legal or not

I am a Colorado resident but I am planning on coming into Fairmont. I have a CWP for Colorado. Is it legal for me to open carry in West Virgina?

Colorado Slick

colorado slick said:

I am a Colorado resident but I am planning on coming into Fairmont. I have a CWP for Colorado. Is it legal for me to open carry in West Virgina?

Colorado Slick

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West Virginia does Not appear to have reciprocity with Colorado (so no concealed carry), BUT
West Virginia is also a 'traditional open carry state', which means you can legally Open Carry without a license.

The West Virginia Attorney General's office has thoughtfully provided a .PDF file that may be helpful.

Fallschirmjäger said:

West Virginia does Not appear to have reciprocity with Colorado (so no concealed carry), BUT
West Virginia is also a 'traditional open carry state', which means you can legally Open Carry without a license.

The West Virginia Attorney General's office has thoughtfully provided a .PDF file that may be helpful.

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Exactly. You can't conceal carry, but you are fine when it comes to open carry. Please just make sure it is CLEARLY visible while in your vehicle. You don't want to have it on a hip holster and have it partially obscured. Some officers would claim that they could not clearly see it and therefore it is concealed. I just place mine in a holster attached to the passenger seat while driving. It is visible from all directions that way.

Also, while the state police website says that open carry is for WV residents only, that is not at all true and has been backed up numerous times. Some rogue cops managed to get others to think this when it is absolutly not the case.

Moodock said:

Also, while the state police website says that open carry is for WV residents only, that is not at all true and has been backed up numerous times. Some rogue cops managed to get others to think this when it is absolutly not the case.

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Really, does it? Please provide a link to that page, because I haven't seen ANY such statement on the WV State Police's website.

Thsi is an urban myth. The fact is, that on the WV State police's website it very CLEARLY states that ANYONE who may legally possess a handgun can legally carry it openly in WV. I've covered this issue OVER AND OVER again on this forum for the last several years, and yet this urban myth seems to never die. Please, stop perpetuating this lie unless you can provide a credible source for these claims.

Go here to see my more in-depth discussion (with links to official websites). KNOW the law. STOP spreading urban myths.

http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/s...est-Virginia&p=1655265&viewfull=1#post1655265

The confusion on this issue is that nobody in WV's legal system wants to take responsibility for saying that OC is legal, and so everyone just passes the buck, and the AG has actually turned this issue into a big "he said, she said" lie-fest.

The AG didn't want to issue a statement based on the ACTUAL LAW, so they put a line in their pamphlet saying that they let the State Police interpret the law FOR THEM, and that is where this line of BS about "non-residents" comes from.

The only catch here is that apparently, when the AG published their warnings about how WV LEOs "interpret the law", he forgot to actually ASK the WV State Police how THEY interpret the law on OC. If he had taken the time to look at their freaking website, he would have found this statement:

http://www.statepolice.wv.gov/about/...isionFAQs.aspx

Q. Is it lawful to carry weapons (e.g. rifles, shotguns, and pistols) in my vehicle when I travel in West Virginia?

A. Individuals who possess a valid concealed carry permit may carry a concealed handgun in a motor vehicle for purpose of self defense only. West Virginia permits anyone who can lawfully possess a handgun to carry an unconcealed handgun. If you choose to carry an unconcealed handgun in your vehicle and are stopped by a law-enforcement officer, you must understand that that the weapon will immediately attract the attention of the police officer. The presence of the weapon may lead to action by the officer to ensure his or her safety such as the drawing of his or her weapon, ordering you from the vehicle, and/or performing a pat-down search. Weapons intended for hunting must be unloaded and in a case when transported in a vehicle. It is strongly recommended that, if you do not have a valid concealed carry permit, while traveling in a vehicle, that all firearms be unloaded and cased in a location in the vehicle that is not readily accessible to any of the occupants. Any ammunition should be stored in a separate location from the firearm.

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Open Carry is 100% legal in WV for anyone who may legally possess a firearm.

Anyone who says differently is a liar.

Period. End of discussion.

Dreamer said:

Really, does it? Please provide a link to that page, because I haven't seen ANY such statement on the WV State Police's website.

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My mistake. I thought to have read it on the State police website, however, I was mistaken and it was on handgunlaw.us an they cite the AG office. Since the last time I read it, they have added a note saying "I can find nothing in WV law that states only residents can open carry. Others are stating that the AG can not restrict open carry to just residents. I would not want to be the test case. Use Caution." I am well aware that open carry is completely legal for residents and non-residents. http://www.handgunlaw.us/states/westvirginia.pdf

My stating that it is completely legal for non-residents to open carry thought some sources may tell you it is hardly qualifies spreading an urban myth. I read a source saying that said it may not be legal for non-residents, and stated not to believe that source because it is not true. I made a mistake which source that was, but that is an error and not the spreading of an urban myth. There is no need to get bent out of shape.

Moodock said:

My mistake. I thought to have read it on the State police website, however, I was mistaken and it was on handgunlaw.us an they cite the AG office. Since the last time I read it, they have added a note saying "I can find nothing in WV law that states only residents can open carry. Others are stating that the AG can not restrict open carry to just residents. I would not want to be the test case. Use Caution." I am well aware that open carry is completely legal for residents and non-residents. http://www.handgunlaw.us/states/westvirginia.pdf

My stating that it is completely legal for non-residents to open carry thought some sources may tell you it is hardly qualifies spreading an urban myth. I read a source saying that said it may not be legal for non-residents, and stated not to believe that source because it is not true. I made a mistake which source that was, but that is an error and not the spreading of an urban myth. There is no need to get bent out of shape.

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Then why are you getting bent out of shape?

Dreamer said:

Open Carry is 100% legal in WV for anyone who may legally possess a firearm.

Anyone who says differently is a liar.

Period. End of discussion.

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The WV Attorney General appears to say differently.

On the attorney general's website, http://www.wvago.gov./gunrecep.cfm there is a .pdf "Brochure: On the Mark" in it, on page 4 is the following

While West Virginia is an “Open Carry” state, only residents of West Virginia may do
so.

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It's the last paragraph on the page, right above the page number.

What law will you get charged on if you aren't a resident?

~Well, since an Attorney General's unofficial opinion trumps State law, I guess that settles that.~

The AG got this "opinion" not through his own interpretation of the law, but on advisement from rogue members of the WVSP.

Which is interesting, because as I have proved previously, the WVSP website CLEARLY states that anyone who may legally possess a handgun may open carry.

There is no law, code or statute on the books in WV that restricts OC to WV residents. This is a BS position made up out of whole cloth and pulled out of the hindquarters of some State Trooper who hates freedom and has no clue as to the letter of the law in WV.

I OC in WV all the time--I've OCed in Wheeling, Sistersville, Paden City, Moundsville, Glen Dale, Elm Grove, Bluefield, Martinsburg, Charlestown, Shepherdstown, and Hedgesville. Every time, I was driving a vehicle with out-of-state plates. Never once has it been an issue.

OC is 100% legal in WV for ANYONE who may legally possess a firearm. Period. End of discussion.

If any WV LEO wished to help pay for my Graduate Degree in the form of a Federal Civil Rights lawsuit settlement, they are free to harass, detain, and even arrest me under this bogus "interpretation". I would welcome the opportunity to set the record straight in WV...

For as many times as this topic comes up, I think we need to create a sticky about it.

I'll help out by updating the WV pamphlet, located in this state's sub-forum as a sticky. In the update, I'll mention the issue and state that there is no statue that prohibits visitors from carrying openly in WV.