West Virginia Concealed Carry Permit Basics

West Virginia Concealed Handgun Licenses: What They Are and Why People Still Get One

West Virginia does not require a license to carry a concealed deadly weapon. Under W. Va. Code § 61-7-7(c), any person may carry a concealed deadly weapon without a license who is (1) at least 18 years of age, (2) a United States citizen or legal resident, (3) not prohibited from possessing a firearm under § 61-7-7, and (4) not prohibited from possessing a firearm under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) or (n). The Attorney General's current concealed handgun license booklet dates that rule to June 12, 2026, the effective date of HB 4106, and reports that the same bill repealed W. Va. Code § 61-7-3, which had made concealed carry by a person under 21 without a provisional license a crime. § 61-7-3 as published by the Legislature now reads "[Repealed.]"

The state still issues two optional licenses, and both do work that permitless carry does not.

The two licenses

Both come from the county sheriff, and both may be issued only for pistols and revolvers.

• The regular license, W. Va. Code § 61-7-4. A West Virginia resident applies to the sheriff of his or her county and pays $50 at application. A resident or citizen of another state applies to the sheriff of any county in this state and pays $100 (§ 61-7-4(a)). A newly issued or renewed license is valid for five years from the licensee's most recent birthday, subject to revocation for cause (§ 61-7-4(h)).
• The provisional license, W. Va. Code § 61-7-4a. For a person at least 18 and less than 21. The applicant pays $15 at application and a second $15 before any approved license is issued or is effective (§ 61-7-4a(a), (g)). It is valid until the licensee turns 21, unless sooner revoked.

Both are statewide. Each authorizes the holder to carry a concealed pistol or revolver "on the lands or waters of this state," except as restricted by article 7 or otherwise prohibited by law (§ 61-7-4(t), § 61-7-4a(q)).

Both are shall-issue: the sheriff shall issue unless the application is incomplete, contains materially false or incorrect statements, or the applicant does not meet the section's requirements (§ 61-7-4(g), § 61-7-4a(f)), and a denial gets written reasons plus a 30-day window to petition the circuit court (§ 61-7-4(k), § 61-7-4a(j)). See APPLICATION_PROCESS for the timeline and paperwork, and FEES_COSTS for the fee schedule.

Regular license eligibility, term by term

W. Va. Code § 61-7-4(b) says the application "sets forth only the following licensing requirements." In order, you must show that you:

• Are, on the date the application is made, a bona fide United States citizen or legal resident, and either a resident of this state and of the county in which the application is made, or a resident of another state in the United States who has a valid driver's license or other state-issued or federally issued photo identification showing the residence (§ 61-7-4(b)(2)). Read as written, the photo-identification term attaches to the out-of-state branch.
• Are 21 years of age or older (§ 61-7-4(b)(3)).
• Are not addicted to alcohol, a controlled substance, or a drug and are not an unlawful user, as evidenced within the three years immediately prior to the application by residential or court-ordered treatment for alcoholism, alcohol detoxification, or drug treatment, or by two or more convictions for driving while under the influence or driving while impaired (§ 61-7-4(b)(4)).
• Have not been convicted of a felony, unless the conviction was expunged or set aside, your civil rights were restored, or you were unconditionally pardoned (§ 61-7-4(b)(5)).
• Have not been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of violence, other than an offense described in the next item, in the five years immediately preceding the application (§ 61-7-4(b)(6)).
• Have not been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33), or a misdemeanor assault or battery under W. Va. Code § 61-2-28 or § 61-2-9(b) or § 61-2-9(c) in which the victim was one of the listed domestic relations, or a misdemeanor offense with similar essential elements in another jurisdiction (§ 61-7-4(b)(7)). This one carries no five-year cutoff.
• Are not under indictment for a felony, are not currently serving a sentence of confinement, parole, probation, or other court-ordered supervision imposed by a court of any jurisdiction, are not the subject of an emergency or temporary domestic violence protective order, and are not the subject of a final domestic violence protective order entered by a court of any jurisdiction (§ 61-7-4(b)(8)). On its face the subdivision negates only the first two clauses. A final protective order is independently disqualifying where it carries the hearing, restraint, and threat findings § 61-7-7(a)(7) requires, because § 61-7-4(b)(10) imports § 61-7-7 into eligibility.
• Have not been adjudicated mentally incompetent or involuntarily committed to a mental institution. If you have, you must provide a court order showing you are no longer under the disability and your right to possess or receive a firearm has been restored (§ 61-7-4(b)(9)).
• Are not prohibited under W. Va. Code § 61-7-7 or federal law, including 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) or (n), from receiving, possessing, or transporting a firearm (§ 61-7-4(b)(10)).
• Have qualified under the minimum training requirements in § 61-7-4(e), which is waived for a renewal applicant who has previously qualified (§ 61-7-4(b)(11)).

