West Virginia Legislature Overrides Veto, Legalizing Gun Carry Without Permit
BY Herschel Smith
8 years, 8 months ago
The Republican-led Senate overrode Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s veto Saturday by a 23-11, following the House’s 64-33 vote Friday. Lawmakers only needed a simple majority for the override, a threshold that makes many policy vetoes symbolic. The law takes effect in late May.
Surrounded by law enforcement officials Thursday, Tomblin vetoed the bill over their safety concerns. He vetoed similar legislation last year.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I urge you to just look around this room for a moment, and see that law enforcement are concerned about this bill,” Tomblin said Thursday.
On Saturday, opponents echoed concerns that the Republican leadership was ignoring law enforcement’s worries.
“It’s a slap in the governor’s face, but it’s a slap in the State Police’s face, sheriffs, municipal police officers and the vast majority of our constituents,” said Sen. Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha.
Proponents contended that the proposal would help people protect themselves through a constitutional right.
“This bill will help protect West Virginians, in addition to keeping West Virginians free, as guaranteed by the Constitution,” said Sen. Kent Leonhardt, R-Monongalia.
Alaska, Wyoming, Arizona, Vermont, Maine and Kansas similarly don’t require concealed carry permits.
Well, they all deserved to be slapped in the face for opposing the free exercise of constitutional rights. So I’m back to my original prediction. “Nothing will happen. The doomsday predictions the LEOs most assuredly made will not obtain. There won’t be any discernible change in the number of firearms related crimes as a result of the elimination of permitting requirements.”
Someone remind me in about a year and we’ll go back and dig up statistics and data on this. It’ll be fun and enlightening.
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On March 7, 2016 at 2:31 pm, Damocles said:
Fantastic!