Gun Bills in the Legislature
The West Virginia legislature is considering two bills to increase gun rights in the state, one in the Senate and one in the House. The Senate bill, SB 30, would “allow those persons 18-20 years of age to be permitted to carry a deadly weapon, as those persons 21 and over are currently permitted to do.” The bill would make irrelevant the provisions in the current law that already allow numerous exceptions for 18-20 year old persons to carry a gun. Senator Rucker was a sponsor of this bill. Both she and Senator Barrett voted along with all but one other senator to pass the bill out of the Senate. The bill has been communicated to the House Judiciary Committee where it is waiting review and comment.
The House bill, HB 4185 would repeal the section of code making it unlawful to possess a fully automatic weapon. In other words it would allow law abiding gun owners to purchase and use machine guns. But it would also increase the likelihood that these lethal weapons would fall into the hands of those criminals who use these kinds of weapons to commit mass murders in schools, parks, stores, restaurants, and workplaces around the country. This bill has no local sponsors and is currently awaiting action in the House Judiciary Committee.
This age range, 18-20, falls into the wider age range (17-24) that has the second highest rates of both gun homicides, gun suicides, and accidental deaths of all other age ranges. According to the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at Johns Hopkins University “the states with the highest gun death rates tend to be states in the South or Mountain West, with weaker gun laws and higher levels of gun ownership.” West Virginia in 2023 had a rate of gun deaths of 17.79 per 100,000 population. ranking 32 out of 50. All of the states higher in the ranking (with Mississippi at the very highest) have Republican dominated legislatures and permissive gun laws.
Our own Republican dominated legislature is taking what has been our moderate approach to gun ownership and steered West Virginia into dangerous waters with lax regulation. Last year’s legislature had already passed the so-called Campus Carry law that permitted individuals with concealed carry permits to carry guns on our college campuses. Should these two current bills pass, most students at our colleges and universities will be permitted to also carry concealed weapons.
Given the data, why would the GOP loosen regulations that protect us? Who does this legislation benefit? Mountain State Spotlight highlighted the presence of weapons manufacturer Daniel Defense’s CEO in Charleston in 2025, where he offered guidance on gun legislation. These bills seem to benefit one group: gun manufacturers, and I don’t remember electing them to represent my community.
At the federal level, GOP lawmakers are pushing House Resolution 38 and Senate Bill 65, a Concealed Carry Reciprocity measure that would extend concealed carry allowances established in some states nationwide. We heard about “states rights” all through the 2024 election season, but this effort undermines that sentiment.
So what can we do? Conversations about gun safety and the impact of gun violence on our families and communities are critical to advancing public opinion on common sense gun control. Don’t shy away fr.om tough conversations with your friends, family, and representatives. As a guide, you can use the talking points that Everytown for Gun Safety has put together for its readers.
