West Virginia Gun Laws: Open Carry, Concealed Carry, and Permits

West Virginia gun laws let most adults carry a loaded handgun, openly or concealed, without a state permit. The state adopted permitless carry (sometimes called constitutional carry) in 2016, so if you are at least 21 and not legally prohibited from possessing a firearm, you can carry concealed without applying for anything. Open carry starts at 18. An optional Concealed Handgun License still exists, mainly for people who travel and want other states to honor their carry status. Federal rules on purchases, prohibited persons, school zones, and regulated weapons layer on top of state law and sometimes override what the state allows.

Who Can Buy a Firearm

West Virginia uses the federal age thresholds for retail purchases. You can buy a rifle or shotgun at 18 and a handgun at 21 from any Federal Firearms Licensee. Every sale through a licensed dealer runs through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which screens for criminal history, mental health commitments, and other disqualifiers.

Private sales between individuals who are not dealers do not require a background check under state law. It is still illegal to knowingly sell, lend, or give a firearm to someone who is prohibited from having one.¹ If you had reason to believe the buyer was in a prohibited category, you can face criminal liability for the sale.

Who Cannot Own a Firearm

State law bars several categories of people from possessing any firearm. The list runs broader than felony convictions alone. You cannot possess a firearm in West Virginia if you:

Have been convicted of any crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment, or a misdemeanor domestic violence offense involving a spouse, partner, cohabitant, parent, or household member
Are addicted to or unlawfully use alcohol or controlled substances
Have been adjudicated mentally incompetent or involuntarily committed
Are subject to a qualifying domestic violence protective order issued after a hearing you had notice of
Are an illegal alien or received a dishonorable military discharge

Possession in violation of this law is a misdemeanor carrying a fine of $100 to $1,000, 90 days to one year in jail, or both.² The domestic violence categories catch people who may not think of themselves as prohibited, particularly those with a misdemeanor assault conviction involving a family or household member.

Open Carry

Open carry is legal for anyone at least 18 who is not otherwise prohibited.³ No permit is needed. A holstered handgun on your hip or a slung rifle qualifies. The location restrictions below still apply, so a legal right to open carry does not extend to a courthouse or school.

Concealed Carry Without a Permit

Since 2016, West Virginia has not required a permit to carry a concealed handgun if you are at least 21 and not a prohibited person under state or federal law.² No training, application, or fee is required.

The 21-year threshold matters. People between 18 and 20 can carry openly but cannot rely on permitless carry for concealed. They need a provisional license.

The Optional Concealed Handgun License

West Virginia still issues a Concealed Handgun License even though residents do not need one to carry inside the state. The main reason to apply is reciprocity: many other states honor a West Virginia CHL but will not recognize permitless carry status from another state. The CHL also matters for the federal gun-free school zone exception discussed later.

Requirements, Fees, and Training

You must be at least 21, a U.S. citizen or legal resident, and free of any disqualifying conditions. The application fee is $50 for residents and $100 for nonresidents.⁴ Honorably discharged veterans and honorably retired law enforcement officers from qualifying West Virginia agencies pay no fee.

Every applicant must complete a handgun training course that includes live firing. Qualifying options include NRA handgun safety programs, courses from certified instructors or law enforcement organizations, community college classes, and military handgun training. Proof is a signed certificate from the instructor or an affidavit from the training organization.⁴

How to Apply

Submit the application to the sheriff of the county where you live. The sheriff runs a background investigation through NICS, state criminal records, and the National Interstate Identification Index, and has 45 days to issue or deny the license after you file.⁴ A CHL is valid for five years from your most recent birthday. The sheriff must deny or revoke a license if you no longer meet the eligibility rules, including after a later felony conviction or new domestic violence protective order.

Provisional License for Ages 18 to 20

There is a separate provisional concealed carry license for people at least 18 but under 21. It covers pistols and revolvers only. The application goes to your county sheriff and the fee is $15.⁵ It expires automatically on your 21st birthday, after which permitless carry takes over or you can apply for a standard CHL.

Reciprocity in and Out of State

Roughly three dozen states honor a West Virginia CHL, concentrated in the Southeast, Midwest, and Mountain West. The list shifts, so check a current reciprocity map before you travel.

West Virginia does not automatically honor every out-of-state permit. An out-of-state permit works here only if the holder is at least 21, carries the permit on their person, is not a West Virginia resident, and the issuing state has a reciprocity agreement with West Virginia or has told the state’s attorney general it honors West Virginia licenses. If you live in West Virginia but hold another state’s permit, that permit does not authorize concealed carry inside West Virginia. You rely on permitless carry or get a West Virginia CHL.

Where You Cannot Carry

Permitless carry is not unrestricted carry. Several location bans apply regardless of whether you hold a CHL.

Schools

Carrying any firearm on a school bus or on the grounds of any primary or secondary school is a felony. A conviction carries two to ten years in a state correctional facility, a fine up to $5,000, or both.⁶ A CHL does not change this.

