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Title: W.Va. Senate OKs bill to allow concealed carry without permit
Source:
The Charleston Gazette
URL Source: http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20150227/GZ01/150229285
Published: Mar 3, 2015
Author: Eric Eyre
Post Date: 2015-03-03 18:58:33 by Hondo68
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Keywords: inherent right, God given CCW, natural rights
Views: 34415
Comments: 113
Senators approved a bill Friday that could make West Virginia the sixth state to allow residents to carry a concealed firearm without a permit.
After reading aloud from the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, senators voted 32-2 for a bill (SB347) that allows people 18 and older to tote concealed guns.
“The bill eliminates the crime of carrying a concealed weapon in West Virginia,” said Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan.
The legislation next goes to the House of Delegates.
Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Vermont and Wyoming are the only states that allow residents to carry a hidden gun without a permit.
West Virginia already allows open carry of a handgun without a permit.
West Virginia law enforcement officials have expressed concern about the bill. They said the legislation could put officers more at risk. They also noted that the weapons-permit fees generate funds for sheriff’s departments across the state. Last year, the permits raised $3.4 million for the departments.
However, senators who supported the bill kept coming back to the Second Amendment.
“This is a United States constitutional right,” said Robert Karnes, R-Upshur. “The Second Amendment recognizes this inherent right.”
Sens. Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, and Ron Miller, D-Greenbrier, voted against the bill.
Sen. Mike Romano, D-Harrison, supported the concealed-carry permit repeal, but first offered what he called “common-sense” revisions that his colleagues ultimately rejected.
Romano wanted to require that residents be at least 21 years old before they could carry a handgun without a permit.
“To carry a .357 Magnum, we really should require them to be 21 years of age,” Romano said.
But other senators said a 21-and-up age limit was “arbitrary.”
“At the age of 18, we’re talking about parents of small children,” Karnes said. “And we’re going to say an 18-year-old who is able to enter into the contract of marriage, to have children, is not responsible enough to defend the family that he has?”
Romano also wanted to require people to take a handgun safety course before they could carry a concealed weapon. Karnes argued that the training requirement was a “backdoor licensing scheme,” and senators voted down the amendment.
Romano later voted for the bill that didn’t include any of his suggested changes.
“I concluded long ago that the permitting process through the sheriff’s department is simply a hurdle for law-abiding citizens who carry a gun,” Romano said. “Criminals will carry a gun regardless of the process.” (1 image)
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They also noted that the weapons-permit fees generate funds for sheriff’s departments across the state. Last year, the permits raised $3.4 million for the departments.
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#2. To: TooConservative (#1)
They also noted that the weapons-permit fees generate funds for sheriff’s departments across the state. Last year, the permits raised $3.4 million for the departments.
In the county I worked for, all the pistol permit fees went to and were payable to the county clerk. The sheriff's department was only expected to do backgrounds on the applicants. It literally took money out of the budget by tying up officers time.
After the UnSafeAct was passed, people flooded the clerk with so many applications, that background checks were handed out to even the road patrol officers.
Pistol permits, licenses or any regulation is bullshit. Constitutional carry is the model every state should follow.
Replies to Comment # 2.
#5. To: GrandIsland (#2) (Edited)
The sheriff's department was only expected to do backgrounds on the applicants.
I got a permit to purchase a handgun handwritten by the sheriff. I chatted with him for half an hour or so, told him I wanted a handgun because the district had elected a pinko congresscritter that had no regard for gun rights and might agitate for a gungrab and that I also wanted one because I lived in a very isolated rural place. There was no charge. The permit requirement was just so a sheriff would be able to put the brakes on people with obvious mental problems.
It was not a pistol permit as is common in some states. It was a permit to buy a handgun from a retail vendor. AFAIK, buying a gun via private sale was not covered by the law. It was a one-time permit to be able to buy the handgun and didn't need renewal.
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