Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
REGULAR SESSION
         Committee Substitute for Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 321
   BY SENATORS TRUMP, DEEDS, RUCKER, CHAPMAN,
 PHILLIPS, WOODRUM, TARR, SMITH, HAMILTON, STUART,
                   AND JEFFRIES
  [Originating in the Committee on Rules; reported February 9, 2024]
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  A BILL to amend and reenact §8-12-5a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating
         to limitations upon municipalities’ power to restrict the sale and storage of weapons and
         ammunition; and preventing municipalities from targeting protected businesses with
         planning and zoning ordinances more restrictive than those placed upon other businesses.
     Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
     ARTICLE 12. GENERAL AND SPECIFIC POWERS, DUTIES AND ALLIED
            RELATIONS OF MUNICIPALITIES, GOVERNING BODIES AND MUNICIPAL
            OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES; SUITS AGAINST MUNICIPALITIES.
     §8-12-5a. Limitations upon municipalities’ power to restrict the purchase, possession,
            transfer, ownership, carrying, transport, sale, and storage of certain weapons and ammunition.
         (a) Neither a municipality nor the governing body of any municipality may, by ordinance
  or otherwise, limit the right of any person to purchase, possess, transfer, own, carry, transport,
  sell, or store any deadly weapon, firearm, or pepper spray, or any ammunition or ammunition
  components to be used therewith nor to so regulate the keeping of gunpowder so as to directly
  or indirectly prohibit the ownership of the ammunition in any manner inconsistent with or in conflict
  with state law.
         (b) For the purposes of this section:
         (1) “Deadly weapon” has the meaning provided in §61-7-2 of this code.
         (2) “Firearm” has the meaning provided in §61-7-2 of this code.
        (3) “Municipally owned or operated building” means any building that is used for the
 business of the municipality, such as a courthouse, city hall, convention center, administrative
 building, or other similar municipal building used for a municipal purpose permitted by state law:
 Provided, That “municipally owned or operated building” does not include a building owned by a
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 municipality that is leased to a private entity where the municipality primarily serves as a property
 owner receiving rental payments.
        (4) “Municipally owned recreation facility” means any municipal swimming pool, recreation
 center, sports facility, facility housing an after-school program, or other similar facility where
 children are regularly present.
        (5) “Pepper spray” means a temporarily disabling aerosol that is composed partly of
 capsicum oleoresin and causes irritation, blinding of the eyes, and inflammation of the nose,
 throat, and skin that is intended for self-defense use.
        (c)(1) A municipality may enact and enforce an ordinance or ordinances that prohibit or
 regulate the carrying or possessing of a deadly weapon, firearm, or pepper spray in municipally
 owned or operated buildings.
        (2) A municipality may enact and enforce an ordinance or ordinances that prohibit a person
 from carrying or possessing a deadly weapon, firearm, or pepper spray openly or that is not
 lawfully concealed in a municipally owned recreation facility: Provided, That a municipality may
 not prohibit a person with a valid concealed handgun license from carrying an otherwise lawfully
 possessed firearm into a municipally owned recreation facility and securely storing the firearm out
 of view and access to others during their time at the municipally owned recreation facility.
        (3) A person may keep an otherwise lawfully possessed deadly weapon, firearm, or
 pepper spray in a motor vehicle in municipal public parking facilities if the vehicle is locked and
 the deadly weapon, firearm, or pepper spray is out of view.
        (4) A municipality may not prohibit or regulate the carrying or possessing of a deadly
 weapon, firearm, or pepper spray on municipally owned or operated property other than
 municipally owned or operated buildings and municipally owned recreation facilities pursuant to
 subdivisions (1) and (2), subsection (b), of this section: Provided, That a municipality may prohibit
 persons who do not have a valid concealed handgun license from carrying or possessing a firearm
 on municipally owned or operated property.
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         (d) It shall be an absolute defense to an action for an alleged violation of an ordinance
 authorized by this section prohibiting or regulating the possession of a deadly weapon, firearm,
 or pepper spray that the person: (1) Upon being requested to do so, left the premises with the
 deadly weapon, firearm, or pepper spray or temporarily relinquished the deadly weapon, firearm,
 or pepper spray in response to being informed that his or her possession of the deadly weapon,
 firearm, or pepper spray was contrary to municipal ordinance; and (2) but for the municipal
 ordinance the person was lawfully in possession of the deadly weapon, firearm, or pepper spray.
         (e) Any municipality that enacts an ordinance regulating or prohibiting the carrying or
 possessing of a deadly weapon, firearm, or pepper spray pursuant to subsection (c) of this section
 shall prominently post a clear statement at each entrance to all applicable municipally owned or
 operated buildings or municipally owned recreation facilities setting forth the terms of the
 regulation or prohibition.
         (f) Redress for an alleged violation of this section may be sought through the provisions
 of §53-1-1 et seq. of this code, which may include the awarding of reasonable attorney’s fees and
 costs, if the petitioner prevails.
         (g) For the purposes of §61-7-14 of this code, municipalities may not be considered a
 person charged with the care, custody, and control of real property.
         (h) This section does not:
         (1) Authorize municipalities to restrict the carrying or possessing of deadly weapons,
 firearm, or pepper spray, which are otherwise lawfully possessed, on public streets and sidewalks
 of the municipality; or
         (2) Limit the authority of a municipality to restrict the commercial use of real estate in
 designated areas through planning or zoning ordinances; except that a municipality may not
 restrict or regulate a firearms or ammunitions related business entity in a manner more restrictive
 than the planning or zoning ordinances imposed upon any other retail business, nor shall a
 municipality place restrictions on quantity limitations regarding the lawful sale or servicing of any
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 firearm or ammunition, any firearm or ammunition component or accessory, ammunition reloading
 equipment and supplies, or personal weapons other than firearms, including all indoor or outdoor
 shooting ranges.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced Version: 8-12-5a
Committee Substitute: 8-12-5a
Committee Substitute for the Committee Substitute: 8-12-5a