Update: House Rules Committee Reverses Course, Campus Carry Bill Back in Play

Updated Wednesday, February 27, 2019 at 4:30 p.m.

A bill that would allow for concealed weapons on college campuses in West Virginia is now back into play, with the House Rules Committee reversing course on whether the measure would be placed on the chamber’s active calendar.

In a second meeting Wednesday of the House Rules Committee members voted 11-9 to put House Bill 2519 back on to the active calendar. The chamber is set to reconvene at 7 p.m.

House Bill 2519 would allow individuals, including students, who have a permit to conceal carry a gun to do so on campus with some exceptions. If passed, the bill stipulates concealed firearms would not be allowed in on campus daycares, dorm rooms and organized events in spaces with the capacity for more than 1,000 people. 

The urgency on the bill comes as Wednesday — known around the Capitol as Crossover Day — is the final day to consider bills from their chamber of origin.

House Bill 2519’s fate came into question Wednesday morning in a meeting of the House Rules Committee. The meeting took place shortly before the measure was set to be on third reading with a right to amend and then up for a final vote.

House Judiciary Chair John Shott, R-Mercer, moved to park House Bill 2519 on the inactive calendar. That motion was adopted on a 10-8 vote with a show of hands.

Del. Danny Hamrick, R-Harrison, was absent from that morning meeting. With a procedure known as “division” called, Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, did not participate in that vote.

Shortly after the start of the floor session, House Majority Leader Amy Summers, R-Taylor, moved to suspend House rules and get the bill back on the active calendar.

Summers’ motion was rejected on a 50-49 vote.

With the second meeting of the House Rules Committee brining the measure back into play, House Bill 2519 will be on third reading with amendments pending.