WV: House Overrides Veto of Constitutional Carry; passes to Senate

The West Virginia House has overridden Governor Tomblin's veto of the Constitutional carry bill, HB 4145, and sent the override to the Senate for their vote.  A similar bill was vetoed by Governor Tomblin in 2015, after the legislature had adjourned, when a veto override was procedurally extremely difficult.

This year, 2016, It was widely believed that the veto would be overridden.  HB 4145 had passed the House 68-31, and the Senate 24-9.  From state.wv.us:

Completed Legislation H Communicated to Senate 03/04/16 H House passed over veto (Roll No. 355)

The veto was overridden with a vote in the house of 64-33 with three representatives not voting.  A simple majority is all that is needed to override in West Virginia in this case.

Six states have restored constitutional carry to various degrees.  They are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Maine and Wyoming.  Vermont has had constitutional carry for its entire history, so it did not need to restore it. 

In addition to West Virginia, legislation is also being considered in Indiana, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah.  Mississippi enacted a law last year that is very close to Constitutional carry.  Constitutional carry is the law in 99% of Montana and Idaho.

15 years ago, Constitutional carry was a dream for most Second Amendment supporters.  Many derided it as unobtainable.  It has been restored in 6 states, and is being debated in 15 others, some of which have passed bills with veto proof majorities in previous years.

 ©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.  Link to Gun Watch