(a) Except as provided for in this section, no person shall possess a firearm such as 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 addicted to alcohol;
(3) Is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance;
(4) Has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been involuntarily committed to a mental institution;
(5) Being an alien is 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 in any court of a 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.
(WVaC 61-7-7)