2008 Legislative Session Review
The West Virginia Legislature's 2008 regular session adjourned
March 8. To view the status and WVCDL's position on all
gun-related bills that were introduced, visit the WVCDL Legislative
Tracking Service.
WVCDL Stops Casino Carry Ban
Last year, the
Lottery
Commission proposed legislative rules for racetrack table games that
would, among other things, deny track and casino
workers and patrons the right to self-defense by prohibiting all
weapons
inside casinos. The objectionable part of the proposed
legislative rule was subsection 3.11 of 179 CSR 8, which may be found
by clicking here
and going to pages 16 and 17, and accompanying subsection 2.65, which
provided a definition for weapon used in subsection 3.11.
During this
legislative session, Senate
Bill 458, which was incorporated by the Senate Judiciary Committee
into Senate
Bill
417, the Department of Revenue omnibus rules bill, would have
approved these rules. WVCDL opposed the insisted that subsections 2.65
(which
defines weapon for the purposes of the rule) and 3.11.a of the rule be
stricken.
WVCDL requested
and attended a public hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on SB
417 on Tuesday, March 4, 2008, and spoke against the proposed
casino carry ban. Thanks to our work, the House Judiciary Committee passed SB
417 with an
amendment to eliminate the casino carry ban language from the
rules; this amendment was adopted by the House and the Senate concurred
with this amendment.
- Click here for
the unedited audio of the entire hearing.
- Click here
to hear Delegate Clif Moore, D-McDowell, question WVCDL Vice President
Keith Morgan.
- Click here
to hear WVCDL President Jim Mullins v. Delegate Moore and follow-up
questions by Delegate Patrick Lane, R-Kanawha.
All audio files will open more quickly if you copy the link
and open each file in your media player.
WVCDL Stops Massive Concealed Handgun License Fee Increase
During the 2008
legislative session, two bills, House
Bill 4471 and Senate
Bill 285, were introduced to reform State Police pensions.
These identical bills included an array of fee increases--including a
$30 surcharge on all concealed handgun licenses, which would have
raised the fee for every license from $90 to $120.
Among our
surrounding states, fees range from a low of $25 in Pennsylvania to a
high of $60 in Kentucky, with Virginia and Ohio in the middle at $50
maximum (lower fees may be charged by individual cities and counties)
and $55, respectively (Maryland is not a shall-issue state and is thus
excluded from this comparison). Like West Virginia, all of our
shall-issue neighbors issue their licenses for terms of 5 years.
This proposed
fee increase was totally unacceptable. WVCDL contacted all
members of the House
Finance Committee, where HB
4471 was pending, and the Senate Finance Committee, where SB
285 was pending, to urge them to remove the CHL fee increases from
the bills. Thanks to our work, the House Finance Committee passed HB
4471 with an amendment that remove all fee increases contained in
the bill, including the CHL fee increase. SB
285 died without action in the Senate Finance Committee.
Although other
amendments were adopted, HB
4471 ultimately passed without a CHL fee increase.
WVCDL Bills
Several bills were introduced at
WVCDL's request to protect and expand our right to
keep and bear arms. However, none of these bills passed. Among
these bills:
- Senate
Bill 136 would have repealed the State Capitol carry ban. SB 136
was sponsored
by Senators Dave Sypolt,
R-Preston, and Shirley Love,
D-Fayette, and has been
referred to the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
- Senate
Bill 228 and House
Bill 4683 would have granted universal recognition to every other
state's
licenses/permits
similar to existing universal recognition laws in Michigan, Indiana,
Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Idaho, Utah,
Arizona, and Alaska. Passage of this bill would have nearly tripled the
number
of states with which West Virginia has full reciprocity. SB 228
was sponsored by Senators Clark
Barnes, R-Randolph, John Yoder,
R-Jefferson, and Shirley Love,
D-Fayette, and was referred to the Senate
Interstate Cooperation Committee followed by the Senate
Judiciary Committee. HB 4683 was sponsored by Delegates John Overington, R-Berkeley, Troy Andes, R-Putnam, Patrick Lane, R-Kanawha, Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, Jonathan Miller, R-Berkeley, Kelli Sobonya, R-Cabell, Larry Barker, D-Boone, Dale Martin, D-Putnam, Doug Stalnaker, D-Lewis, Stan Shaver, D-Preston, and Larry Border, R-Wood, and was
referred to the House
Judiciary Committee.
- Senate
Bill 230 would have reduced concealed handgun license fees from $90
to $50 for
each 5-year license. SB 230 was sponsored by Senator Clark Barnes, R-Randolph, and was
referred to the Senate
Judiciary Committee followed by the Senate
Finance Committee.
- Senate
Bill 252 would have prohibited so-called "straw purchases" of
firearms under
state law. This bill was designed to thwart efforts by New York
City Mayor Mike Bloomberg to entrap licensed gun dealers in lawsuits
that force these dealers to choose between the prospect of bankruptcy
and loss of their business to pay the costs of fighting these lawsuits
or entering into a settlement that allows Bloomberg full access to
their records, including all records of our legal firearm purchases,
and was based on a similar law enacted last year in Virginia. SB
252 was sponsored by Senators Clark
Barnes, R-Randolph, John Yoder,
R-Jefferson, Billy Wayne Bailey,
D-Wyoming, Shirley Love,
D-Fayette, John Pat Fanning,
D-McDowell, and Dave Sypolt,
R-Preston, and was referred to the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
- Senate
Bill 319 would have clarified
several contradictory and confusing provisions of West Virginia’s
hunting laws that regulate where, when, and how firearms may be legally
carried. This bill would
have clarified
the legality of carrying handguns, either openly or
concealed, as it relates to hunting regulations, and exempted
individuals licensed to carry concealed handguns from certain
regulations on the manner in which rifles and shotguns must be
transported in vehicles or the woods. For more background
information on this bill, see the summary of the bill here. SB 319 was
sponsored by Senators Clark
Barnes, R-Randolph, Shirley
Love, D-Fayette, and Dave
Sypolt, R-Preston, and was referred to the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
- Senate
Bill 732 was a comprehensive state preemption law that fully
preempts ordinances, rules, administrative actions, and any other
official government action restricting our right to keep and bear arms
in a lawful manner. The existing
state preemption
law has several major shortcomings: (1)
municipal ordinances passed prior to 1999 are grandfathered and (2)
there is no preemption on administrative rules of executive branch
agencies. Among other things, this bill would have nullified
rules at
state institutions of higher education prohibiting weapons on campus
(which are, in effect, only enforceable against students, faculty, and
staff through internal disciplinary processes). SB 732 was
sponsored by Senator Vic Sprouse,
R-Kanawha, and was referred to the Senate
Government Organization Committee, followed by the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
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