West Virginia does not have a statute that criminalizes carrying a firearm while temporarily intoxicated the way many states do. There is no "0.08%...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
West Virginia does not have a statute that criminalizes carrying a firearm while temporarily intoxicated the way many states do. There is no "0.08% blood alcohol while carrying" firearm offense in the West Virginia Code. The relevant restrictions are status based and habit based, not a single-drink, single-moment standard.
The firearm prohibitions tied to alcohol and drugs come from three sources:
Because West Virginia is a constitutional carry state under W. Va. Code 61-7-7(c), the under-influence questions are about who may lawfully possess a firearm at all, not about a separate carry-while-drinking permit condition.
W. Va. Code 61-7-7(a) lists the persons who may not possess a firearm. Two of those categories involve alcohol or drugs:
These are status categories. The statute speaks to habitual addiction and to unlawful use, not to a person who has a single drink. A person who is habitually addicted, or who is an unlawful user of a controlled substance, is a prohibited person and may not possess a firearm at all.
Violating 61-7-7(a) is a misdemeanor. On conviction the penalty is a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, or confinement in the county jail for not less than ninety days nor more than one year, or both.
W. Va. Code 61-7-7(d) is a separate and additional offense. It applies to a person who is prohibited under 61-7-7(a), including a person prohibited because of habitual alcohol addiction or unlawful controlled substance use, who then carries a concealed firearm. That conduct is a felony. On conviction the penalty is confinement in a state correctional facility for not more than three years, or a fine of not more than $5,000, or both.
So a person who falls into the alcohol or drug status categories faces two layers of exposure: the misdemeanor for possession under 61-7-7(a), and the felony under 61-7-7(d) if that prohibited person carries concealed.
(Note: 61-7-7(d) is not, despite some secondary summaries, an "under the influence" statute with a blood alcohol threshold. The West Virginia Code contains no such threshold for firearm carry. Treat any 0.08% "carrying under the influence" claim as inaccurate.)
The optional concealed handgun license under W. Va. Code 61-7-4 is not required for an adult 21 or older who may lawfully possess a firearm, but many residents still obtain it for reciprocity. The license has its own alcohol and drug standard.
Under W. Va. Code 61-7-4(b)(4), an applicant must affirm that he or she is not addicted to alcohol, a controlled substance, or a drug, and is not an unlawful user thereof, as evidenced by either of the following within the three years immediately prior to the application:
This is the only place in the carry framework where impaired driving convictions matter, and it matters only for the optional license. Two or more DUI or DWI convictions inside the three year window can disqualify a license applicant. A single DUI does not automatically trigger this disqualifier.
The provisional license for applicants 18 to 20 years old, W. Va. Code 61-7-4a, carries the same alcohol and drug standard.
W. Va. Code 61-7-5 provides that a license to carry a deadly weapon is deemed revoked at the time the licensee becomes unable to meet the criteria for initial licensure in 61-7-4. A licensee who later develops a disqualifying addiction, or who accumulates two or more DUI or DWI convictions within the relevant window, can lose the license on that basis. The statute requires the person to surrender the license to the issuing sheriff upon becoming ineligible.
Revocation of the license does not, by itself, restore a right to carry that a person never lost, because constitutional carry under 61-7-7(c) is separate from the license. But a person who is a prohibited person under 61-7-7(a) cannot rely on constitutional carry either.
18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3) makes it unlawful for any person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance, as defined in the Controlled Substances Act, to possess any firearm or ammunition. This federal prohibition is broader and more durable than a momentary impairment test. It turns on user status, not on whether the person is high at a particular instant.
Cannabis is the most common trap. Marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law. A regular cannabis user, including a person enrolled in West Virginia's medical cannabis program under W. Va. Code Chapter 16A, is treated as an unlawful user of a controlled substance for purposes of 922(g)(3) and is federally barred from possessing firearms and ammunition. West Virginia's state-law medical cannabis authority does not change the federal prohibition.
A knowing violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g) is punishable under 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(8) by a fine, imprisonment for not more than fifteen years, or both.
West Virginia's own controlled substance scheme is in W. Va. Code Chapter 60A, the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, and the medical cannabis program is in Chapter 16A. Neither chapter creates a state-law firearm exemption for cannabis users.
West Virginia does not need an "under the influence" firearm statute to punish dangerous conduct. If an impaired person handles a firearm recklessly, W. Va. Code 61-7-12 applies. That statute makes it a felony to wantonly perform any act with a firearm that creates a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to another. On conviction the penalty is confinement for a definite term of not less than one year nor more than five years, or, in the court's discretion, confinement in the county jail for not more than one year, or a fine of not less than $250 nor more than $2,500, or both.
Impairment is the kind of fact a prosecutor uses to show that an act was wanton. Alcohol or drug use does not create the wanton endangerment charge by itself, but it makes the charge much easier to prove.
West Virginia's civil self-defense immunity is in W. Va. Code 55-7-22. Subsection (d) provides that justified use of reasonable and proportionate force is a full and complete defense to any civil action brought by an intruder or attacker. Subsection (e) lists the situations where that civil defense is not available: a person committing or escaping from a felony, a person who provoked the confrontation to use force as an excuse to inflict harm, and a person who otherwise initially provoked the use of force without withdrawing.
Intoxication is not listed as an automatic exclusion in 55-7-22(e). But impairment still hurts a self-defense claim in practical terms. If the impaired person is a prohibited possessor under 61-7-7(a), the underlying possession is itself a crime, and if the impaired conduct was wanton or provoked the encounter, the exclusions in 55-7-22(e) can apply. Impairment also undermines the reasonableness of the defender's perception, which is the core of any justification defense.
| Statute | Subject |
|---|---|
| W. Va. Code 61-7-7(a)(2) | Habitually addicted to alcohol; prohibited from possessing a firearm |
| W. Va. Code 61-7-7(a)(3) | Unlawful user of or habitually addicted to a controlled substance; prohibited |
| W. Va. Code 61-7-7(d) | Prohibited person who carries concealed; felony, up to 3 years or $5,000 |
| W. Va. Code 61-7-4(b)(4) | License standard: no addiction or unlawful use; three year DUI and treatment lookback |
| W. Va. Code 61-7-4a | Provisional license (ages 18 to 20); same alcohol and drug standard |
| W. Va. Code 61-7-5 | Revocation of license when applicant criteria are no longer met |
| W. Va. Code 61-7-12 | Wanton endangerment involving a firearm; felony |
| W. Va. Code 55-7-22 | Civil self-defense immunity; exclusions in subsection (e) |
| W. Va. Code Chapter 16A | West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act |
| W. Va. Code Chapter 60A | Uniform Controlled Substances Act |
| 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3) | Federal bar on firearm possession by unlawful users of controlled substances |
| 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(8) | Penalty for a knowing 922(g) violation; up to 15 years |
This page covers one part of our West Virginia concealed carry guide.
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