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bcr229
Regular Member
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Posted: Fri Oct 16th, 2009 04:58 pm |
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http://www.wvago.gov/pdf/brochures/2009_gunbrochure.pdf
The above pamphlet, put out by the WV Attorney General's office, states on the bottom of page 4:
While West Virginia is an “Open Carry” state, only residents of West Virginia may do so.
WVCDL is checking with the AG's office for the section of WV code that prohibits OC by non-residents. I'm betting that there isn't one, and hopefully the pamphlet will be corrected quickly.
Last edited on Fri Oct 16th, 2009 04:59 pm by bcr229
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WVCDL
State Researcher
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Posted: Sat Oct 17th, 2009 05:03 am |
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| There is zero legal authority to support that statement. And if there was such a law, it would be unconstitutional as a violation of the Privileges & Immunities Clause of Article IV, § 2 of the U.S. Constitution and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
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spencer280
Regular Member
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Posted: Mon Oct 19th, 2009 02:36 am |
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i was going to say i am a pa person and i can carry in WV. WV state honors my permit. hell i was in the marmet labor day parade. not watching it i was in it. im a fire fighter and had my private car in the line up . after the parade i walked all over and talked to local police. my dad was running for mayor there. so i know most of the leos there. and i was open carrying. now i have heard that you can not open carry in Charleston in that area its concealed only
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DJ_Amish
Regular Member
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Posted: Mon Oct 19th, 2009 05:49 am |
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I live on ohio/west virginia border and work in wheeling wv and i carry all the time and never had an issue yet. But i always make sure my voice recorder is on at all times.
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Thundar
Regular Member
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Posted: Mon Oct 19th, 2009 06:58 pm |
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"It is important to note that while West Virginia is an “open carry” state the ability to carry openly is deemed by law enforcement to apply only to West Virginia residents. West Virginia law enforcement’s interpretation of “open carry” is that the handgun must be visible from three sides."
Page 1 of this link: http://www.wvago.gov/pdf/BookletWVFirearmLaws.pdf
WTF is this??? Only WV residents can OC in WV because of WV Law enforcement "interpretation"???
What responsibilities does the WV Attorney General have besides confusing gun owners?
Last edited on Mon Oct 19th, 2009 07:00 pm by Thundar
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spencer280
Regular Member
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Posted: Mon Oct 19th, 2009 07:16 pm |
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OK i am contacting WV attorney general and finding out whats going on. in pa i have a permit called LTCF which means license to carry firearms, no where does it mention concealed permit.; and if WV is an open carry state why single out the out of stater that have a reciprocating agreement with WV. i always open carry my pistol its my way of educating the public, and people should not be afraid of the people that are openly carrying a gun, its the guns the people are hiding that you need to be concerned with
Last edited on Mon Oct 19th, 2009 07:44 pm by spencer280
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Maryland Shall Issue
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| Joined: | Fri Jul 17th, 2009 |
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Posted: Tue Oct 20th, 2009 01:07 am |
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I know WVCDL is checking it out. I brought the apparently incorrect language to Jim's attention over the weekend out of doing some research on WV laws.
My suggestion would be to let them handle it and be the lead contact on the matter. No need to have a dozen people all asking the same question.
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siglite
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| Joined: | Fri Dec 21st, 2007 |
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Posted: Tue Oct 20th, 2009 01:41 am |
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It's a bit of a strange situation with the WV Attorney General's office and the West Virginia State Police. I've been in contact with the AG's office, and am working on the WVSP.
Here's a quote from our forum:
I have spoken with the Attorney General's office. The AG's office states that they've been placed in a precarious position by the West Virginia State Police. The AG's office had no response regarding whether or not there is any statutory prevention of open carry by non-residents. However, what they have stated is that the State Police both interprets, and enforces the law in that manner. As such, the AG's office made a judgment call on best intentions. They stated that since the WV State Police interpret the law that way, they did not want to issue a nation-wide green-light to open carry in West Virginia, only to have some poor guy acting on their information arrested by a state trooper who didn't get the memo.
And I can kind of see why this, while not necessarily technically correct, may be a wise thing to do. Because of our sporting code spaghetti, anyone who is open-carrying in the woods or in in a vehicle (without a permit) could be charged in violation of hunting law. An out-of-state resident could easily come to the conclusion that "open carry means open carry" and drive around our state open-carrying. Or alternately, go hiking around the woods open carrying. And they would almost certainly find themselves arrested for the practice.
So now my charge is to see if I can find out what statute the WVSP is interpreting to prohibit open carry to non-residents, as the AG's office was completely unaware of any actual cases which support the WVSP's position.
So perhaps we need to solicit information from our friends over at PAFOA. If any of them have actually been arrested by the West Virginia State Police or other LE organizations for open carry in WV, we need that information. We need to know what statute was cited in the arrest, because I'll be damned if I can find any prohibition or restriction based on state of residency within our state code.
Feel free to copy/paste this over on the PAFOA forums.
-- Keith
Edit: I have a call in to Colonel Pack's (WVSP Superintendent) office regarding this issue. I'll update as more information becomes available.
If anyone has been stopped by, arrested by, or otherwise hassled by WV LEOs for OC as a non-resident, we'd be very interested in talking to you. You can reach me via email at kmorgan at wvcdl dot org.
-- VP, WVCDL
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Maryland Shall Issue
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Posted: Tue Oct 20th, 2009 01:48 am |
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| Thanks siglite for the information. I'll put the word out to the MD crew.
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