concealed weapons permit/WV

[Ranger]

News from West Virginia on CCW. Maybe Pa will have an agreement with them soon.
http://www.wvgazette.com/section/News/2007041521
April 16, 2007
Interstate gun laws could change
By The Associated Press

Changes in state law could soon allow the more than 82,000 West Virginians permitted to carry
concealed weapons to take them beyond the state’s borders.
Currently only Kentucky and Virginia recognize a West Virginia concealed weapons permit. The
legislation recently signed by Gov. Joe Manchin allows the attorney general — instead of the
governor — to negotiate agreements with the 45 states that do not honor state permits.
The change was effected out of convenience for gun owners who cross state lines, said co-sponsor
Delegate Richard Browning, D-Wyoming.
"People wouldn’t have a concealed weapons permit in the first place unless they felt they needed the
extra protection," said Browning, who has a concealed-weapons permit.
West Virginians seeking that extra protection can apply for a permit from their county sheriff. Applicants
age 21 or over who pass a background check and take a gun-training course are eligible for a permit. The
State Police maintains a master list of permits issued in all 55 counties. As of last week, there were
82,341 names on the list, said State Police Capt. Mark DeBord, deputy chief of staff.
"What the law used to say prior to the passage of this bill ... we would honor other states’ permits if
they would honor ours. Up to this point, only two other states have indicated they would honor ours," he
said. Some states, like Florida, recognize permits issued in more than 30 states.
Deputy Attorney General Tom Smith has been given the task of determining if other states are interested
in negotiating reciprocity agreements that recognize West Virginia’s permits. The law goes into effect
on June 7 and Smith said he anticipates a number of agreements will be reached this year.
"There’s been a lot of legislation on reciprocity," Smith said. "The action I’m seeing is they
[states] are trying to move toward reciprocity."
Only two states — Wisconsin and Illinois — do not allow concealed weapons permits.
Before an agreement can be negotiated, the other state must have similar or more stringent standards
for issuing permits than West Virginia’s, Smith said.
One requirement lawmakers added to West Virginia’s law is a state must also have a computerized
database of its concealed weapons permits that is accessible 24-7 so police officers can check the
validity of an out-of-state permit. Technical changes are needed to make West Virginia’s database
automatically accessible to officers, DeBord said.
Brian Malte with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence said such databases should be open to the
public as well as law enforcement officials to ensure the process is working.
"Scrutiny of the process is good," said Malte, the center’s state legislative director. The center was
named after Jim Brady, President Reagan’s press secretary who was seriously wounded during a
1981 assassination attempt on Reagan.
There is a "crazy patchwork of laws" across the nation covering concealed weapons permits, Malte said.
It’s difficult to see how West Virginia matches up to other states because their laws are "all over the
place."
The fact that only two states honor West Virginia permits could indicate that past governors didn’t
make such agreements a high priority, or the state was being punished for not recognizing out-of-state
permits. "Until you allow theirs, they won’t allow yours," Malte said.
Although the law is designed to make it easier to move across state lines with a concealed weapon, the
president of the newly formed West Virginia Citizens Defense League urged Manchin to veto the bill for
being "far more demanding" then the previous law.
"What actually happens after June 7 will depend entirely upon the opinion of the attorney general in
interpreting and applying the law," said Jim Mullins. "But we are encouraged by the response we’ve
had from the attorney general’s office."
Mullins said his original concerns were addressed when he was told the law would not interfere with the
existing agreements with Kentucky and Virginia.
The group plans to push next year for additional changes to the law to clarify how background
investigations are conducted and make it easier to enter into agreements with other states, he said.

[danp]

This has been covered in two other threads:

http://www.pafoa.org/forum/national-...-into-law.html

http://www.pafoa.org/forum/news-123/...legal-w-v.html