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Campus carry in WV?

Dreamer

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
5,360
Location
Grennsboro NC
I'll be visiting Shepherdstown next weekend for the May Day events, and since the grounds for Shepherd College are VERY close to the downtown area, and some of the activities may be on college grounds, I wondered what the rules were in WV for campus carry I have several CC permits (NC, PA, UT), but will probably be OCing.

Should I stay off Shepherd University property, or is it legal to carry there is I'm not a student?

Thanks in advance...
 

Dreamer

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Sep 23, 2009
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Grennsboro NC
After considerable digging on the internet, I have come to the conclusion that CC on college and university campuses in WV is, in fact legal--as is OC by extension--but OC will probably be problematic. Since I have multiple CC permits, I'll just "cover up" if I'm going to be wandering onto Shepherd University property during my visit...

In my digging, I remembered the recent incident in Martinsburg WV concerning the unlawful arrest of Joshua Beck and his harassment by Berkeley County Prosecuter Pamela Games-Neely (who although a registered Republican, has a long track record of frothing anti-2A policy, and is always trying to find new ways to restrict the 2A rights of the good People of the Eastern Panhandle...)

http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/569334/Man-arrested-again-for-gun.html?nav=5006

http://journal-news.net/page/conten...nst--Berkeley-County-prosecutor.html?nav=5006

Ultimately, Mr. Beck's illegal and unlawful "felony" charges were dropped (which is good for PA Games-Neely, because being charged and arrested for a felony that doesn't actually exist would be pretty solid grounds for a big fat Federal Civil Rights violation lawsuit)...

Anyway, I also downloaded the Shepherd University Student Handbook, and although it does not allow STUDENTS to store or possess firearms on campus, it has no mention of non-students, and anyway, institutional policy does NOT carry the weight of law in WV.

So hopefully, we'll have nice weather, and the whole "fam damily" will be making the trek out to Shepherdstown this weekend for the May Day festivities. I'll be sure to get some pics...
 

PistolPackingMomma

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2011
Messages
1,884
Location
SC
That is good to know. We were in Shepherdstown just a few days ago, and stopped by the Blue Moon and Shaharazade's. Tried to stay off college grounds though, as I was a little unsure about OCing around campus, and those Shepherdstown cops will nail you for breaking wind!
 

Dreamer

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Sep 23, 2009
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5,360
Location
Grennsboro NC
I just stumbled onto a bit of a snag--apparently the TOWN of Shepherdstown has an illegal municipal code that prohibits OC, which is diret violation of WV's Preemption Statute:

Section 7-106 Weapons and firearms
(a) Carrying dangerous or deadly weapons without license or other authorization
it shall be unlawful for any person, without a state license therefore or except as provided in the West Virginia Code of 1931, as amended, to carry about his person any revolver or pistol, dirk, bowie knife, sling shot, razor, billy,metallic or other false knuckles, or other dangerous or deadly weapon of like kind or character.

(b) Brandishing or exposing weapons
It shall be unlawful for any person armed with a pistol, gun or other dangerous or deadly weapon, whether licensed to carry the same or not, to carry, expose, brandish, or use such weapon in a way or manner to cause, or threaten, a breach of the peace.


So apparently, in Shepherdstown it is illegal to carry unless you have a permit, and OC (which would by it's very nature be an "exposed" firearm) is illegal even if you DO have a permit.

This is in DIRECT violation of WV's preemption statute:

§8-12-5a. Limitations upon municipalities' power to restrict the
purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying, transport, sale
and storage of certain weapons and ammunition.

The provisions of section five of this article notwithstanding, neither a municipality nor the governing body of any municipality may
limit the right of any person to purchase, possess, transfer, own, carry, transport, sell or store any revolver, pistol, rifle or shotgun
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.
Nothing herein shall in any way impair the authority of any municipality, or the governing body
thereof, to enact any ordinance or resolution respecting the power to arrest, convict and punish any individual under the provisions of
subdivision (16), section five of this article or from enforcing any such ordinance or resolution: Provided, That any municipal ordinance
in place as of the effective date of this section shall be excepted from the provisions of this section: Provided, however, That no
provision in this section may be construed to limit the authority of a municipality to restrict the commercial use of real estate in
designated areas through planning or zoning ordinances.

