Introduced Version
House Bill 2390 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2390
(By Delegate Cadle)
[Introduced February 13, 2013; referred to the
Committee on Education then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §61-7-11a and §61-7-14 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to dangerous
weapons; and providing that a teacher who holds a valid
license to carry a concealed deadly weapon may carry the
concealed weapon on the school property for the protection of
students and school employees, if the county board of
education of the county in which the teacher is employed
approves that person in writing.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-7-11a and §61-7-14 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. DANGEROUS WEAPONS.
§61-7-11a. Possessing deadly weapons on premises of educational
facilities; reports by school principals; suspension of driver license; possessing deadly
weapons on premises housing courts of law and in
offices of family law master.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds that the safety and welfare
of the citizens of this state are inextricably dependent upon
assurances of safety for children attending, and the persons
employed by, schools in this state and for those persons employed
with the judicial department of this state. It is for the purpose
of providing such assurances of safety, therefore, that subsections
(b), (g) and (h) of this section are enacted as a reasonable
regulation of the manner in which citizens may exercise those
rights accorded to them pursuant to section twenty-two, article
three of the Constitution of the State of West Virginia.
(b) (1) It shall be is unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon on any school bus as defined in
section one, article one, chapter seventeen-a of this code, or in
or on any public or private primary or secondary education
building, structure, facility or grounds thereof, including any
vocational education building, structure, facility or grounds
thereof where secondary vocational education programs are conducted
or at any school-sponsored function.
(2) This subsection shall not apply to:
(A) A law-enforcement officer acting in his or her official
capacity;
(B) A person specifically authorized by the board of education
of the county or principal of the school where the property is
located to conduct programs with valid educational purposes;
(C) A person who, as otherwise permitted by the provisions of
this article, possesses an unloaded firearm or deadly weapon in a
motor vehicle, or leaves an unloaded firearm or deadly weapon in a
locked motor vehicle;
(D) Programs or raffles conducted with the approval of the
county board of education or school which include the display of
unloaded firearms; or
(E) A person who is a teacher and who holds a valid license to
carry a concealed deadly weapon pursuant to section four of this
article: Provided, That the county board of education of the
county in which the teacher is employed approves in writing that
the person may carry the concealed weapon on the school property
for the protection of students and school employees and that this
person has successfully passed drug testing approved by the county
board: Provided, however, That the name of any such teacher may
not be published as the holder of a license to carry a concealed
deadly weapon; or
_____(E) (F) The official mascot of West Virginia University,
commonly known as "The Mountaineer", acting in his or her official
capacity.
(3) Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the
penitentiary of this state for a definite term of years of not less
than two years nor more than ten years, or fined not more than
$5,000, or both.
(c) It shall be the duty of the The principal of each school
subject to the authority of the State Board of Education to shall
report any violation of subsection (b) of this section discovered
by such principal to the State Superintendent of Schools within
seventy-two hours after such violation occurs. The State Board of
Education shall keep and maintain such reports and may prescribe
rules establishing policy and procedures for the making and
delivery of the same as required by this subsection. In addition,
it shall be the duty of the principal of each school subject to the
authority of the State Board of Education to shall report any
violation of subsection (b) of this section discovered by such the
principal to the appropriate local office of the division of public
safety within seventy-two hours after such the violation occurs.
(d) In addition to the methods of disposition provided by
article five, chapter forty-nine of this code, any court which
adjudicates a person who is fourteen years of age or older as
delinquent for a violation of subsection (b) of this section may,
in its discretion, order the Division of Motor Vehicles to suspend
any driver's license or instruction permit issued to such person
for such period of time as the court may deem considers appropriate, such the suspension, however, not to extend beyond
such the person's nineteenth birthday; or, where such the person
has not been issued a driver's license or instruction permit by
this state, order the Division of Motor Vehicles to deny such the
person's application for the same for such period of time as the
court may deem considers appropriate, such the denial, however, may
not to extend beyond such the person's nineteenth birthday. Any
suspension ordered by the court pursuant to this subsection shall
be effective upon the date of entry of such the order. Where the
court orders the suspension of a driver's license or instruction
permit pursuant to this subsection, the court shall confiscate any
driver's license or instruction permit in the adjudicated person's
possession and forward the same to the Division of Motor Vehicles.
(e) (1) If a person eighteen years of age or older is
convicted of violating subsection (b) of this section, and if such
the person does not act to appeal such the conviction within the
time periods described in subdivision (2) of this subsection, such
the person's license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle in
this state shall be revoked in accordance with the provisions of
this section.
