(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 27 or a 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, 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 time 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.
(W. Va. Code § 61-7-7; Ord. 2238. Passed 2-16-17.)