This puts an entirely different spin on my plans to OC in Shepherdstown this weekend. Although their town ordinance is illegal, it IS on the books, and quite honestly, I'm not sure if I want to volunteer to be a "test case"...

I will be calling the Shepherdstown PD to see if I can get this cleared up...
 

carsontech

Activist Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2011
Messages
529
Location
Anderson, SC
lol, I think what PistolPackingMomma was trying to say is that she and I have OCed in the Sheperdstown downtown area and never had a problem with the locals. We've never seen a LEO in Sheperdstown while on foot though, so we never were able to see how the LEOs handle OC there.

If for some reason we end up going to Sheperdstown again we'll probably be OCing again regardless of what "rules" the town has.

We usually research the ordinances of the cities and counties we travel through, but I don't remember that code showing up in our research a few years ago. I just went to Sheperdtown.us and found what Dreamer posted:

http://www.shepherdstown.us/wp-content/uploads/root/ordinances/codified/offenses-miscellaneous.pdf

I wonder why the WVCDL hasn't covered this yet? Maybe they did and I missed it.

See "Momma's" thread in the General forum about part of a "vacation" we recently took, as it involved OCing in Shepperdstown:

http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/showthread.php?102590-Open-Carrying-while-Traveling
 
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carsontech

Activist Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2011
Messages
529
Location
Anderson, SC
The wife and I are anxious to read about you're upcoming conversation with the Sheperdstown PD. Please let us all know how that goes. :monkey
 

lwheatcraft

New member
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
4
Location
Morgantown, WV
Exception?

It seems to me that the verbiage, "...except as provided in the West Virginia Code of 1931, as amended...," will have you covered there, as the WV Code preempts the Shepherdstown law.
 

Dreamer

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
5,360
Location
Grennsboro NC
It seems to me that the verbiage, "...except as provided in the West Virginia Code of 1931, as amended...," will have you covered there, as the WV Code preempts the Shepherdstown law.


Technically, it only preempts local law if the local law was put in place AFTER the State preemption law took effect (1999). If the Shepherdstown city code was on the books prior to that--even though they are not specifically exempted by name in the Statute--then they get a "pass" and may keep and enforce their restrictions.

I need to call the City Clerk of Shepherdstown and find out when Code 7-106 went into effect....


All that said, I decided that discretion was the better part of valor today and CCed (but didn't go out of my way to deep conceal--wearing a ParaOrd P-14 in a Galco SSS, with a Galco leather double mag carrier on the other side) under a Hawaiian shirt. Sure, it was a little on the lumpy side, but nobody seemed to notice, and I even participated in the May Pole...

I figured that as much as I would LOVE to be a "test case", I needed to get the fact straight first, and besides, I had my 2 1/2 year old granddaughter with me, and I didn't want to run the risk of her seeing her "Opa" getting handcuffed and proned...

I'll be making a boatload of phone calls this week to figure this one out.
 

Dreamer

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
5,360
Location
Grennsboro NC
Not yet. I have the City Clerk combing through the records to determine when this ordinance was enacted. She is supposed to call me back when she finds the enactment date. I've been calling her twice a week, every week, since this came to my attention.

I'll be calling again Monday or Tuesday...
 

Dreamer

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
5,360
Location
Grennsboro NC
I finally head bac from Shepherdstown today. I had a nice conversation with the Chief of Police, Chief Ransom.

He told me that if someone has a permit (ANY permit that is recognized in WV) than you're OK to CC.

Then he volunteered that they have several people who OC in Shepherdstown, and he fully supported that.
In fact, he said "the more law-abiding folks who carry, the better, in my opinion". He also said all the LEOs on his force are pro-carry and supportive of OC.

He then said that he was glad I brought this code to his attention, because it needs to be revised to clarify the legality of OC in WV.

So keep an eye on the Shepherdstown muni-code listings folks--they will probably be changing the wording of this to make it perfectly clear that OC is legal and acceptable.

He even invited me to stop in the Station to chat the next time I was in town. Seemed like a really nice guy, and it was good to find out that the Sheperdstown PD is pro-2A, and OC-friendly.

So what this boils down to is that OCers can, in fact, OC in Sheperdstown without worries.

Just be careful about going onto the University campus while OCing--the campus police may not be quite so understanding or pro-2A, EVEN THOUGH carry of firearms is 100% legal on college campuses in WV...
 
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