WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2026 REGULAR SESSION
Introduced
House Bill 5397
By Delegates Foggin, Coop-Gonzalez, Anders, Marple, Masters, Mallow, Brooks, and Heckert
[Introduced February 10, 2026; referred to the Committee on Finance]
A BILL to amend and reenact §11-15-9u of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to exempting sales of firearm suppressors from consumer sales and service tax; and providing a definition of a suppressor.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, the sale of small arms, and small arms ammunition or firearm suppressors, as those terms are defined in subsections (c), and (d) and (e) of this section, are exempted from the taxes imposed by this article and by §11-15A-1 et seq. of this code.
(b) "Receiver or frame" means that part of a firearm containing a manufacturer assigned serial number to track and identify a firearm and which provides housing for the hammer, bolt, or breechblock, and firing mechanism and which are usually threaded at its forward portion to receive the barrel.
(c) "Small arms" means any portable firearm, including the receiver or frame of the firearm, designed to be carried and operated by a single person, including, but not limited to, rifles, shotguns, pistols, and revolvers, with no barrel greater than an internal diameter of .50 caliber or a shotgun of 10 gauge or smaller.
(d) "Small arms ammunition" means firearm ammunition designed for use in small arms.
(e) "Suppressor" means a firearm device designed to reduce the sound of a firearm's discharge.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt sales of firearm suppressors from consumer sales and service tax.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.