Senate Bill Would Let Adults 18-20 Skip Provisional License To Carry Concealed Firearm

Under a bill approved by the West Virginia Senate on Tuesday, adults under 21 would be allowed to carry a concealed firearm without first getting the provisional license that’s required now.

Senate Bill 30 eliminates the requirement for 18-to-20-year-olds to obtain a provisional license to carry a concealed handgun. Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, argued that young adults would benefit from the training that’s required for a provisional license. 

Sen. Chris Rose, R-Monongalia, argued that those citizens can already be called to duty. 

“Can 18 to 20 year olds get drafted into our nation’s military?” Rose asked.

“There’s no draft at this point… So they can join the military,” Garcia responded. 

“Can they be sent to war for this country?” Rose asked. 

“Yes, they can.” 

“Then why should we deny them their full constitutional rights at age 18?” Rose asked. “If they’re old enough to go to war to defend the United States Constitution for everybody, this body, and everybody in this state and country?” 

“I think in those instances, somebody who is in the Armed Forces is going to receive the type of training that we’re talking about,” Garcia said.

“We should not discriminate against any law-abiding U.S. citizen and deny them of their constitutional rights and discriminate against them for only being 18 years old, despite being old enough to work, old enough to vote and old enough to die for this country,” Rose said.

Senate Bill 30 passed the Senate with a vote of 33 to 1. 

A similar bill, House Bill 4106, has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.