---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to the definition of small arms for purposes of taxation"
description: "Relating to the definition of small arms for purposes of taxation"
jurisdiction: "us/states/wv"
legislature: "West Virginia Legislature"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 5261"
citation: "West Virginia HB 5261 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Taxation"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Horst"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 34
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2024-01-29"
last_action: "2024-04-22"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/daf20cc2-d2fd-4ccd-a7bb-a8cf5012bfe1"
source_url: "https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/Bills_history.cfm?input=5261&year=2024&sessiontype=RS&btype=bill"
source_hash: "b937316095b4a51c21b9abb6147ac4a8d5da16df76a39cad9c21a25945e53b47"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-wv"]
---

# West Virginia HB 5261 (2024) — Relating to the definition of small arms for purposes of taxation

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Enrolled Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb5261%20enr.htm&yr=2024&sesstype=RS&i=5261)
2. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb5261%20intr.htm&yr=2024&sesstype=RS&i=5261)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- EFFECT July 01, 2024 — **96–0** (pass) · lower
- Passage — **34–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Horst — primary (person)
- Criss — cosponsor (person)
- Hardy — cosponsor (person)
- Hite — cosponsor (person)
- Howell — cosponsor (person)
- Maynor — cosponsor (person)
- McGeehan — cosponsor (person)
- Phillips — cosponsor (person)
- Steele — cosponsor (person)
- Summers — cosponsor (person)
- Thorne — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2024-01-29** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2024-01-29** To Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-29** Introduced in House `introduction`
- **2024-01-29** To House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-08** Do pass
- **2024-02-09** On 1st reading, Special Calendar
- **2024-02-09** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-12** On 2nd reading, Special Calendar
- **2024-02-12** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-13** On 3rd reading, Special Calendar
- **2024-02-13** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-13** Passed House (Roll No. 164) `passage`
- **2024-02-13** Effective July 1, 2024 (Roll No. 165)
- **2024-02-13** Communicated to Senate
- **2024-02-14** Introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2024-02-14** Committee reference dispensed
- **2024-02-15** On 1st reading
- **2024-02-15** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-16** On 2nd reading
- **2024-02-16** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-19** On 3rd reading
- **2024-02-19** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-19** Passed Senate (Roll No. 170) `passage`
- **2024-02-19** Effective July 1, 2024 (Roll No. 170)
- **2024-02-19** Communicated to House
- **2024-02-19** Completed legislative action
- **2024-02-20** House received Senate message
- **2024-02-29** To Governor 2/29/2024 - Senate Journal `executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-01** To Governor 2/29/2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-01** To Governor 2/29/2024 - House Journal `executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-06** Approved by Governor 3/6/2024 - Senate Journal `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-07** Approved by Governor 3/6/2024 `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-07** Approved by Governor 3/6/2024 - House Journal `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-22** Chapter 262, Acts, Regular Session, 2024 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/daf20cc2-d2fd-4ccd-a7bb-a8cf5012bfe1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official West Virginia legislature records).