Permits to carry a concealed firearm are declining, along with the associated revenue for law enforcement.
West Virginians gained the right to carry a firearm without a permit last May, but the numbers started to drop in 2014.
About 28,000 residents held a permit in 2016, which is about 2,000 fewer than the year before, according to State Police records.
Both legislators and authorities argued in favor of public safety before legislators overrode a veto of House Bill 4145 in March 2016, making way for concealed carry.
However, neither side could agree whether permit requirements helped the public or infringed on the rights of its citizens.
They did find a common ground when it came to the importance of proper firearm training, though both parties once again split when it came to whether training should be required.
Pharmacist Don Radcliff, a permit holder for more than 25 years, stands on that common ground.
He shot and killed a would-be robber at Good Family Pharmacy in 2015, and opponents of carrying without a permit soon used his skilled response to highlight the need for a training requirement.
What they missed, Radcliff said, is that he applied for a permit before the state required training.
Radcliff said he is actually against such requirements. He and his son - a Marine Corps veteran and Army Special Forces weapons sergeant - often train at Radcliff's home firing range.
Everyone who takes the time to buy a gun, he said, should also take the time to practice with it.
"For those people who feel more comfortable having a gun, the only thing that I would advocate is, please know how to use the gun," he said.
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With a permit tucked between his leather holster and a Smith & Wesson revolver, E.J. Smith stood in his garage on a Saturday morning.
Smith is a National Rifle Association-certified instructor who operates a training course at his home each weekend. His business cards promote the philosophy of an ideal firearm class: "We teach the beginner how and make the experienced better."
He said people now apply for permits to either learn more about handguns or to travel out of state with a concealed firearm.
Not long ago, he told the class, people often stayed near their hometown. His mother grew up in Logan County and rarely left.
"She told me when she was a kid and she saw the Kanawha River, she thought it was the ocean," he said. "But that's not the case now. It's nothing for us to jump in the car and be over in Parkersburg or down in Virginia."
Before the class started, he gave each student a list of 35 states that recognize concealed carry permits from West Virginia.
Smith said he grew up in Boone County, where "babies are born with guns in their hands."
Though his students are often eager to learn, Smith wasn't always the same way. He worked with law enforcement as a firearm trainer for decades, and the 10-hour NRA class for future instructors felt like a waste of time.
Despite his initial resistance, Smith said he started to learn new things.
"There's tons of stuff about firearms that people in this area think they know, but don't," he said.
Holding one of his many revolvers, he showed the class a series of arrows that indicate where the cylinder will turn when the gun is fired.
"I did not know that," Alex Saul said, looking toward his wife, Denise Saul.
Alex and Denise Saul both grew up with guns, and now they teach their own kids how to shoot. Denise Saul said her son learned with the same .410-bore shotgun she used as a child.
"If I was to put a handgun in my daughter's hand or in one of my sons' hands, I would want them to have this class," she said.
The Sauls said they fall under both categories of permit holders, as people who are interested in education and out-of-state carry.
After a man broke into a room at their hotel in Tennessee and another person broke into their home in West Virginia, they decided it was time to become card holders.
Alex Saul said he grew up during a time when schools taught hunter safety and when students showed off their Christmas presents - often guns - on school property.
"Back then, I didn't see no reason to even have a gun on my side," he said. "This day and time, it's scary to even be out."
After the class, Smith shared what he believes led to permitless carry, sometimes referred to as constitutional carry by its supporters.
The bill passed after an historic legislative session the year before, when Republicans controlled both houses of the Legislature for the first time in more than 80 years.
Then-governor Earl Ray Tomblin vetoed two bills meant to abolish permit requirements, motivating his opposition even more, Smith said.
"They were angry, and they were going to prove to the governor that they can do what they wanted," he said
Smith said the other factor was a lack of quality training classes. Why, he asked, would people want required training when instructors taught the students nothing?
The law now requires students to live-fire a handgun during their training course, and Smith said his class might be more than a couple hours if students could pay attention longer.
Smith taught science in schools for decades, and he said it's part of his character to help others learn.
