CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A bill that would allow “tactical medical professionals” to carry firearms while on duty has passed in the West Virginia State Senate on a bi-partisan vote.
Committee substitute for Senate Bill 83, allowing tactical medical professionals to carry firearms while on duty, passed on a 32-0 vote with two members being absent.
The bill defines a tactical medical professional as a person who is an emergency medical service personnel such as a nurse, physician, or physician assistant who is trained and certified in a nationally recognized tactical medical training program that is equivalent to “tactical combat casualty care” and “tactical emergency medical support.”
Senator Tom Takubo (R-Kanawha), the bills lead sponsor, spoke before the vote on the bill and stressed that the bill did not allow just any medical official to carry a firearm on duty. “This bill is specifically only for those personnel that are backing up law enforcement agencies in a tactical situation that number one, the medical personnel chooses to undergo the rigors of the qualifications of being qualified and two, permissive language by that law enforcement agency that they also agree that they should be doing that,” Takubo said.
Tactical medical professionals must be awarded a certificate by the Law-Enforcement Professional Standards Subcommittee of the Governor’s Committee on Crime, Delinquency, and Correction before carrying a firearm.
The certificate attests to the satisfactory completion of a law-enforcement training program that qualifies the tactical medical professional to carry firearms while on duty.
Takubo stated that this bill puts West Virginia at pace with surrounding states whom already have laws in place similar to SB 83.
The bill now goes to the House of Delegates.