Training is an eligibility term, not a step you can defer. The course must include actual live firing of ammunition by the applicant, and the statute lists four course families that satisfy it (§ 61-7-4(e)). The eligibility term above is the requirement itself, and APPLICATION_PROCESS covers the proof of completion you file with the application.

The remaining two items are not eligibility tests: § 61-7-4(b)(1) collects identifying information and any basis for an exception to 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5)(B), and (b)(12) authorizes the sheriff to investigate. Falsifying any portion of the notarized application is false swearing under W. Va. Code § 61-5-2, a misdemeanor punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 and, in the court's discretion, jail for not more than one year (§ 61-5-3), and a conviction also bars the person forever from holding any office of honor, trust, or profit in this state or from serving as a juror.

The provisional license, ages 18 to 20

The provisional requirements track the regular ones, with three differences that matter.

Residency is narrower. The applicant must be a bona fide resident of this state and of the county in which the application is made, and must have a valid driver's license or other state-issued photo identification showing the residence (§ 61-7-4a(a)(2)). There is no nonresident provisional license.

Training carries no renewal waiver. Section 61-7-4a(a)(11) requires qualification under § 61-7-4a(d), and no waiver proviso appears there, which fits a license that expires at 21 rather than renewing.

The statute puts the license's purpose and limit on the card itself. Section 61-7-4a(h) requires the provisional card to be readily distinguishable from a § 61-7-4 license and to state: "NOT NICS EXEMPT. This license confers the same rights and privileges to carry a concealed pistol or revolver on the lands or waters of this state as a license issued pursuant to §61-7-4 of this code, except that this license does not satisfy the requirements of 18 U. S. C. §922(t)(3). A NICS check must be performed prior to purchase of a firearm from a federally licensed firearm dealer."

Why hold a license when carry is free

• Travel. Recognition by other states runs to the license. The Attorney General is directed to seek recognition of West Virginia licenses and to execute reciprocity agreements, and the State Police publish the list of recognizing states (§ 61-7-6a(d), (g)). The Attorney General's booklet warns that some states recognize regular licenses but not provisional ones, and it tells travelers to comply with the destination state's own firearm laws. See RECIPROCITY.
• Buying a firearm. 18 U.S.C. § 922(t)(3)(A) excuses the point-of-sale check where the buyer presents a state permit that allows possession or acquisition, was issued not more than five years earlier by the state where the transfer occurs, and issues only after an authorized government official verifies eligibility. The booklet states that West Virginia licenses issued on or after June 4, 2014 qualify as an alternative to a NICS check, and that provisional licenses do not.
• Public college and university campuses. A holder of a current and valid license to carry a concealed deadly weapon may carry a concealed pistol or revolver on the campus and in the buildings of a state institution of higher education, subject to the exceptions in § 18B-4-5b(b). Subsection (a) reaches only areas under the institution's custodial possession, not areas rented, leased, or under an exclusive agreement for the full-time occupancy and use of a private entity. For that section the license may be one issued under § 61-7-4 or § 61-7-4a, or one recognized under § 61-7-6a (§ 18B-4-5b(i)). Permitless carry does not reach these campuses.
• School parking lots. The felony school-weapons ban does not apply to a person 21 years old or older with a valid concealed handgun permit who keeps the concealed handgun in a motor vehicle in a parking lot, traffic circle, or other area of vehicular ingress or egress to a public school, on the out-of-view and locked-storage conditions § 61-7-11a(b)(2)(L) sets. Provisional holders are under 21 and fall outside it.
• Municipal property. On municipally owned or operated property other than municipally owned or operated buildings and municipally owned recreation facilities, a municipality may prohibit persons who do not have a valid concealed handgun license from carrying or possessing a firearm (§ 8-12-5a(c)(4)). And a municipality regulating a municipally owned recreation facility may not prohibit a licensee from carrying an otherwise lawfully possessed firearm in and securely storing it out of view and access to others during their time there (§ 8-12-5a(c)(2)).
• Employment. No employer may condition employment on whether an employee or prospective employee holds or does not hold a license issued under § 61-7-4 or § 61-7-4a, so the protection runs both ways (§ 61-7-14(d)(4)).

