HB 3181 — Allow all law enforcement officers to purchase gun upon retirement

HB3181 SSFAT GOVRucker AM #1 4-9Kraus  7502 The 7502 Senator CommitteeRucker on Government Organization moved to amend the bill by striking out everything after the enactingtitle clause and insertingsubstituting intherefor lieua thereofnew thetitle, following: to CHAPTERread 30.as follows:Eng.

PROFESSIONSCom. AND OCCUPATIONS.

ARTICLESub. 29.

LAW-ENFORCEMENTfor TRAININGHouse ANDBill CERTIFICATION.3181—A Bill to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding a new section, designated §30-29-15;

§30-29-15.and to amend and reenact §61-7-3, §61-7-6, and §61-7-7 of said code, relating to modifying certain provisions regarding owning and carrying certain firearms;

Purchaseallowing ofcertain serviceexecutives, handgunofficers, byand law-enforcementofficials officersto separatingpurchase honorably.certain firearms under certain circumstances and with certain exceptions;

(a)clarifying Everythat chiefsuch executive, law-enforcement officer, or law-enforcement official in the state who separates from his or her employing agency or ends his or her elected term of office shall be given the opportunity to purchase hisdoes ornot hersupersede issuedcertain serviceother handgunstatutes; at cost.

The employing agency may sell the service handgun to the chief executive, law-enforcement officer, or law-enforcement official, only upon determining that the chief executive, law-enforcement officer, or law-enforcement official is separating honorably and isremoving not the subjectrequirement offor anyprovisional pendingfirearm disciplinarylicensure complaints,for investigations,individuals or actions by the employing agency or the subcommittee.(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsectioncertain (a)age.  AdoptedRejected of this section, the employing agency may not sell a service handgun to any chief executive, law-enforcement officer, or law-enforcement official whom the employing agency:(1) Knows is prohibited from possessing a firearm by state or federal law;

(2) Reasonably believes to be mentally incapacitated;

or (3) Reasonably believes would constitute a danger to any person or the community.(c) This section does not supersede, limit, or amend any specific provision of this code authorizing the award of a firearm to a law-enforcement officer of this state.(d) For purposes of this section, “handgun” means a pistol or revolver as those terms are defined in §61-7-2 of this code.

CHAPTER 61.

CRIMES AND THEIR PUNISHMENT.

ARTICLE 7.

dangerous weapons.

§61-7-3.

Carrying a deadly weapon without provisional license or other authorization by persons under twenty-one 18 years of age;

penalties.

(a) Any person under twenty-one 18 years of age and not otherwise prohibited from possessing firearms under section seven of this article who carries a concealed deadly weapon, without a state license or other lawful authorization established under the provisions of this code,  is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 and may be imprisoned in jail for not more than 12 months for the first offense;

but upon conviction of a second or subsequent offense, he or she  is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a state correctional facility not less than one nor more than five years and fined not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000.(b)  The prosecuting attorney in all cases shall ascertain whether or not the charge made by the grand jury is a first offense or is a second or subsequent offense and, if it is a second or subsequent offense, it shall be so stated in the indictment returned, and the prosecuting attorney shall introduce the record evidence before the trial court of such second or subsequent offense and may not be permitted to use discretion in introducing evidence to prove the same on the trial.

§61-7-6.

Exceptions as to prohibitions against carrying concealed handguns for persons at least eighteen years of age and fewer than twenty-one years of age;

exemptions Exemptions from licensing fees.

(a) The provisions in section three of this article do not apply to any person at least eighteen years of age and fewer than twenty-one years of age who is:(1) Carrying a deadly weapon upon his or her own premises;(2) Carrying a firearm, unloaded, from the place of purchase to his or her home, residence or place of business or to a place of repair and back to his or her home, residence or place of business;

or(3) Possessing a firearm while hunting in a lawful manner or while traveling from his or her home, residence or place of business to a hunting site and returning to his or her home, residence or place of business;(4)  A member of a properly organized target-shooting club authorized by law to obtain firearms by purchase or requisition from this state or from the United States for the purpose of target practice from carrying any pistol, as defined in this article, unloaded, from his or her home, residence or place of business to a place of target practice and from any place of target practice back to his or her home, residence or place of business, for using any such weapon at a place of target practice in training and improving his or her skill in the use of the weapons;(5)  A law-enforcement officer or law-enforcement official or chief executive as defined in section one, article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of this code;(6)  An employee of the West Virginia Division of Corrections duly appointed pursuant to  section eleven-c, article one, chapter twenty-five of this code while the employee is on duty;(7)  A member of the United States armed forces, reserve or National Guard;(8)  A resident of another state who holds a valid permit or license to possess or carry a handgun issued by a state or a political subdivision subject to the provisions and limitations set forth in section six-a of this article;(9)  A federal law-enforcement officer or federal police officer authorized to carry a weapon in the performance of the officer's duty;

and(10)  A parole officer appointed pursuant to section fourteen, article twelve, chapter sixty-two of this code in the performance of his or her duties.(b) The following judicial officers and prosecutors and staff are exempt from paying any application fees or licensure fees required under this article.

However, they shall make application and satisfy all licensure and handgun safety and training requirements to obtain a license as set forth in section four of this article:(1) Any justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia;(2) Any circuit judge;(3) Any retired justice or retired circuit judge designated senior status by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia;(4) Any family court judge;(5) Any magistrate;(6) Any prosecuting attorney;(7) Any assistant prosecuting attorney;

or(8) Any duly appointed investigator employed by a prosecuting attorney.

§61-7-7.

Persons prohibited from possessing firearms;

classifications;

right of nonprohibited persons over twenty-one 18 years of age to carry concealed deadly weapons;

offenses and penalties;

reinstatement of rights to possess;

offenses;

penalties.

(a) Except as provided in this section, no person shall possess a firearm, as such is defined in §61-7-2 of this code, who:(1) Has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;(2) Is habitually addicted to alcohol;(3) Is an unlawful user of or habitually addicted to any controlled substance;(4) Has been adjudicated to be mentally incompetent or who has been involuntarily committed to a mental institution pursuant to the provisions of §27-1-1 et seq.

of this code or in similar law of another jurisdiction:

Provided, That once an individual has been adjudicated as a mental defective or involuntarily committed to a mental institution, he or she shall be duly notified that they are to immediately surrender any firearms in their ownership or possession:

Provided, however, That the mental hygiene commissioner or circuit judge shall first make a determination of the appropriate public or private individual or entity to act as conservator for the surrendered property;(5) Is an alien 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;