On this West Virginia Morning have the latest on several controversial bills that Governor Tomblin has signed into law as well as an update on Senate Bill 347 that allows citizens to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.
Tag: Senate Bill 347
House Passes Concealed Carry Bill After Two Hour Debate
Thursday in the House, among the multitude of bills passed, the Firearms Act of 2015 was also up for a vote. Senate Bill 347 has received an overwhelming amount of controversy among legislators, their constituents, law enforcement, and others, and no less was seen on the House floor.
The biggest change this bill brings to the state’s current gun laws is it would no longer require a law-abiding citizen to acquire a permit to carry a concealed firearm.
“You shouldn’t be taking your guns concealed without a permit into a public area, into a Baskin Robins or into a Kroger for heaven’s sakes,” Democrat Nancy Guthrie of Kanawha County said, “People with guns can be very dangerous, and if we don’t enforce that rule of law, we have no law.”
“This bill is not going to put guns in the hands of the criminals, they already have’em,” noted Republican John Kelly of Wood County, “What this bill is gonna do is make a level playing field for the honest people in the state of West Virginia who will be able to carry concealed and be able to carry concealed legally. The criminal? He doesn’t care.
“Handling guns is not video games. This is reality people,” said Republican Bill Hamilton of Upshur County, “When you do this, and please turn around and look at me. When you squeeze the trigger, you can’t say I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, I didn’t know you were standing there. It’s gone out of the chamber and down the barrel. Let’s be aware of what we’re voting for.”
“When I applied for my concealed carry permit and went through the training, I really did so, because I was being under that situation, and it was because of my involvement in the political arena, and it was very stressful to me to have to wait and wait and wait,” Republican Cindy Frich of Monongalia County said, “And I got that training as soon as I could, because I knew people that were involved in this, so I didn’t have to wait to receive my training, but I did have to wait on receiving the permit. So, I think that adds a lot of stress in some young lady, or a lady’s life under these circumstances when they have to wait. So I am in support of this bill. I think if you’re, need to defend yourself, you need to defend yourself as soon as possible.”
“I oppose this bill because of law enforcement officers across our state that are gonna be going into situations that are already dangerous,” Democrat Linda Phillips of Wyoming County explained, “and they put their lives on the line anyway for us, and this is just gonna make it just a little bit more dangerous for them. Lastly, I oppose this bill because of domestic violence victims, I know the perp is not supposed to carry, but again this law just makes it easier.”
“We’ve heard a lot of talk about good people and bad people, but this bill only addresses good people,” said Republican Gary Howell of Mineral County, “The bad people are criminals, they break the law. They carry right now, if they’re a convicted felon, and they’re not allowed to have a gun, they carry one anyway. Make no mistake, this law is only dealing with good people, and whether or not good people can carry a gun without a permit.”
After the two hour debate, Senate Bill 347 passed 71 to 29.
After the vote, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin released a statement in opposition to its passage. Manchin said he thinks concealed carry applicants should receive proper firearm training. He called the vote irresponsible.
Friday will be another long day for the members in the House of Delegates. The bills to create public charter schools and to amend the aboveground storage tank laws will be up for a vote on the floor.
Sen. Manchin Calls Concealed Carry Permit Repeal 'Irresponsible', 'Dangerous'
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin says he opposes a bill that would remove permit and training requirements for carrying a concealed weapon in West Virginia.
Members of the House of Delegates approved Senate Bill 347 Thursday allowing anyone over the age of 21 to carry a concealed weapon without a permit in the state. The bill as approved by the Senate would have set the age minimum at 18.
In a news release Thursday, Manchin noted that he is a member of the National Rifle Association and considers himself an advocate of the Second Amendment. However, Manchin said allowing a person to carry a concealed weapon without a permit or training is “irresponsible” and “dangerous.”
“There is not one West Virginian whose Second Amendment rights will be infringed without this bill. With the right to bear arms comes the responsibility to use it in a safe and reasonable manner,” Manchin said in the Thursday news release.
