West Virginia Machine Gun Bill Passes Committee, but There’s an Issue

When GOA announced a new bill introduced in the West Virginia Senate that would basically bypass the 1986 machine gun ban–something I failed to comprehend completely at the time, I’ll admit, because it sounded too good to be true–it made some waves. It’s clearly a brilliant move that obeys federal law, yet still does amazing things for gun owners.

And last night, they announced it passed out of committee.

🚨WV BREAKING NEWS🚨

SB 1071 passed out of committee via a voice vote.

We’re at the 11th hour, and need to get the machine gun sales bill to the Senate floor.

WV Gun Owners, please continue to keep the pressure on your Senators by calling (304) 357-7800! pic.twitter.com/QQcdXhPqCd

— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) March 2, 2026

This is, of course, fantastic news.

But, there’s an issue.

🚨BREAKING🚨

GOA is investigating reports that WV Judiciary Chairman Tom Willis failed to report SB 1071 out of committee—despite the bill passing overwhelmingly in today’s vote and despite every other bill being properly reported.

If accurate, this raises serious concerns.

— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) March 3, 2026

This isn’t good. It’s not good at all, especially since it looks like Willis is trying to play games. The fact that he’s running for the US Senate may color his actions to some degree, even if he appears to be running as an anti-establishment Republican.

And he’s already being called out on it.

Good morning Patriots!
It seems a politician might have intentionally played games with the 2nd Amendment in West Virginia for
political expediency.

WV Senator Tom Willis, who is running for US Senate, needs to hear from patriotic Americans today!

His office number is:… pic.twitter.com/1zDkPIpjar

— Guns&Gadgets (@Guns_Gadgets) March 3, 2026

His office number is: 304-357-7867

The lady who answered my call was sweet and kind so do not take his unconstitutional actions out on her. But he needs to hear from you!

You most definitely shouldn’t take anything out on Willis’s staff. You should be polite but direct and ask Willis to step up and do the right thing here, which is his job.

To be clear, I can find nowhere on X where Willis has addressed this. I can’t find a single news report or press release saying that it was a goof or an oversight or anything.

It should probably be noted that Willis is not a sponsor of SB 1071, while his campaign website declares him as a “no compromise,” pro-Second Amendment candidate. Maybe it’s just me, but I find that rather interesting, especially since the only actual thing he seems to mention specifically is opposition to red flag laws and weapon bans.

Opposing gun control isn’t the same thing as being pro-Second Amendment, folks.

Of course, this could be a mistake. There could have been a clerical mishap. It may well be fixed by the time you read this.

But while the good news is that the measure advanced, the fact that it looks like a member of the Senate leadership and would-be US senator is playing games while pretending to be as pro-Second Amendment as you could ask is more than a little troubling, to say the least.

Editor’s Note: President Trump and most Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.

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