institution; (4) (3) is an alien illegally or unlawfully in the
United States; or (5) (4) is addicted to alcohol, a controlled
substance or a drug, or is an unlawful user thereof shall may
have in his or her possession any firearm or other deadly weapon:
Provided, That any person prohibited from possessing a firearm or
other deadly weapon by the provisions of this section may
petition the circuit court of the county in which he or she
resides and if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence
that such person is competent and capable of exercising the
responsibility concomitant with the possession of a firearm or
other deadly weapon the court may enter an order allowing such
person to possess such weapon if such would not violate any federal statute.
Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall
be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one
thousand dollars or confined in the county jail or state
correctional facility for not less than ninety days nor more than
one year, or both.
§61-7-7a. Convicted felons prohibited from possession of a
firearm.
Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary,
no person who has been convicted of a felony in this state, or
convicted of a crime in another state that would constitute a
felony in this state or any felony as established by the United
States or District of Columbia may have in his or her possession
any firearm.
Any person who violates the provisions of this section is
guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
confined in a state correctional facility for a term of not less
than two years nor more than ten years.
Any person who violates the provisions of this section while
committing a felony is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a state correctional facility for
not less than ten years nor more than forty-five years:
Provided, That in the discretion of the court, should the
defendant's underlying felony conviction be for a crime that does
not constitute a crime of violence or violation of article four,
chapter sixty-a of this code, the court may in lieu of imposing
the above sentence confine the defendant to a state correctional
facility for not less than one year nor more than five years, or
impose a fine of no more than five thousand dollars, or both.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change possession of a
firearm by a convicted felon from a misdemeanor to a felony.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.
Section seven-a is new, therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring are omitted.