Courts and Government Buildings

Possessing a firearm in any building housing a court of law or a family court is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine up to $1,000, or both. Bringing a weapon into a court with intent to commit a crime becomes a felony with the same two-to-ten-year range as the school offense.⁶ The state capitol complex is covered by a separate statute, with an exception for weapons kept in locked vehicles out of plain view.

Federal buildings, including post offices, federal courthouses, and VA facilities, run on federal rules. Your state carry rights do not apply inside them.

Private Property

Any property owner or person in charge of real property can prohibit firearms on the premises. If you are asked to leave or to temporarily surrender a weapon and refuse, that is a misdemeanor. This covers businesses, sports venues, offices, and other privately controlled property. A posted sign is not required; a verbal request is enough.

The Federal 1,000-Foot School Zone

Federal law adds a wider school restriction that catches people who only know the state rule. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(q), it is a federal crime to possess a firearm within 1,000 feet of any school, public or private.⁷ In many towns the overlapping 1,000-foot circles cover large stretches of residential road.

The federal law includes an exception for people who hold a license issued by the state where the school zone sits, where the license required a law enforcement verification of eligibility. A West Virginia CHL qualifies for the exception within West Virginia. The ATF has taken the position that carrying through a school zone in another state on reciprocity alone does not satisfy the exception, because the license was not issued by that state. Permitless carry without any license also does not trigger the exception. That is the strongest practical reason to get a CHL even when state law does not require one.

Castle Doctrine and Self-Defense

West Virginia’s castle doctrine and stand-your-ground rules are in the same statute and cover two situations.

Inside your home, you can use deadly force against an intruder if you reasonably believe the intruder may kill or seriously injure you or others inside, or if you reasonably believe the intruder intends to commit a felony. You have no duty to retreat from an intruder in your home.⁸

Outside the home, the protection extends to any place you have a legal right to be. If you are not engaged in unlawful activity and you reasonably believe you or someone else faces imminent death or serious bodily harm that only deadly force can stop, you may use it without retreating first.

Justified defensive force is also a complete defense to a civil lawsuit from the attacker or the attacker’s estate. That civil immunity disappears if you were committing a felony at the time, if you provoked the confrontation intending to use it as an excuse for violence, or if you initially provoked the situation and failed to clearly withdraw before using deadly force.⁸

Firearms in Vehicles

Because West Virginia is a permitless carry state, you can keep a loaded handgun in your vehicle without a permit as long as you are legally allowed to possess a firearm. There is no requirement to store it locked or unloaded during transport. The glove box, center console, door pocket, or anywhere else in the vehicle is fine.

Long guns follow the same general principle for transport. Separate wildlife rules restrict loaded rifles and shotguns in vehicles under circumstances that suggest illegal hunting, but those provisions target poaching rather than everyday transport. Driving from one place to another with no connection to hunting activity, with a rifle or shotgun in the vehicle, is legal.

Flying With a Firearm

If you fly out of a West Virginia airport with a firearm, federal TSA rules apply. The firearm must be unloaded, in checked baggage only, and inside a locked, hard-sided container. You must declare it at the airline ticket counter during check-in. Ammunition goes in checked baggage and must be securely packaged; loaded magazines need to be boxed or placed inside the hard-sided case with the unloaded firearm.⁹ Firearms and firearm parts are prohibited in carry-on bags.

NFA Items: Suppressors, Short-Barreled Rifles, and Machine Guns

Federal law regulates certain weapons more heavily than standard firearms regardless of what the state allows. Short-barreled rifles (barrel under 16 inches or overall length under 26 inches), short-barreled shotguns, suppressors, and machine guns are governed by the National Firearms Act.¹⁰ West Virginia adds no state-level restriction on NFA items that are lawfully registered under federal law.

A significant change took effect on January 1, 2026. The federal excise tax for suppressors and short-barreled rifles dropped to $0 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in mid-2025. The $200 tax stamp that had been a barrier for decades is gone for those items. The underlying NFA framework is intact: you still must register the item, submit the application through the ATF’s eForms system, pass a background check, and provide fingerprints and a photograph.¹¹ Machine guns and destructive devices still carry the $200 tax.

No Local Gun Ordinances

West Virginia preempts local governments from enacting firearms regulations stricter than state law. Counties, municipalities, and other political subdivisions cannot pass their own conflicting gun ordinances, and any that do are void. The rules in this article apply uniformly statewide. The prohibited-locations rules for schools, courts, and the capitol complex still apply everywhere.

1
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 61-7-10 – Deadly Weapons for Sale or Hire; Sale to Prohibited Persons; Penalties
2
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 61-7-7 – Persons Prohibited From Possessing Firearms
3
West Virginia State Police. Frequently Asked Questions – Section: Weapons – Concealed Carry Permits
4
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 61-7-4 – License to Carry Deadly Weapons; How Obtained
5
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 61-7-4A – Provisional License to Carry Deadly Weapons; How Obtained
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West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 61-7-11A – Possessing Deadly Weapons on Premises of Educational Facilities
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
8
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 55-7-22 – Civil Relief for Persons Resisting Certain Criminal Activities
9
Transportation Security Administration. Firearms and Ammunition
10
Legal Information Institute. Definition: Short-Barreled Rifle
11
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. eForms Applications