Applying for a Resident Permit

Take a Class as described below:

All persons applying for a license must complete a training course in handling and firing a handgun. The successful completion of any of the following courses fulfills this training requirement:

1. Any official National Rifle Association handgun safety or training course;
2. Any handgun safety or training course or class available to the general public offered by an official law-enforcement organization, community college, junior college, college or private or public institution or organization or handgun training school utilizing instructors duly certified by the institution;
3. Any handgun training or safety course or class conducted by a handgun instructor certified as such by the state or by the National Rifle Association;
4. Any handgun training or safety course or class conducted by any branch of the United States Military, Reserve or National Guard.

An applicant must fire a handgun, which is part of the training. After attending the training, applicant may start completing the following requirements:

• Course Certificate
• West Virginia Driver’s License / ID to the Sheriff’s office of the county to where the applicant resides.
• Request for the application form and fill it out.

After submitting the requirements, the applicant will be contacted once the permit/license is ready for pick-up. For background check, there are some charges that will be applied. Sheriff charge is $75 plus $25 for State Police charge. Some sheriffs will add extra $5 for driver’s license type CHL and that give the applicant a total of $105.

An applicant may contact an 800 toll free number to get connected to West Virginia State Police to verify if such permit/license is valid.