ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4077
(By Delegates Linch, Staton, Manuel, Amores, J. Martin,
Riggs and Thomas)
[Passed March 8, 1996; in effect from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact sections four, five and six, article
seven, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating
to licensing requirements for carrying concealed deadly
weapons; shifting concealed deadly weapons licensing
authority from circuit judges to sheriffs; changing license
issuance requirements; preventing those persons either
adjudicated mentally incompetent, with criminal charges
pending, charged or serving sentences for domestic violence,
or subject to a domestic violence petition from receiving
concealed weapons licenses; modifying applicants background
check verification requirements; requiring all concealed
weapons applicants to receive training; modifying the appeal
process for denied concealed weapons licenses; establishing
authority of sheriffs to revoke concealed weapons licenses;
directing that certain license fees paid to the sheriff be
deposited in a special fund to be administered by the
sheriff; providing a portion of the licensing fee be distributed to the state police; directing the state police
to develop concealed weapons license cards and application
forms; creating a criminal penalty for false swearing for
falsifying a permit application; allowing military handgun
training to be utilized in meeting training requirements for
concealed handgun or revolver license; modifying training
program requirements; creating criminal penalties for
concealed weapons licensee for failure to have
identification and concealed weapon license in his or her
possession when carrying a concealed weapon; allowing
certain current licensees to renew their license without
paying application fees; excluding retired state police
officers from certain licensing requirements; and adding
certain retired circuit judges to persons who can carry a
concealed weapon without a license.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections four, five and six, article seven, chapter
sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 7. DANGEROUS WEAPONS.
§61-7-4. License to carry deadly weapons; how obtained.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (h) of this section,
any person desiring to obtain a state license to carry a
concealed deadly weapon shall apply to the sheriff of his or her county for such license, and shall pay to the sheriff, at the
time of application, a fee of sixty dollars. Each applicant
shall file with the sheriff, a complete application, as prepared
by the superintendent of the West Virginia state police, in
writing, duly verified, which sets forth only the following
licensing requirements:
(1) The applicant's full name, date of birth, social
security number and a description of the applicant's physical
features;
(2) That, on the date the application is made, the applicant
is a bona fide resident of this state and of the county in which
the application is made and has a valid driver's license or other
state issued photo identification showing such residence;
(3) That the applicant is eighteen years of age or older;
(4) That the applicant is not addicted to alcohol, a
controlled substance or a drug, and is not an unlawful user
thereof;
(5) That the applicant has not been convicted of a felony or
of an act of violence involving the misuse of a deadly weapon;
(6) That the applicant has no criminal charges pending and
is not currently serving a sentence of confinement, parole,
probation or other court ordered supervision, because of a charge
of domestic violence as provided for in section twenty-eight,
article two of this chapter, or is the subject of a restraining
order as a result of a domestic violence act as defined in that section, or because of a verified petition of domestic violence
as provided for in article two-a, chapter forty-eight of this
code or is subject to a protective order as provided for in that
article;
(7) That the applicant is physically and mentally competent
to carry such weapon;
(8) That the applicant has not been adjudicated to be
mentally incompetent;
(9) That the applicant has qualified under the minimum
requirements set forth in subsection (d) of this section for
handling and firing such weapon:
Provided, That this requirement
shall be waived in the case of a renewal applicant who has
previously qualified.
(10) That the applicant authorizes the sheriff of the
county, or his or her designee, to conduct an investigation
relative to the information contained in the application.
(b) The sheriff shall conduct an investigation which shall
verify that the information required in subdivisions (1), (2),
(3), (5), (6), (8) and (9) of subsection (a) are true and
correct.
(c) The sixty dollar application fee and any fees for
replacement of lost or stolen licenses received by the sheriff
shall be deposited by the sheriff into a concealed weapons
license administration fund. Such fund shall be administered by
the sheriff and shall take the form of an interest bearing account with any interest earned to be compounded to the fund.
Any funds deposited in this concealed weapon license
administration fund are to be expended by the sheriff to pay for
the costs associated with issuing concealed weapons licenses.
Any surplus in the fund on hand at the end of each fiscal year
may be expended for other law-enforcement purposes or operating
needs of the sheriffs office, as the sheriff may deem
appropriate.
(d) All persons applying for a license must complete a
training course in handling and firing a handgun. The successful
completion of any of the following courses fulfills this training
requirement:
(1) Any official national rifle association handgun safety
or training course;
(2) Any handgun safety or training course or class
available to the general public offered by an official
law-enforcement organization, community college, junior college,
college, or private or public institution or organization or
handgun training school utilizing instructors duly certified by
such institution;
(3) Any handgun training or safety course or class
conducted by a handgun instructor certified as such by the state
or by the national rifle association;
(4) Any handgun training or safety course or class conducted
by any branch of the United States military, reserve or national guard.
A photocopy of a certificate of completion of any of the
courses or classes or an affidavit from the instructor, school,
club, organization, or group that conducted or taught said course
or class attesting to the successful completion of the course or
class by the applicant or a copy of any document which shows
successful completion of the course or class, shall constitute
evidence of qualification under this section.
(e) All concealed weapons license applications must be
notarized by a notary public duly licensed under article four,
chapter twenty-nine of this code. Falsification of any portion
of the application constitutes false swearing and is punishable
under the provisions of section two, article five, chapter sixty-
one of this code.
