Jim Justice is the governor of West Virginia; Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, right, recently signed a bill allowing Floridians to carry concealed, legally obtained guns without a permit. | West Virginia Governor's Office / Florida Governor's Office
Jim Justice is the governor of West Virginia; Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, right, recently signed a bill allowing Floridians to carry concealed, legally obtained guns without a permit. | West Virginia Governor's Office / Florida Governor's Office
West Virginia is among the 26 states that allow residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit, a new tally of weapons permit laws by the U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) concludes.
Vermont is often considered the pioneer of permitless concealed carry in the United States. The state's laws have allowed residents to carry concealed firearms without a permit since its inception. This practice is often referred to as "constitutional carry" or "Vermont carry."
A total of 147,000 weapons permits have been issued in West Virginia, representing 8.2% of the state’s total population, according to the association.
The terms “constitutional carry,” “permitless carry” and “unrestricted carry” have distinct definitions in this debate, USCCA says. Constitutional carry refers to states where the law doesn’t bar citizens from carrying arms they can legally possess – sometimes in a concealed way or sometimes in an open manner. Under constitutional carry, however, states may require a permit for carrying certain concealed weapons.
Permitless-carry states include states where constitutional carry is allowed as well as those states that allow only certain individuals to carry weapons, such as those who have not been pulled over for driving under the influence for 10 years. In some cases, a permit may be needed to carry a concealed firearm in permitless-carry states.
In permitless concealed carry states, individuals can carry firearms if they are legally able to possess such weapons by meeting the requirements of federal and state laws.
Florida was one of the most recent states to pass a concealed-carry bill, House Bill 543, which was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis on April 3. The law allows Floridians to carry concealed, lawfully owned guns without a permit beginning on July 1 of this year.
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