Bill Text: WV HB2212 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: West Virginia Firearms Freedom Act
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-10 - To House Judiciary [HB2212 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2018-HB2212-Introduced.html
WEST virginia Legislature
2017
regular session
By
[
to the Committee on the Judiciary.
A BILL to amend the Code
of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated
§47-28-1, relating to regulation of firearms, firearms accessories and
ammunition.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article,
designated §47-28-1, to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 28. WEST VIRGINIA FIREARMS FREEDOM ACT.
§47-28-1. Exemption of firearms, a firearm accessory or
ammunition manufactured and retained in West Virginia, from federal regulation
under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution of the United States.
(a) Short title. --
This article may be cited as the "West Virginia Firearms Freedom
Act".
(b) Legislative declarations
of authority. -- The Legislature declares that the authority for this
section is as follows:
(1) The tenth amendment
to the United States Constitution guarantees to the states and their people all
powers not granted to the federal government elsewhere in the Constitution and
reserves to the state and people of West Virginia certain powers as they were
understood at the time that West Virginia was admitted to statehood in
1863. The guaranty of those powers is a
matter of contract between the state and people of West Virginia and the United
States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon
and adopted by West Virginia and the United States in 1863.
(2) The ninth amendment
to the United States Constitution guarantees to the people rights not granted
in the Constitution and reserves to the people of West Virginia certain rights
as they were understood at the time that West Virginia was admitted to
statehood in 1863. The guaranty of those
rights is a matter of contract between the state and people of West Virginia
and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States
was agreed upon and adopted by West Virginia and the United States in 1863.
(3) The regulation of
intrastate commerce is vested in the states under the ninth and tenth
amendments to the United States Constitution.
(4) Article I, section
two, of the West Virginia Constitution, states that "the government of the
United States is a government of enumerated powers, and all powers not delegated
to it, nor inhibited to the states, are reserved to the states or to the people
thereof." Specifically enumerated
among those "powers so reserved to the states is the exclusive regulation
of their own internal government and police; and it is the high and solemn duty
of the several departments of government, created by this Constitution, to
guard and protect the people of this state from all encroachments upon the
rights so reserved."
(5) The second amendment
to the United States Constitution reserves to the people the right to keep and
bear arms as that right was understood at the time West Virginia was admitted
to statehood in 1863, and the guaranty of the right is a matter of contract
between the state and people of West Virginia and the United States as of the
time the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by West
Virginia and the United States in 1863.
(6) Article III, section
twenty-two, of the West Virginia Constitution clearly secures to West Virginia
citizens, and prohibits government interference with, the right of individual
West Virginia citizens to keep and bear arms.
(c) Definitions. --
As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Borders of
West Virginia" means the boundaries of West Virginia described in Article
II, section one, of the 1872 West Virginia Constitution.
(2) "Firearms
accessories" means items that are used in conjunction with or mounted upon
a firearm but are not essential to the basic function of a firearm, including,
but not limited to, telescopic or laser sights, magazines, flash or sound
suppressors, folding or aftermarket stocks and grips, speed loaders, ammunition
carriers, and lights for target illumination.
(3) "Generic and
insignificant parts" includes, but is not limited to, springs, screws,
nuts and pins.
(4)
"Manufactured" means that a firearm, a firearm accessory, or
ammunition has been created from basic materials for functional usefulness,
including, but not limited to, forging, casting, machining, or other processes
for working materials; or assembled into a complete functional device from
component parts.
(d) Prohibitions.
-- A personal firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured
commercially or privately in West Virginia and that remains within the borders
of West Virginia is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including
registration, under the authority of Congress to regulate interstate
commerce. It is declared by the
Legislature that those items have not traveled in interstate commerce. This section applies to a firearm, a firearm
accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured in West Virginia from basic
materials and that can be manufactured without the inclusion of any significant
parts imported from another state.
Generic and insignificant parts that have other manufacturing or
consumer product applications are not firearms, firearms accessories, or
ammunition, and their importation into West Virginia and incorporation into a
firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition manufactured in West Virginia does
not subject the firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition to federal
regulation. It is declared by the
Legislature that basic materials, such as nonmachined steel and unshaped wood,
are not firearms, firearms accessories, or ammunition and are not subject to
congressional authority to regulate firearms, firearms accessories, and
ammunition under interstate commerce as if they were actually firearms,
firearms accessories, or ammunition. The
authority of Congress to regulate interstate commerce in basic materials does
not include authority to regulate firearms, firearms accessories, and
ammunition made in West Virginia from those materials. Firearms accessories that are imported into
West Virginia from another state and that are subject to federal regulation as
being in interstate commerce do not subject a firearm to federal regulation
under interstate commerce because they are attached to or used in conjunction
with a firearm in West Virginia.
(e) Exceptions. --
Section (d) does not apply to:
(1) A firearm that
cannot be carried and used by one person;
(2) A firearm that has a
bore diameter greater than one and one-half inches and that uses smokeless
powder, not black powder, as a propellant;
(3) Ammunition with a
projectile that explodes using an explosion of chemical energy after the
projectile leaves the firearm; or
(4) Excepting shotguns,
a firearm that discharges two or more projectiles with one activation of the
trigger or other firing device.
(f) Marketing of
firearms. -- A firearm manufactured in West Virginia under the provisions
of this section must have the words "Made in West Virginia" clearly
stamped on a central metallic part, such as the receiver or frame.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt
firearms, firearms accessories and ammunition from federal regulation if it is
sold and maintained in the State of West Virginia.
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.