(f) If the information in the application is found to be
true and correct, the sheriff shall issue a license. The sheriff
shall issue or deny the license within thirty days after the
application is filed if all required background checks authorized
by this section are completed, and no later than forty-five days
regardless of whether these background checks have been
completed.
(g) Before any approved license shall be issued or become
effective, the applicant shall pay to the sheriff a fee in the
amount of fifteen dollars which the sheriff shall forward to the
superintendent of the West Virginia state police within thirty days of receipt. Any such license shall be valid for five years
throughout the state, unless sooner revoked.
(h) All persons holding a current and valid concealed
weapons license as of the sixteenth day of December, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-five, shall continue to hold a valid
concealed weapons license until his or her license expires or is
revoked as provided for in this article:
Provided, That all
reapplication fees shall be waived for applications received by
the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven,
for any person holding a current and valid concealed weapons
license as of the sixteenth day of December, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-five, which contains use restrictions placed upon
the license as a condition of issuance by the issuing circuit
court. Any licenses reissued pursuant to this subsection will be
issued for the time period of the original license.
(i) Each license shall contain the full name, social
security number and address of the licensee and a space upon
which the signature of the licensee shall be signed with pen and
ink. The issuing sheriff shall sign and attach his or her seal
to all license cards.
(j) The superintendent of the West Virginia state
police shall prepare uniform applications for licenses and
license cards showing that such license has been granted and
shall do any other act required to be done to protect the state
and see to the enforcement of this section.
(k) In the event an application is denied, the specific
reasons for the denial shall be stated by the sheriff denying the
application. Any person denied a license may file, in the circuit
court of the county in which the application was made, a petition
seeking review of the denial. Such petition shall be filed within
thirty days of the denial. The court shall then determine whether
the applicant is entitled to the issuance of a license under the
criteria set forth in this section. The applicant may be
represented by counsel, but in no case shall the court be
required to appoint counsel for an applicant. The final order of
the court shall include the court's findings of fact and
conclusions of law. If the final order upholds the denial, the
applicant may file an appeal in accordance with the rules of
appellate procedure of the supreme court of appeals.
(l) In the event a license is lost or destroyed, the person
to whom the license was issued may obtain a duplicate or
substitute license for a fee of five dollars by filing a
notarized statement with the sheriff indicating that the license
has been lost or destroyed.
(m) The sheriff shall, immediately after the license is
granted as aforesaid, furnish the superintendent of the West
Virginia state police a certified copy of the approved
application. It shall be the duty of the sheriff to furnish to
the superintendent of the West Virginia state police at any time
so requested, a certified list of all such licenses issued in the county. The superintendent of the West Virginia state police
shall maintain a registry of all persons who have been issued
concealed weapons licenses.
(n) All licensees must carry with them a state issued photo
identification card with the concealed weapons license whenever
the licensee is carrying a concealed weapon. Any licensee who
fails to have in his or her possession a state issued photo
identification card and a current concealed weapons license while
carrying a concealed weapon shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty or
more than two hundred dollars for each offense.
(o) The sheriff shall deny any application or revoke any
existing license upon determination that any of the licensing
application requirements established in this section have been
violated by the licensee.
(p) No person who is engaged in the receipt, review, or in
the issuance or revocation of a concealed weapon license shall
incur any civil liability as the result of the lawful performance
of his or her duties under this article.
(q) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section, with respect to application by a former law-enforcement
officer honorably retired from agencies governed by article
fourteen, chapter seven; article fourteen, chapter eight; article
two, chapter fifteen; and article seven, chapter twenty of this
code, an honorably retired officer is exempt from payment of fees and costs as otherwise required by this section, and the
application of the honorably retired officer shall be granted
without proof or inquiry by the sheriff as to those requirements
set forth in subdivision (9) of subsection (b) of this section,
if the officer meets the remainder of the requirements of this
section and has the approval of the appropriate chief law-
enforcement officer.
§61-7-5. Revocation of license.
A license to carry a deadly weapon shall be deemed revoked
at such time as the person licensed becomes unable to meet the
criteria for initial licensure set forth in section four of this
article. Any person licensed under the provisions of this
article shall immediately surrender his or her license to the
issuing sheriff upon becoming ineligible for continued licensure.
§61-7-6. Exceptions as to prohibitions against carrying
concealed deadly weapons.
The licensure provisions set forth in this article shall not
apply to:
(1) Any person carrying a deadly weapon upon his 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 home,
residence or place of business to a place of target practice, and
from any such place of target practice back to his home,
residence or place of business, for using any such weapon at such
place of target practice in training and improving his skill in
the use of such weapons;
(3) Any law-enforcement officer or law-enforcement official
as such are defined in section one, article twenty-nine, chapter
thirty of this code;
(4) Any employee of the West Virginia department of
corrections duly appointed pursuant to the provisions of section
five, article five, chapter twenty-eight of this code while such
employee is on duty;
(5) Any member of the armed forces of the United States or
the militia of this state while such 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, 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 that state or a political
subdivision thereof, shall be exempt from the licensing
requirements of section four of this article:
Provided, That such
state or political subdivision thereof shall likewise recognize
and honor West Virginia licenses issued pursuant to section four
of this article.