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(a) Except as provided in this section, no person shall possess a firearm, as such is defined in Section 545.01, who:
(1) Has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
(2) Is habitually addicted to alcohol;
(3) Is an unlawful user of or habitually addicted to any controlled substance;
(4) Has been adjudicated to be mentally incompetent or who has been involuntarily committed to a mental institution pursuant to the provisions of West Virginia Code Chapter twenty-seven or in similar law of another jurisdiction: provided, that once an individual has been adjudicated as a mental defective or involuntarily committed to a mental institution, he or she shall be duly notified that they are to immediately surrender any firearms in their ownership or possession; provided, however, that the Mental Hygiene Commissioner or Circuit Judge shall first make a determination of the appropriate public or private individual or entity to act as conservator for the surrendered property;
(5) Is an alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States;
(6) Has been discharged from the armed forces under dishonorable conditions;
(7) Is subject to a domestic violence protective order that:
A. Was issued after a hearing of which such person received actual notice and at which such person had an opportunity to participate;
B. Restrains such person from harassing, stalking or threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of such intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child; and
C. 1. Includes a finding that such person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or child; or
2. By its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury; or
(8) Has been convicted of a misdemeanor offense of assault or battery either under the provisions of West Virginia Code 61-2-28, or the provisions of West Virginia Code 61-2-9(a) or (b), or a federal or state statute with the same essential elements in which the victim was a current or former spouse, current or former sexual or intimate partner, person with whom the defendant has a child in common, person with whom the defendant cohabits or has cohabited, a parent or guardian, the defendant’s child or ward or a member of the defendant’s household at the timne of the offense or has been convicted in any court of any jurisdiction of a comparable misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
(b) Any person prohibited from possessing a firearm by the provisions of subsection (a) of this section may petition the circuit court of the county in which he or she resides to regain the ability to possess a firearm and if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the person is competent and capable of exercising the responsibility concomitant with the possession of a firearm, the court may enter an order allowing the person to possess a firearm if such possession would not violate any federal law: provided, that a person prohibited from possessing a firearm by the provisions of subsection (a)(4) of this section may petition to regain the ability to possess a firearm in accordance with West Virginia Code 61-7A-5.
(c) Any person may carry a concealed deadly weapon without a license therefor who is:
(1) At least twenty-one years of age;
(2) A United States citizen or legal resident thereof;
(3) Not prohibited from possessing a firearm under the provisions of this section; and
(4) Not prohibited from possessing a firearm under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. §922(g) or (n).
(d) Any person who has been convicted of an offense which disqualifies him or her from possessing a firearm by virtue of a criminal conviction whose conviction was expunged or set aside or who subsequent thereto receives an unconditional pardon for said offense shall not be prohibited from possessing a firearm by the provisions of the section. (WVAC 61-7-7)
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to the contrary, a person under the age of eighteen years who is not married or otherwise emancipated shall not possess or carry concealed or openly any deadly weapon: provided, that a minor may possess a firearm upon premises owned by such minor or his family or on the premises of another with the permission of his or her parent or guardian and in the case of property other than his or her own or that of his family, with the permission of the owner or lessee of such property. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a minor from possessing a firearm while hunting in a lawful manner or while traveling from a place where he or she may lawfully possess a deadly weapon, to a hunting site, and returning to a place where he or she may lawfully possess such weapon.
(b) A violation of this section by a person under the age of eighteen years shall subject the child to the jurisdiction of the circuit court under the provisions of West Virginia Code 49-4- 701 et seq., and such minor may be proceeded against in the same manner as if he or she had committed an act which if committed by an adult would be a crime, and may be adjudicated delinquent. (WVaC 61-7-8)
No person shall carry, transport or have in his possession, any machine gun, submachine gun or any other fully automatic weapon unless he or she has fully complied with applicable Federal statutes and all applicable rules and regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States relating to such firearms. (WVaC 61-7-9)
(a) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or shall be confined in the county jail for not more than one year, or both fined and confined, except that where the person violating subsection (b) is other than a natural person, the person shall be fined not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
(b) A person may not knowingly sell, rent, give or lend, or, where the person is other than a natural person, knowingly permit an employee thereof to knowingly sell, rent, give or lend, any deadly weapon other than a firearm to a person prohibited from possessing a deadly weapon other than a firearm by any provision of this article.
(WVaC 61-7-10)
(a) No person shall shoot or discharge any firearm across or in any public road in the Municipality, at any time, or within 400 feet of any schoolhouse or church, or within 500 feet of any dwelling house by any person other than the owner and his or her family or guests, or on or near any park or other place where persons gather for purposes of pleasure.
(b) Any person operating a gun repair shop, licensed to do business in the State and duly licensed under applicable Federal statutes, is exempt from the prohibition established by this section and West Virginia Code 20-2-58 for the purpose of testing firearms.
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