COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 170
(By Senators Ball, Mitchell, Kessler, Ross and Hunter)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 8, 2000.]
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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, relating to firearms;
prohibition against certain persons possessing firearms;
procedures for regaining one's ability to possess firearms;
offenses; and penalties.
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 to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. DANGEROUS WEAPONS.
§61-7-7. Persons prohibited from possessing firearms;
classifications; reinstatement of rights to possess; offenses;
penalties.
(a) Except as provided for in this section, no person shall
possess a firearm as such is defined in section two of this article
who:
(1) Has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by
imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
(2) Is addicted to alcohol;
(3) Is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled
substance;
(4) Has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been
involuntarily committed to a mental institution;
(5) Being an alien is illegally or unlawfully in the United
States;
(6) Has been discharged from the armed forces under
dishonorable conditions;
(7) Is subject to a domestic violence protective order that:
(A) Was issued after a hearing of which such person received
actual notice and at which such person had an opportunity to
participate;
(B) Restrains such person from harassing, stalking or
threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of such
intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would
place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to
the partner or child; and
(C) (i) Includes a finding that such person represents a
credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or
child; or
(ii) By its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use
or threatened use of physical force against such intimate partner
or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury;
or
(8) Has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of
domestic violence.
Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection
shall be 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 for not less than
ninety days nor more than one year, or both.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section, any person:
(1) Who has been convicted in this state or any other jurisdiction of a felony crime of violence against the person of
another or of a felony sexual offense; or
(2) Who has been convicted in this state or any other
jurisdiction of a felony controlled substance offense involving a
schedule I controlled substances other than marijuana, a schedule
II or a schedule III controlled substance as such are defined in
sections two hundred four, two hundred five and two hundred six,
article two, chapter sixty-a of this code and who possesses a
firearm as such is defined in section two of this article shall be
guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof shall be confined
in a state correctional facility for not more than five years or
fined not more than five thousand dollars, or both. The provisions
of subsection (c) of this section shall not apply to persons
convicted of offenses referred to in this subsection or to persons
convicted of a violations of this subsection.
(c) Any person prohibited from possessing a firearm by the
provisions of subsection (a) of this section may petition the
circuit court of the county in which he or she resides to regain
the ability to possess a firearm and if the court finds by clear
and convincing evidence that the person is competent and capable of
exercising the responsibility concomitant with the possession of a
firearm, the court may enter an order allowing the person to possess a firearm if such possession would not violate any federal
law.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create a felony offense
for certain persons possessing firearms and to add persons under
domestic violence protective orders or persons convicted of
domestic criminal offenses from possessing firearms.
This section has been substantially rewritten; therefore
strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.)
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