A new law expands the number of states where West Virginians may carry concealed guns with their concealed carry permit.
Following the implementation of House Bill 4145, qualified West Virginians, age 21 and older, are allowed to carry concealed without a permit. And those between the ages of 18 and 21 can now obtain a provisional license to carry concealed.
On October 6, 2016, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced that 16 states have agreed to honor a West Virginia concealed carry permit.
States agreeing to recognize both West Virginia’s traditional and provisional licenses are Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming.
Additionally, 19 other states confirmed they will continue to recognize West Virginia’s traditional concealed carry licenses: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
An important thing to note is that these are not necessarily “reciprocity” agreements.
The difference between “recognizing” and “reciprocity” is that under a reciprocity agreement, each state agrees to honor each other’s license – “you honor mine and I’ll honor yours.”
But State A may simply agree to recognize State B’s license without State B agreeing to honor licenses back – “you honor my license but I don’t have to honor yours.”
So if your state is listed among the 35 states that “recognize” a West Virginia license, please double check to make certain that West Virginia also honors your state’s license before venturing into the Mountain State with your concealed firearm.
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