Firearm Restoration
West Virginia sets a 30-day rule for firearm restoration exams
The change applies to people seeking to regain gun rights after certain mental-health findings. It also directs state and federal notice steps once a court restores those rights.
West Virginia’s HB 4169 would require a mental health examination completed within 30 days of filing a petition to regain firearm rights. The measure spells out who may certify the exam and says the state would update its registry and alert federal background-check records after approval.
- A recent mental-health exam would be required before some gun-rights petitions can be filed.
- The exam would have to be certified by one of several licensed mental-health or psychiatric professionals.
- If relief is granted, state and federal records would be updated.
- In West Virginia, House Bill 4169 would make the mental-health exam in a firearm-rights restoration petition more current
- That keeps the petition tied to a recent clinical judgment, not an old assessment that may no longer reflect the person’s condition
West Virginia’s HB 4169 sets a firmer timeline for people seeking to regain gun rights after certain mental-health findings. The signed law requires a mental-health exam completed within 30 days before a restoration petition is filed, specifies which licensed providers may certify it, and tells the state to update records and notify federal background-check systems after approval.
That keeps the petition tied to a recent clinical judgment, not an old assessment that may no longer reflect the person’s condition. If a judge grants relief, the person’s name would come off the state mental health registry and the federal background-check system would be updated as well.
A shorter window before the court will listen
The bill narrows the timing more than the diagnosis. Someone seeking restoration would still need a qualifying professional to say the person meets the standard, but the report could not be stale.
Available vote records show the bill advanced without recorded no votes.