H. B. 2964
(By Delegates Schoen, Webster, Fleischauer,
Amores and Trump)
[Introduced
February 11, 2003
; 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 providing an
exception for family court judges as to prohibitions against
carrying concealed deadly weapons.
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:
§61-7-6. Exceptions as to prohibitions against carrying concealed
deadly weapons.
The licensure provisions set forth in this article do not
apply to:
(1) Any person carrying a deadly weapon upon his or her 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 or her home, residence
or place of business to a place of target practice and from any
place of target practice back to his or her home, residence or
place of business, for using any such weapon at a place of target
practice in training and improving his or her skill in the use of
the weapons;
(3) Any law-enforcement officer or law-enforcement official as
defined in section one, article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of this code;
(4) Any employee of the West Virginia division of corrections
duly appointed pursuant to the provisions of section five, article
five, chapter twenty-eight of this code while the employee is on
duty;
(5) Any member of the armed forces of the United States or the
militia of this state while the member is on duty;
(6) Any circuit judge, including any retired circuit judge
designated senior status by the supreme court of appeals of West
Virginia, family court judge, prosecuting attorney, assistant
prosecuting attorney or a duly appointed investigator employed by
a prosecuting attorney;
(7) Any resident of another state who has been issued a
license to carry a concealed weapon by a state or a political
subdivision which has entered into a reciprocity agreement with
this state. The governor may execute reciprocity agreements on
behalf of the state of West Virginia with states or political
subdivisions which have similar gun permitting laws and which
recognize and honor West Virginia licenses issued pursuant to
section four of this article;
(8) Any federal law-enforcement officer or federal police officer authorized to carry a weapon in the performance of the
officer's duty; and
(9) Any Hatfield-McCoy regional recreation authority ranger
while the ranger is on duty.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create an exception to
allow family court judges to carry a concealed deadly weapon
without obtaining 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.