West Virginia Concealed Carry License: No Fee for Honorably Discharged Veterans

The rule. West Virginia Code 61-7-4(a)(1) charges a West Virginia resident $50 for a state licence to carry a concealed deadly weapon, paid to the sheriff of the county where they live. Subsection (q) takes it away for veterans: "Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, with respect to application for a resident license by an honorably discharged veteran of the armed forces of the United States, reserve, or National Guard ... an honorably retired officer or an honorably discharged veteran of the armed forces of the United States, reserve, or National Guard, is exempt from payment of fees and costs as otherwise required by this section. All other application and background check requirements set forth in this section are applicable to these applicants." The same subsection covers former law-enforcement officers honorably retired from the State Police, county, municipal and Natural Resources police. Where it came from. HB 4955 of 2020 cut the licence fees and added the veteran exemption, effective June 1, 2020; the section was last amended by SB 147 of 2024. The 2026 bill to rewrite the section (HB 5660) stopped in Senate Judiciary. What it covers and what it does not. "Fees and costs as otherwise required by this section" reaches the application fee, and its words may also reach the $5 duplicate and change-of-address fees the section sets; ask the sheriff. It is for a resident licence only: a veteran living in another state still pays the $100 nonresident fee under 61-7-4(a)(2). It does not cover the provisional licence for 18 to 20 year olds under 61-7-4a, which keeps its $15 fees for everyone, though any proof of current or former service meets that licence's training requirement. The discharge must be honorable; the section does not say whether a general discharge under honorable conditions counts, so ask the sheriff before applying with one. Training. Every applicant must complete a handgun course with live fire, and 61-7-4(e)(4) accepts "Any handgun training or safety course or class conducted by any branch of the United States military, reserve, or National Guard, or proof of other handgun qualification received while serving". Bring the document that shows the qualification. Subsection (s) gives anyone who pays for training or the application a State tax credit of up to $50; a veteran who pays no application fee can still claim it for the course. How to apply. Fill in the State Police application, WVSP 44A, have it notarized, and take it to your county sheriff with your DD-214 and photo identification. The sheriff runs the background checks and must issue or deny within 45 days once they are complete; the licence runs five years from your most recent birthday. The form's instructions list "any honorably discharged military veteran" among those whose fees are waived, but they still describe the fee as two $25 payments, the arrangement before 2020; the statute governs. Do you need a licence at all? Code 61-7-7(c) lets a United States citizen or legal resident 18 or older who is not barred from possessing a firearm carry concealed without one. The licence matters mainly for carrying in other states that honour West Virginia's. Some county sheriffs print the waiver on their own pages (Jefferson County's says "NO FEE for Veterans"); where a sheriff's page does not, the statute applies anyway.