MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (AP) - Martinsburg officials are grappling with a new state law that prohibits municipalities from enacting ordinances regulating firearms that are greater than those of the state or federal governments.
The City County is scheduled to take up the issue at its Thursday meeting.
The legislation invalidated some portions of the city’s municipal code, which now must be returned to the books, Kim Sayre, the city’s legal counsel, told The Journal (https://bit.ly/1hz5fvE ).
The law adopted this year by the Legislature unravels long-established gun rules in a handful of cities, including Martinsburg and Charleston. Charleston’s City Council voted in March to repeal that city’s 1993 ordinance limiting handgun sales in the city.
The state law also allows people with concealed-carry permits to bring guns to city-owned recreational facilities, including swimming pools and after-school center. Concealed carry permit owners visiting the locations would need to store guns securely out of view and access to others on site, or keep them locked in their cars out of sight.
“The city did not necessarily have an ordinance dealing with recreational facilities,” Sayre told the newspaper.
Charleston Mayor Danny Jones has filed a complaint in Kanawha County Circuit Court arguing city rec centers that include school-related sports and educational programs should be shielded from guns. The complaint says it’s a felony to bring guns on school grounds or places hosting school events.
Sayre said Martinsburg potentially could propose more firearm-related ordinances in the future because of confusion over the state law’s language.
“It’s a poorly worded statute,” he told the newspaper. “It makes it difficult to enforce. What does ’secure it’ mean? Does that mean in a locker, a holster, a locked carry case? We need more direction.”
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Information from: The Journal, https://journal-news.net/
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