(2) The clerk of the court in which the person is convicted as
described in subdivision (1) of this subsection shall forward to
the commissioner a transcript of the judgment of conviction. If
the conviction is the judgment of a magistrate court, the magistrate court clerk shall forward such transcript when the
person convicted has not requested an appeal within twenty days of
the sentencing for such the conviction. If the conviction is the
judgment of a circuit court, the circuit clerk shall forward such
the transcript when the person convicted has not filed a notice of
intent to file a petition for appeal or writ of error within thirty
days after the judgment was entered.
(3) If, upon examination of the transcript of the judgment of
conviction, the commissioner shall determine that the person was
convicted as described in subdivision (1) of this subsection, the
commissioner shall make and enter an order revoking such the
person's license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle in this
state for a period of one year, or, in the event if the person is
a student enrolled in a secondary school, for a period of one year
or until the person's twentieth birthday, whichever is the greater
period. The order shall contain the reasons for the revocation and
the revocation period. The order of suspension shall advise the
person that because of the receipt of the court's transcript, a
presumption exists that the person named in the order of suspension
is the same person named in the transcript. The commissioner may
grant an administrative hearing which substantially complies with
the requirements of the provisions of section two, article five-a,
chapter seventeen-c of this code upon a preliminary showing that a
possibility exists that the person named in the notice of conviction is not the same person whose license is being suspended.
Such The request for hearing shall be made within ten days after
receipt of a copy of the order of suspension. The sole purpose of
this hearing shall be for the person requesting the hearing to
present evidence that he or she is not the person named in the
notice. In the event If the commissioner grants an administrative
hearing, the commissioner shall stay the license suspension pending
the commissioner's order resulting from the hearing.
(4) For the purposes of this subsection, a person is convicted
when such the person enters a plea of guilty or is found guilty by
a court or jury.
(f) (1) It shall be is unlawful for any parent(s), guardian(s)
or custodian(s) of a person less than eighteen years of age who
knows that said person is in violation of subsection (b) of this
section, or who has reasonable cause to believe that said the
person's violation of said subsection is imminent, to fail to
immediately report such that knowledge or belief to the appropriate
school or law-enforcement officials.
(2) Any person violating this subsection shall be is guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more
than $1,000, or shall be confined in jail not more than one year,
or both fined and confined.
(g) (1) It shall be is unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon on any premises which houses a court of law or in the offices of a family law master.
(2) This subsection shall does not apply to:
(A) A law-enforcement officer acting in his or her official
capacity; and
(B) A person exempted from the provisions of this subsection
by order of record entered by a court with jurisdiction over such
premises or offices.
(3) Any person violating this subsection shall be is guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more
than $1,000, or shall be confined in jail not more than one year,
or both fined and confined.
(h) (1) It shall be is unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon on any premises which houses a
court of law or in the offices of a family law master with the
intent to commit a crime.
(2) Any person violating this subsection shall be is guilty of
a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the
penitentiary of this state for a definite term of years of not a
state correctional facility not less than two years nor more than
ten years, or fined not more than $5,000, or both fined and
imprisoned.
(i) Nothing in this section may be construed to be in conflict
with the provisions of federal law.
§61-7-14. Right of certain persons to limit possession of firearms on premises.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this article, any owner,
lessee or other person charged with the care, custody and control
of real property may prohibit the carrying openly or concealed of
any firearm or deadly weapon on property under his or her domain:
Provided, That for purposes of this section "person" means an
individual or any entity which may acquire title to real property.
Any person carrying or possessing a firearm or other deadly
weapon on the property of another who refuses to temporarily
relinquish possession of such firearm or other deadly weapon, upon
being requested to do so, or to leave such premises, while in
possession of such firearm or other deadly weapon, shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
more than $1,000 or confined in jail not more than six months, or
both: Provided, That the provisions of this section shall not
apply to those persons set forth in subsections (3) through (6) of
section six of this code while such persons are acting in an
official capacity: Provided, however, That under no circumstances
may any person possess or carry or cause the possession or carrying
of any firearm or other deadly weapon on the premises of any
primary or secondary educational facility in this state unless such
person is a law-enforcement officer, is a teacher who holds a
valid license to carry a concealed deadly weapon pursuant to
section four of this article and the county board of education of the county in which the teacher is employed approves, in writing,
that the person may carry the concealed weapon on the school
property for the protection of students and school employees as
provided in section eleven-a of this article or he or she otherwise
has the express written permission of the county school
superintendent.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that a teacher
who holds a valid license to carry a concealed deadly weapon may
carry the concealed weapon on the school property for the
protection of students and school employees, if the county board of
education of the county in which the teacher is employed approves
that person in writing and the person has passed drug testing
approved by the county board. The bill also prohibits the
publication of the names of these teachers.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.