WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2023 REGULAR SESSION
Introduced
House Bill 3004
By Delegate C. Pritt
[Introduced January 24, 2023; Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §61-2A-1, §61-2A-2, and §61-2A-3, all relating to the transferred right of self-defense to a person who engages an active shooter on school grounds; providing a short title, legislative findings, the transferred right of self-defense; prohibiting cowardice by a school security guard; providing a special hero reward to be administered by the State Treasurer; providing construction pursuant to the Second Amendment and the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
This article may be referred to as the "Transferred Right Of Self-Defense Active School Shooter Act (TROS DASSA)" or as Matthew McConaughey’s Law.
The legislature finds that:
(1) Perhaps the greatest interest that this state has is to protect children from hostile acts committed by an active shooter on school grounds, which calls for special protections and incentives;
(2) The state recognizes the need to draw upon the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution in its favor to protect children from an active school shooter in a situation where time is likely of the essence;
(3) The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads, "A Well- Regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state", the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed;"
(4) The "Transferred Right Of Self-Defense Active School Shooter Act (TROS DASSA)" is crafted to work within the Second Amendment framework and to incentivize a law-abiding firearm owner to defend students and teachers who have been targeted by an active shooter on school grounds before the arrival of law enforcement where time can often be of the essence;
(5) This state recognizes the urgent need to neutralize an active shooter on school grounds and the dangers it can present to a person who is brave enough to engage an active shooter, whether duty-bound to do so or otherwise;
(6) This state recognizes the need to prevent a person from interfering with an ongoing investigation after the arrival of law enforcement even in a situation involving an active shooter on school grounds with some exceptions;
(7) Neither civilized society nor this state can continue to permit willful acts of cowardice in response to an active shooter on school grounds by a school security guard whose paramount job and purpose is to provide safety;
(8) In response to a school shooting on May 24, 2022 in Uvalde Texas that claims the lives of nineteen students and two teachers, President Biden called upon lawmakers to "do something," and enacting the "Transferred Right Of Self-Defense Active School Shooter Act (TROS DASSA)" is doing something that will actually deter school shootings in a manner that accords with the realities of human nature and our Constitutional framework, which includes the Second Amendment;
(9) On June 7, 2022, from the White House briefing room, Matthew McConaughey, the actor, made an impassioned plea for safer schools, explaining that deterring school shootings should be a bi-partisan issue and that to do so "we start by making laws that save innocent lives and that don’t infringe on our Second Amendment rights."
(a) As used in this section:
"Active shooter" means a person who commits a hostile act or who demonstrates hostile intent on school grounds with a firearm or some other device;
"A person" means any citizen or civilian, other than an active shooter, with the means, including a firearm, and the opportunity to engage or neutralize an active shooter;
"Cowardice" means a school security guard who was duty-bound to protect children from an active shooter who retreats without cause, fails to take meaningful steps to neutralize an active shooter, or negligently refuses to engage an active shooter for self-serving reasons. The term also means refusing to aid law enforcement as described in §61-5-14 of this code.
"Firearm" has the same meaning as in 18 U.S. Code § 921;
"Hostile act" means action committed by a person that could lead to the death or the substantial likelihood of serious bodily injury;
"Hostile intent" means action by a person that demonstrates the intention or goal of committing a hostile act;
"Proportional force" means the amount of force necessary to protect oneself and others from a hostile act;
"School grounds" means any of the following:
(1) The area within three hundred feet of a school or its accompanying grounds;
(2) Any public property within one thousand feet of a school or its accompanying grounds;
(3) Any school bus;
(4) A bus contracted to transport pupils to any school during the time when the contracted vehicle is transporting pupils on behalf of the school;
(5) A school bus stop;
(6) Any bus stop where school children are awaiting, boarding or exiting a bus contracted to transport pupils to any school.
"Security guard" means a resource officer, safety officer, or school employee whose paramount contracted purpose, job, or duty is to protect students and teachers from hostile acts;
"Stand down" means to stop engaging;
"Transferred right of self-defense" means the common law right of self-defense is transferred to a person who attempts to protect a student, teacher, or person from an active shooter on school grounds.
(b) A person may engage an active shooter, who commits a hostile act or who demonstrates hostile intent at a public or private school, kindergarten through college, with proportional force to terminate or neutralize the active shooter with absolute impunity under the transferred right of self-defense to protect students, teachers, and others.
(c) A person may engage an active shooter at a public or private school, kindergarten through college, with necessary and proportional force to terminate or neutralize the active shooter with absolute impunity before or after the arrival of law enforcement. After law enforcement arrives on school grounds, a person engaging the active shooter shall stand down if ordered to do so by law enforcement so as to not interfere with an ongoing investigation.
(d) A person who refuses to stand down in a situation described in subsection (c) of this section, commits the offense of obstructing an officer under §61-5-17 of this code and is subject to the penalties under that section.
(e) It shall be an absolute defense to a violation of subsection (d) of this section if the preponderance of the evidence shows that the person who was ordered to stand down by law enforcement would have put himself or others in greater danger if obeyed or the person who was given the order was engaged in a continuing firefight with the active shooter at the time of its issuance.
(f) A person who engages an active shooter as described in subsections (b) and (c) of this section is not guilty of violating section §61-7-11a of this code for possessing a firearm on school grounds or any other similar law that conflicts with this section.
(g) If a public or private school, kindergarten through college, employs a security guard, and if the security guard is in close proximity when an active shooter commits a hostile act on school grounds, and if the security guard responds with cowardice, the security guard is guilty of a misdemeanor for refusing to aid law enforcement.
(h) If a person, security guard, or law enforcement officer neutralizes, terminates, or subdues an active shooter on school grounds, they may submit an application with the State Treasurer to claim a special reward. The State Treasurer may award up to $50,000 to a person, security guard, or law enforcement officer who played the greatest role in neutralizing an active shooter on school grounds.
(i) If a person, security guard, or law enforcement officer is severely injured or killed in attempting to neutralize an active shooter on school grounds, they or their surviving family members can submit an application to the State Treasurer to receive a reward of up to $50,000. The State Treasurer may grant such a reward up to $50,000 at its discretion.
(j) The State Treasurer shall prepare the application form described in subsections (h) and (i) of this section. The State Treasurer, or designee, may conduct a hearing or an investigation in making a determination as to the rewards described in subsections (h) and (i) of this section.
(k) This section is constructed to take advantage of the Second Amendment by incentivizing a person who is a law-abiding firearm owner to engage to neutralize an active shooter on school grounds before the arrival of law enforcement in a situation where time is often of the essence.
(l) This section is constructed pursuant to the police powers conferred to this state and to the people under the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
(m) This section is not constructed to diminish the transferred right of self-defense in other instances but to underscore its special importance in a situation involving active shooters on school grounds in situations where time is often of the essence and the stakes are high.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the transferred right of self-defense to a person who engages an active shooter on school grounds.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.