“In West Virginia, we believe in gun sense, which is common sense, and it only makes common sense for concealed carry applicants to receive proper training. I commend the brave legislators who voted no and represented their constituents who know that this is irresponsible. I strongly oppose Senate Bill 347.”
Members of the Senate will have to reconsider the House amendment before approving the final bill. Governor Tomblin has not said if he will sign the legislation.
House Judiciary Passes Concealed Carry & Political Spending Reform
Over the weekend the House Judiciary Committee met to discuss a handful of bills, but most notably the bill to amend the concealed carry law and a bill that reforms political spending in the state.
Senate Bill 541 relates generally to the regulation and control of elections. Among the changes made in the House was the removal of all reporting requirements by third party organizations.
“Well the changes basically were, were at the request of some folks over at the Senate,” said House Judiciary Chair, Delegate John Shott of Mercer County, “where my understanding was they had some second thoughts among the people that negotiated that bill, and this particular instance, we had information that some of the stakeholders thought, had second thoughts about that provision of the bill, and so when we came out with our strike and insert amendment, we removed that from the bill. All we’ve attempted to do with this bill was monitor, or mirror the federal laws and make it less complicated, because rather than having two standards, we’re trying to coordinate the two.”
Democratic Delegate Stephen Skinner of Jefferson County was not happy with the changes and wanted the bill to stay the way it was in the Senate version.
“It stripped out all the requirements for public disclosure of donors of dark money organizations. That’s one of the very good things that the Senate did, and it was done on a bi-partisan basis,” noted Skinner, “This bill was presented to us in committee without any notice and it was rammed through. We asked for an additional day to take a look at the bill and understand what was in it, and we were voted down on party lines.”
Senator Mike Romano, a Democrat from Harrison County, worked closely with Republican leadership in the Senate to craft the strict reporting requirements. He was also upset by the changes made to the bill in the House and says he will vote against them.
“I’m very disappointed,” Romano said, “The main compromise in that bill was to get disclosures of contributors to third party independent campaigns. Those are the very nasty commercials that we see every election season, and we thought that by getting those disclosures it would, you know, dampen down some of that negative rhetoric that seems to be polluting our elections. I don’t know why the House did that, but personally the bill was a compromise. The Democratic caucus did not want any increases in spending limits, and because we got those disclosures in it, we were willing to agree to the increase to the federal limits.”
Senate Majority Leader, Mitch Carmichael of Jackson County, says he doesn’t agree with the House’s changes either.
“It’s my understanding that the House has moved to protect the anonymous speech with regard to some of those campaign contributions to the third party entities,” Carmichael explained, “There’s certainly a constitutional argument that can be made that disclosure is not required with those third party entities, but if you’re asking me for my personal perspective and from the sentiment within the Senate Chamber, it is my absolute conviction that more disclosure is better.”
Carmichael says he suspects if those amendments remain in the House’s version, the bill will likely enter a conference committee between both chambers to discuss the final outcome.
After a press conference Monday, Governor Tomblin said he too supported the stricter reporting requirements on outside spending.
“I think that those donors should be identified,” Tomblin said, “You know, if I spend money on my campaigns, I have to say where I got the money, what it was used for, and who gave me that money, so, you know, I think that it should be the same way for those people. If they want to contribute that kind of money, they step forward and be identified.”
Another bill that came up over the weekend in the House Judiciary Committee was Senate Bill 347, removing the licensure requirement to carry a concealed handgun. The controversy over the bill amplified last week in a public hearing held in the House Chamber. Ultimately, the House made some amendments to the bill in committee, most notably in the age limit. In the House’s version, the age limit was increased from 18 to 21. This amendment was originally attempted by Senator Romano in the Senate, but failed.
Both Senator Romano and Carmichael say they are fine with the increase in the age limit and think it makes sense to make that change. However, Delegate Skinner says he still has some concerns with the bill in its entirety.
“Most West Virginians want a moderate approach to conceal and carry,” Skinner said, “and repealing the need within the state to have a conceal carry training and license; that’s not moderate. And I think most West Virginians agree that we need to require some kind of training and a license for people to be able to carry a concealed weapon.”
Both bills will soon see the House floor for their consideration.