CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has sent a letter to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan asking him to negotiate a gun reciprocity agreement between his state and West Virginia.
Currently, Maryland and West Virginia do not share a reciprocity agreement with regard to concealed handgun licenses. This means that if a Mountain State resident travels through or to Maryland while carrying a gun for self-defense, that resident is breaking Maryland law.
“We greatly value your consideration of our inquiries regarding recognition of West Virginia concealed handgun licenses,” Morrisey wrote in the letter sent November 3. “Our constituents have expressed concerns with an inability to protect themselves while commuting through or visiting your State.
"Upholding constitutional rights for individuals in our region and ensuring the safety of our citizens is an issue of the utmost importance.”
The letter was sent on the same day as the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a major Second Amendment case considering whether a person’s right to self-defense extends outside of one’s home. The letter notes that the case before the Supreme Court will settle the question of whether New York’s “denial of petitioners’ applications for concealed-carry licenses for self-defense violated the Second Amendment.”
Depending on the outcome in this case, Morrisey said Maryland and other states may need to reexamine their own firearm laws and potentially provide a pathway for law-abiding individuals to carry firearms beyond their own property.
The letter states that in light of this pending case, it is the right time for Maryland to reconsider reciprocity with sister states as well.
Morrisey writes it would therefore prove mutually beneficial for the two states to preemptively reach a concealed handgun license reciprocity agreement prior to any Supreme Court decision.
Morrisey filed two briefs in the case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, one asking the court to take the case and one concerning the merits.
