Senate Bill No. 148
(By Senators Dittmar, Kessler, Ross and Snyder)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported January 15, 1999.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article one, chapter
seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact section five- a, article twelve, chapter eight of said code, all relating to
restricting the power of counties and municipalities to
control the purchase, possession, transfer, carrying,
transport, sale and storage of certain weapons and ammunition;
and providing certain exceptions thereto.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article one, chapter seven of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended and reenacted; and that section five-a, article twelve,
chapter eight of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
CHAPTER 7. COUNTY COMMISSIONS AND OFFICERS.
ARTICLE 1. COUNTY COMMISSIONS GENERALLY.
§7-1-3. Jurisdiction, powers and duties.
The county commissions, through their clerks, shall have the
custody of all deeds and other papers presented for record in their
counties and the same shall be preserved therein, or otherwise
disposed of as now is, or may be prescribed by law. They shall
have jurisdiction in all matters of probate, the appointment and
qualification of personal representatives, guardians, committees,
curators and the settlement of their accounts and in all matters
relating to apprentices. They shall also, under
such regulations
the rules as now are or may be prescribed by law, have the
superintendence and administration of the internal police and
fiscal affairs of their counties, including the establishment and
regulation of roads, ways, streets, avenues, drives and the like,
and the naming or renaming thereof, in cooperation with local
postal authorities, the division of highways and the directors of
county emergency communications centers, to assure uniform,
nonduplicative conversion of all rural routes to city-type
addressing on a permanent basis, bridges, public landings, ferries
and mills, with authority to lay and disburse the county levies.
They shall, in all cases of contest, judge of the election,
qualification and returns of their own members, and of all county and district officers, subject to appeal as prescribed by law.
Such The tribunals as have been heretofore established by the
Legislature under and by virtue of section thirty-four, article
VIII of the constitution of one thousand eight hundred seventy-two,
for police and fiscal purposes, shall, until otherwise provided by
law, remain and continue as at present constituted in the counties
in which they have been respectively established, and shall be and
act as to police and fiscal matters in lieu of the county
commission herein mentioned, until otherwise provided by law. And
until otherwise provided by law,
such the clerk as is mentioned in
section twenty-six of said, article VIII of the constitution, as amended, shall exercise any
powers and discharge any duties heretofore conferred on, or
required of, any court or tribunal established for judicial
purposes under said section of the constitution of one thousand eight hundred seventy-two, or the clerk of
such the court or
tribunal, respectively, respecting the recording and preservation
of deeds and other papers presented for record, matters of probate,
the appointment and qualification of personal representatives,
guardians, committees, curators and the settlement of their
accounts and in all matters relating to apprentices.
The county
commission may not limit the right of any person to purchase,
possess, transfer, own, carry, transport, sell or store any
revolver, pistol, rifle or shotgun or any ammunition or ammunition components to be used therewith nor to so regulate the keeping of
gunpowder so as to, directly or indirectly, prohibit the ownership
of the ammunition: Provided, That no provision in this section may
be construed to limit the authority of a county to restrict the
commercial use of real estate in designated areas through planning
or zoning ordinances.
CHAPTER 8. MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.
ARTICLE 12. GENERAL AND SPECIFIC POWERS, DUTIES AND ALLIED
RELATIONS OF MUNICIPALITIES, GOVERNING BODIES AND MUNICIPAL
OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES; SUITS AGAINST MUNICIPALITIES.
§8-12-5a. Limitations upon municipalities' power to restrict the
purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying,
transport, sale and storage of certain weapons and ammunition.
The provisions of section five of this article notwithstanding,
neither a municipality nor the governing body of any municipality
shall have the power to may limit the right of any person to
purchase, possess, transfer, own,
carry, transport, sell or store
any revolver, pistol, rifle or shotgun or any ammunition or
ammunition components to be used therewith nor to so regulate the
keeping of gunpowder so as to directly or indirectly prohibit the
ownership of
such the ammunition. Nothing herein shall in any way
impair the authority of any municipality, or the governing body thereof, to enact any ordinance or resolution respecting the power
to arrest, convict and punish any individual under the provisions
of subdivision (16), section five of this article or from enforcing
any such ordinance or resolution:
Provided, That any municipal
ordinance in place as of the effective date of this section shall
be excepted from the provisions of this section.:
Provided, however,
That no provision in this section may be construed to limit the
authority of a municipality to restrict the commercial use of real
estate in designated areas through planning or zoning ordinances.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit cities and
counties from restricting possession, ownership, etc. of firearms.
The bill also provides that counties and municipalities retain the
right to plan and zone for commercial use. The bill contains some
technical revisions.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)
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