West Virginia Senate Approves Constitutional Carry Expansion

Young adults in the Mountaineer State may soon be able to exercise their Second Amendment rights without the need for a government-issued permission slip. On Tuesday, the West Virginia Senate overwhelmingly approved SB 30, which repeals the state law requiring 18-to-20-year-olds to obtain a concealed carry permit before they can bear arms. 

The bill passed on a 33-1 vote. The legislation now goes to the House of Delegates, where members have been running a version of the same policy through committee.

“With this bill, the Legislature is recognizing the 2nd Amendment right of all adult West Virginians to constitutional carry at 18 years of age by eliminating the requirement for an 18- to 21-year-old to obtain a provisional concealed handgun license,” said Senate Judiciary Chairman Tom Willis, R-Berkeley.

SB 30 passed on a bipartisan basis, with one of the two Democrats who serve in the upper chamber joining every Republican senator in support of the bill. 

The lone “no” vote came from Democrat Joey Garcia, who complained that “having a permit will provide for a number of things that will protect their safety,” most notably “the training course that you have to take for that.”

I don’t think any gun owner would disagree that proper training is invaluable. If you’re going to keep and carry a gun, of course you should know how do so safely and responsibly. But there’s little evidence that simply adopting a permitless carry law causes training to plummet. West Virginia is home to plenty of firearm instructors who are educating residents on how to be safe and proficient with their firearms, even though no permit is required to keep a gun in the home or to carry a firearm if you’re 21 or older. 

The West Virginia House is already moving a companion bill, so the odds of passage appear solid at the moment. 

This isn’t the only piece of pro-2A legislation under consideration this year either. SB 478, known as the Second Amendment Reaffirmation and Protection Act, could get a floor vote in the Senate as early as today.

The bill provides that any provision of state law that incorporates or relies upon a federal firearms restriction, regulation, or classification “shall be construed to incorporate the federal law only while the federal law remains enforceable.”

If a federal gun control law, regulation, or classification is repealed by Congress or struck down by the courts, any statute that relies solely on the federal law becomes unenforceable “unless and until the Legislature enacts an independent state law adopting substantially similar restrictions.”

I haven’t combed through West Virginia statutes to see what might be affected in the future, but at the very least the bill is a signal of support for the right to keep and bear arms, and could potentially save lawmakers some time if SCOTUS or Congress ever undo one or more of the federal regulations on gun possession, sales, and manufacturing. 

The legislative efforts in West Virginia stand in stark contrast to what’s happening with their sister state, where Democrats are advancing a number of new restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. Virginia gun owners did get a victory on Tuesday when a bill imposing a $500 tax on the sale of suppressors was killed in committee. We’ll be talking about that win with Knox Williams of the American Suppressor Association later today on Bearing Arms’ Cam & Company, but as nice as it is to see that bill die there are still numerous anti-gun owner bills that are making progress in Richmond… and likely plenty of Virginia gun owners who are thinking about packing up and moving west towards freedom. 

Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

Help us continue to report on and expose the Democrats’ gun control policies and schemes. Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership.

Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

Help us continue to report on and expose the Democrats’ gun control policies and schemes. Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership.