This section catalogs West Virginia firearm rules that do not fit cleanly into the dedicated sections of this guide: private sales and background...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
This section catalogs West Virginia firearm rules that do not fit cleanly into the dedicated sections of this guide: private sales and background checks (West Virginia does not require a background check on private transfers), minor possession under W. Va. Code 61-7-8, domestic-violence and other prohibitors under W. Va. Code 61-7-7, ammunition rules, antique firearms, state machine-gun rules under W. Va. Code 61-7-9, the hunting overlay under W. Va. Code Chapter 20, tribal-land questions, and the federal framework that overlays everything.
If a question does not belong in OVERVIEW, PERMIT_BASICS, CONSTITUTIONAL_CARRY, CONCEALED_CARRY, OPEN_CARRY, TRAINING_REQUIREMENTS, APPLICATION_PROCESS, FEES_COSTS, RENEWAL_PROCESS, PROHIBITED_PLACES, VEHICLE_CARRY, TRANSPORT, STORAGE, USE_OF_FORCE, CASTLE_DOCTRINE, DUTY_TO_INFORM, UNDER_INFLUENCE, RESTRICTIONS, NFA_ITEMS, RED_FLAG, PREEMPTION, RECIPROCITY, RESOURCES, or FAQ, the short answer is here.
West Virginia is a permissive firearms state. Most of the issues in this catch-all sit at the lenient end of state regulation. Where another section of this guide owns the operative state-law text, this section cross-references that section rather than duplicating it.
West Virginia does not require a background check on private firearm sales between residents. There is no state universal-background-check statute.
The seller in a private transaction should:
Practical steps: ask the buyer to produce a current concealed handgun license (which evidences a prior background check), or other documentation of eligibility. Create a bill of sale recording the date, parties, firearm make/model/serial number, and signatures, and keep a copy.
Federal overlay: 18 U.S.C. 922(a)(1) requires a person engaged in the business of dealing in firearms to hold a federal firearms license. Occasional private sales by a hobbyist generally do not constitute being engaged in the business; high-volume, systematic sales for profit may.
West Virginia has no permit-to-purchase requirement. A West Virginia resident may buy a firearm from a federally licensed dealer through the standard ATF Form 4473 and NICS process. A current West Virginia concealed handgun license does not itself replace the federal point-of-sale check, because the West Virginia license is not currently a Brady-alternative qualifying permit for that purpose. Confirm current status on the ATF NICS-alternative permit chart before relying on a waiver.
West Virginia imposes no state waiting period at the point of firearm purchase. The federal NICS check at the dealer must return a result before transfer. If NICS returns a clean "proceed," the buyer may take the firearm immediately.
If NICS returns "delayed," the dealer may transfer after three business days if no further response is received. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 created an enhanced NICS review window for buyers under 21. West Virginia has not enacted a separate state waiting period.
W. Va. Code 61-7-8 governs possession by minors. A person under 18 who is not married or otherwise emancipated may not possess or carry, concealed or openly, any deadly weapon. The statute provides two exceptions:
A violation by a person under 18 places the minor under the juvenile-delinquency jurisdiction of the circuit court under W. Va. Code 49-4-701 through 49-4-725.
Federal overlay at 18 U.S.C. 922(x) bars the transfer of a handgun or handgun ammunition to a juvenile under 18, with enumerated exceptions for hunting, target practice, training, and ranch or farm work, and separately bars a juvenile's possession of a handgun subject to the same exceptions.
For carry by adults: West Virginia does not generally prohibit open carry by a person 18 or older who may lawfully possess a firearm. Concealed carry by a person under 21 without a state license or other lawful authorization is a misdemeanor under W. Va. Code 61-7-3 (first offense fined $100 to $1,000 and up to twelve months in jail; a second or subsequent offense is a felony). Persons 18 to 20 may carry concealed with a provisional license under W. Va. Code 61-7-4a. See CONSTITUTIONAL_CARRY and OPEN_CARRY.
W. Va. Code 61-7-7(a) lists the persons who may not possess a firearm in West Virginia. The list includes a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year, a person habitually addicted to alcohol, an unlawful user of or person addicted to a controlled substance, a person adjudicated mentally incompetent or involuntarily committed, an illegal alien, a person dishonorably discharged from the armed forces, a person subject to a qualifying domestic-violence protective order, and a person convicted of a qualifying misdemeanor offense of assault or battery against a domestic relation. A violation of subsection (a) is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $100 to $1,000 or 90 days to one year in jail, or both. The statute contains no five-year limit on these prohibitions.
Note the interaction with carry. Under W. Va. Code 61-7-7(c), a person may carry concealed without a license only if at least 21, a United States citizen or legal resident, not prohibited under this section, and not prohibited under 18 U.S.C. 922(g) or (n).
A separate, more serious bar applies under W. Va. Code 61-7-7(b): a person convicted of a felony crime of violence against the person of another, a felony sexual offense, or certain felony controlled-substance offenses commits a felony by possessing a firearm, punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of up to $5,000, or both. A prohibited person under subsection (a) who carries concealed commits an additional felony under subsection (d); a prohibited person under subsection (b) who carries concealed commits an additional felony under subsection (e).
Federal prohibitors run in parallel:
West Virginia's Domestic Violence Act (W. Va. Code Chapter 48, Article 27) governs protective orders, and a court may order relinquishment of firearms as part of an order.
The U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Rahimi (2024) upheld 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8) against a Second Amendment challenge, so the federal protective-order prohibitor remains good law.
A person prohibited under W. Va. Code 61-7-7(a) may petition the circuit court to regain the ability to possess a firearm under subsection (f), and an expungement, set-aside, or unconditional pardon removes the bar under subsection (g).
West Virginia imposes no permit, registration, or background-check requirement on the purchase of ammunition. Federal 18 U.S.C. 922(d) still prohibits selling ammunition to a federally prohibited person, and 18 U.S.C. 922(g) prohibits a prohibited person from possessing ammunition.
There is no magazine-capacity restriction in West Virginia, and federal law imposes none. Standard-capacity magazines of any size are lawful.
Federal 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(16) defines an antique firearm as a firearm manufactured in or before 1898, plus certain muzzleloaders and replicas that use black powder and cannot use fixed ammunition. The federal definition of "firearm" in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(3) excludes antique firearms, so antiques are largely outside the federal Gun Control Act framework, including the dealer-sale and NICS requirements.
West Virginia regulates "firearms" and "deadly weapons" as defined in W. Va. Code 61-7-2. A buyer or collector should not assume that the federal antique exemption automatically removes an item from every state rule. The safest course is to treat an antique as an ordinary firearm for state possession purposes unless a specific exemption clearly applies.
Curios and relics under ATF collector rules (27 C.F.R. 478.11) are ordinary firearms for state and most federal purposes. The C&R designation primarily affects FFL acquisition and interstate transfer mechanics for collectors, not state carry or possession rules.
National Firearms Act items (suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, machine guns, destructive devices, and any-other-weapons) are addressed in detail in NFA_ITEMS. The short version: West Virginia permits civilian possession of federally registered NFA items, and machine guns lawful for civilian transfer are limited to pre-1986 registered units under the federal Hughes Amendment.
State law adds W. Va. Code 61-7-9, which makes it unlawful to carry, transport, or possess a machine gun, submachine gun, or other fully automatic weapon unless the person has fully complied with the applicable federal statutes and Treasury regulations. A violation is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $1,000 to $5,000 or 90 days to one year in jail, or both. In other words, a properly registered NFA machine gun is lawful in West Virginia; an unregistered one is a state crime as well as a federal one.
On the federal NFA making and transfer tax: under Pub. L. 119-21, the tax is $200 for a machine gun or destructive device and $0 for other NFA items such as suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and any-other-weapons. The change takes effect for calendar quarters beginning more than 90 days after July 4, 2025, with the first qualifying quarter beginning January 1, 2026. Registration under the NFA is still required even where the tax is $0.
W. Va. Code 55-7-22 makes the justified use of reasonable and proportionate force a full and complete defense to any civil action brought by the intruder or attacker. The statute provides no duty to retreat for a lawful occupant defending a home or residence under subsection (b), and no duty to retreat for a person not engaged in unlawful activity who is attacked in a place he or she has a legal right to be under subsection (c). The defense is not available to a person committing or escaping from a felony, or who provoked the use of force, and it does not authorize resisting a law-enforcement officer acting in the line of duty. The use-of-force framework is summarized in CASTLE_DOCTRINE and USE_OF_FORCE.
The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources regulates hunting under W. Va. Code Chapter 20. Firearms used in hunting are subject to species-specific and season-specific equipment rules that are independent of Chapter 61, Article 7.
Key points:
West Virginia has no federally recognized tribes with land within the state. The tribal-jurisdiction analysis that applies in states with reservations does not arise for in-state carry in West Virginia.
A West Virginia resident traveling to a state with tribal land should research the specific tribal jurisdiction. Tribal codes vary; some mirror state law, others add restrictions.
Federal firearms law sets a floor and supplies several rules that apply regardless of West Virginia's permissive posture:
On substantive in-state carry and possession, West Virginia law governs, and that framework is largely permissive, so federal restrictions are often the more important practical limit.
Verify the current status of any pending bill. The West Virginia Legislature posts current bill text at wvlegislature.gov.
This catch-all reflects West Virginia firearm law as of June 2026. The constitutional-carry framework adopted in 2016 has largely stabilized, and the provisional license pathway under W. Va. Code 61-7-4a remains a distinctive feature. Confirm current law before relying on any provision affected by pending litigation or legislation.
This page covers one part of our West Virginia concealed carry guide.
Read the complete West Virginia guideBrowse local instructors offering state-approved training in your area. Book online, complete your training, and get one step closer to your concealed carry permit.