Preemption Statute

West Virginia law broadly preempts the power of local governments to regulate firearms or ammunition.¹ Specifically, section 8-12-5a prohibits municipalities from:

“[B]y ordinance or otherwise, limit[ing] the right of any person to purchase, possess, transfer, own, carry, transport, sell, or store any deadly weapon, firearm, or pepper spray, or any ammunition or ammunition components to be used therewith nor to so regulate the keeping of gunpowder so as to directly or indirectly prohibit the ownership of the ammunition in any manner inconsistent with or in conflict with state law.”

Exceptions

The exceptions to preemption authorize a municipality to prohibit or regulate the:

• Carry or possession of a firearm in municipal buildings.
• Carry or possession of a firearm openly or that is not lawfully concealed in municipal recreational facilities. The municipality may not, however, prohibit a person with a concealed handgun permit from carrying an otherwise lawfully possessed firearm into a municipally owned recreation facility if the firearms are stored securely out of view and access to others during their time at the facility.
• Carry or possession of firearms on municipally owned property other than buildings and recreational facilities by individuals without concealed carry licenses²

These exceptions are limited by the following conditions:

• The terms of an ordinance regulating firearms at municipal buildings and recreation facilities must be posted at the building or facility.³
• A person may keep an otherwise lawfully possessed firearm in a motor vehicle in municipal public facilities if the vehicle is locked and the firearm is out of view.⁴

Interpretation

As of the date this page was last updated, Giffords Law Center is not aware of any significant case law interpreting West Virginia’s preemption statute.

Other Statutory Provisions

Additionally, municipalities are not authorized to restrict the lawful carrying of firearms on public streets. In 2020, the state repealed a provision that allowed a municipality to restrict the carrying of firearms by all individuals, including concealed carry permittees, on public streets when pedestrian or vehicular traffic is prohibited in an area for the purpose of a temporary event.⁵

In 2024, the state again amended section 8-12-5a to “Limit the authority of a municipality to restrict the commercial use of real estate through planning or zoning ordinances; except that a municipality may not restrict or regulate a firearms or ammunitions related business entity in a manner more restrictive than the planning or zoning ordinances imposed upon any other retail business, nor shall a municipality place restrictions on quantity limitations regarding the lawful sale or servicing of any firearm or ammunition, any firearm or ammunition component or accessory, ammunition reloading equipment and supplies, or personal weapons other than firearms, including all indoor or outdoor shooting ranges.”⁶

County commissions, like municipalities, are denied authority to regulate the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying, transportation, sale or storage of firearms and ammunition.⁷ However, this provision does not prohibit local governments from regulating “the commercial use of real estate in designated areas through planning or zoning ordinances.”⁸

Immunity

See our page on Immunity Statutes in West Virginia for information regarding lawsuits by local governments against shooting ranges and the gun industry.

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1. W. Va. Code § 8-12-5a; 8-12-5(15).[↩]
2. W. Va. Code § 8-12-5a(c).[↩]
3. W. Va. Code § 8-12-5a(e).[↩]
4. W. Va. Code § 8-12-5a(c)(3).[↩]
5. W. Va. Code § 8-12-5a(h)(2).[↩]
6. West Virginia House Bill 4782 (2024), effective May 30, 2024.[↩]
7. W. Va. Code § 7-1-3.[↩]
8. Id.[↩]