While its neighbor to the east continues to disarm citizens, West Virginia is moving to reinforce protections on constitutional liberties, with the legislature passing a measure to extend constitutional carry to 18- to 20-year-olds before adjourning for the session.
On Saturday, March 14, the West Virginia House concurred with the Senate amendment and passed House Bill 4106, a measure which recognizes “the right of persons 18 to 20 years old to carry a concealed deadly weapon without first obtaining a license…”
The bill also:
- Repeals the crime of carrying a deadly weapon without a license for persons under 21 years of age;
- Repeals the exceptions to prohibitions for persons 18 to 20 years old carrying concealed handguns;
- Clarifies that certain persons 18 years of age or older have the right to carry concealed deadly weapons without first obtaining a license
The NRA-ILA (National Rifle Association – Institute for Legislative Action), which tracks 2A legislation, stated, “This is a critical enhancement of West Virginia’s constitutional carry provisions, allowing all law-abiding legal adults to exercise their right to self-defense.”
The Bondi DOJ, last year, took the position that bans on handguns for adults under 21 are constitutional, even though no other civil liberty is age-restricted for legal adults.
West Virginia was the first state earlier this year to introduce a measure to legally transfer machine guns to qualified residents. Meanwhile, just to the east, the Virginia legislature passed a host of unprecedented gun control measures that are on Governor Spanberger’s desk and will go into law even if not formally signed.