Some firearm instructors, he said, offered classes at half the normal price, awarding students a certificate after they watched a 10-minute video and shot a handgun.
"You can't blame a gun for stupidity," he said. "The gun is just a tool. It's no different than any tool you've got in your kitchen."
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Smith likely will retire within the year, leaving fewer training options left in Charleston.
He is among many others who took a financial hit when the decline in permits started in 2014. Since then, law enforcement agencies throughout the state may have lost more than a million dollars.
Permit applications and renewals rose from 2010 to 2013, when the number of card holders peaked at more than 42,000. The number dropped by about a quarter the next year, and it has dropped slightly more each following year.
Each sheriff's office receives $60 of the $75 application fee to cover the cost of issuing permits. Any leftover funds can be used at the agency's discretion.
The other $15 per application goes to the Courthouse Facilities Improvement Fund. A $25 fee is collected after the application is approved, and the money goes to the superintendent of the West Virginia State Police.
Under the bill that passed last year, anyone who pays for a required training class or application is entitled to a tax credit of up to $50.
Certain people are exempt from application fees, such as circuit judges and retired law enforcement officers, according to the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office license application.
It's unclear how many people took advantage of fee exemptions over the years and how much exemptions affected the amount in losses from declining application fees.
Jefferson County Sheriff Pete Dougherty said payments to his account for license fees dropped nearly 20 percent between 2015 and 2016.
"The funds in that account have been used to help purchase officer safety equipment and supplies that are needed but not funded by the County Commission," he wrote in an email.
In sharp contrast, Morgan County Sheriff K.C. Bohrer said his agency largely is unaffected by the trend.
He said the county is less than 45 minutes from four other states, and residents still carry permits and firearms on their travels.
The Gazette-Mail sent a survey to sheriff's deputies and police officers around the state, and 29 respondents - each using their agency's email - replied. The survey promised confidentiality to generate honest responses.
Of the surveys sent to deputies, one respondent cited added revenue as a benefit of permits.
Those respondents who support permits (86 percent) said they most value the required firearm training, followed by background checks and then peace of mind for law enforcement.
The background check used for permit applicants may reveal things that would pass under the screening required to buy a gun, said Lt. Steve Cooper, chief of detectives for the Charleston Police Department, at a March 2015 hearing.
Keith Campbell, the secretary of the West Virginia Citizen's Defense League, spoke at the same hearing.
He said money motivated law enforcement's opposition to the bill.
"This is a right we have," Campbell said at the time. "This is a right we shouldn't have to pay for."
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West Virginia now is among at least 11 other states that allow permitless concealed carry.
Despite a similar outcry from certain law enforcement officials and state leaders in other regions, the movement may be gaining momentum.
At least 16 states introduced legislation this year to move away from permit requirements, The Washington Post reported in February.
According to the report, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, recently signed permitless carry into law after his predecessor, now-Sen. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat, vetoed the legislation twice.
Montana's Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock and the previous Democratic governor of Missouri, Jay Nixon, both vetoed such bills in the last year, though Missouri legislators overrode the veto.
Vermont has allowed permitless carry since its founding in 1791, according to the NRA. Most recently, North Dakota enacted its own law on March 23.
Amy Hunter, a media liaison for the NRA, said gun owners know their needs best, including what training is appropriate.
For some, training courses likely are a smart option, Hunter wrote in an email.
"However, for those who have grown up in a family with rich firearms traditions and who have spent a lifetime practicing safe firearm use, they should not be forced to undergo a government-mandated training program," she wrote.
The NRA has said concealed carry is convenient and perhaps more socially acceptable than carrying in the open. It also cited the ability to not reveal one's weapon and the need to deter criminals from victimizing an armed public as possible reasons for the changing laws.
Radcliff, the pharmacist who protected his store from an armed robber in 2015, said he doesn't have a strong opinion about legislation for permitless carry.
He does, however, care to see gun owners shooting their firearms and becoming comfortable with the process.
"If you're not going to get familiar with it, then you shouldn't even buy it," he said.
Reach Giuseppe Sabella at
giuseppe.sabella@wvgazettemail.com,
304-348-5189 or
@Gsabella on Twitter.