Federal school-zone law turns on a similar verification idea. 18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(2)(B)(ii) exempts possession by an individual licensed by the state in which the school zone is located, where state law requires law enforcement authorities to verify the individual is qualified before the license issues. West Virginia licenses issue only after the sheriff verifies eligibility through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (§ 61-7-4(c), § 61-7-4a(b)). How that exemption applies in a given case is a question for counsel, and the state restrictions below apply either way.

What neither license does

• Neither authorizes concealed carry of anything but a pistol or revolver (§ 61-7-4(a), § 61-7-4a(a)).
• Neither lifts the place restrictions in article 7. Outside the listed exceptions, possessing a firearm or other deadly weapon on a school bus, in or on the grounds of a primary or secondary educational facility (unless a private school has adopted a written policy allowing it), or at a covered school-sponsored function is a felony punished by two to ten years in a state correctional facility, a fine of not more than $5,000, or both (§ 61-7-11a(b)). PROHIBITED_PLACES covers the place restrictions.
• Neither cures a prohibition. A license does not authorize carry by anyone barred under § 61-7-7 or 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) or (n).
• Neither changes self-defense law. Nothing in article 7 abrogates or modifies statutory provisions and common law decisions on defense of self or others (§ 61-7-17). USE_OF_FORCE covers that body of law.

Disqualifiers behind the license

W. Va. Code § 61-7-7(a) bars firearm possession by a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, habitually addicted to alcohol, an unlawful user of or habitually addicted to a controlled substance, adjudicated mentally incompetent or involuntarily committed under § 27-1-1 et seq. or similar law, an alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States, discharged from the armed forces under dishonorable conditions, subject to a qualifying domestic violence protective order, or carrying a qualifying domestic misdemeanor assault or battery conviction. Violation is a misdemeanor punished by a fine of $100 to $1,000, county jail for 90 days to one year, or both, and carrying concealed while so barred is a separate felony punished by not more than three years in a state correctional facility, a fine of not more than $5,000, or both (§ 61-7-7(d)).

Section 61-7-7(b) reaches a person convicted of a felony crime of violence against the person of another, a felony sexual offense, or a felony controlled substance offense involving a Schedule I substance other than marijuana or a Schedule II or III substance. Possession there is a felony punished by not more than five years or a fine of not more than $5,000, or both, and carrying concealed while so barred is a felony punished by not more than ten years, a fine of not more than $10,000, or both (§ 61-7-7(e)).

Mental-health disqualification runs through article 7A. A person barred solely by a prior adjudication as mentally defective or an involuntary commitment under § 27-5-4(l) may petition the circuit court of the county of residence for relief, supported by treatment history, a records release, and a verified certificate of mental health examination completed within 30 days before filing. The court may restore possession on clear and convincing evidence that the person is competent, capable of exercising the responsibilities concomitant with possessing a firearm, not likely to act dangerously to public safety, and that relief is not contrary to the public interest (§ 61-7A-5).

Revocation

A license is deemed revoked when the licensee becomes unable to meet the criteria for initial licensure set out in § 61-7-4, and the licensee must immediately surrender it to the issuing sheriff on becoming ineligible for continued licensure (§ 61-7-5). Separately, the sheriff shall deny any application or revoke any existing license upon determining that any of the licensing application requirements have been violated by the licensee (§ 61-7-4(o), § 61-7-4a(n)).

Fee exemptions

Two provisions waive fees, and neither waives anything else.

Under § 61-7-4(q), an honorably discharged veteran of the armed forces of the United States, reserve, or National Guard, or a former law-enforcement officer honorably retired from an agency governed by any of § 7-14-1 et seq., § 8-14-1 et seq., § 15-2-1 et seq., and § 20-7-1 et seq., is exempt from the fees and costs otherwise required by that section on a resident license application. All other application and background check requirements still apply.

W. Va. Code § 61-7-6 is now titled "Exemptions from licensing fees." It exempts eight categories of judicial officers, prosecutors, and duly appointed prosecutor's investigators from any application or licensure fees required under article 7. They "shall make application and satisfy all licensure and handgun safety and training requirements to obtain a license as set forth in §61-7-4 of this code."

Two cautions on § 61-7-6. The Attorney General's booklet describes it in one answer as setting out "additional exemptions from the state's licensing requirements," while the statute text printed in that same booklet, and the section as published by the Legislature, cover only fees. And § 61-7-14(c) still cross-references subsections (a) and (b) of § 61-7-6 that the current flat list of eight does not have. Read § 61-7-6 as it stands. See FEES_COSTS.