Constitutional carry since 2016. No AWB, no mag limit, strong preemption. Stand-your-ground codified. Suppressors legal. No waiting period, no red-flag law.

Medical cannabis (SB 386, 2017) - operational since 2021. No decriminalization, no recreational. Naloxone access expanded due to opioid crisis. Drug courts available. No psychedelic reform.

State minimum wage $8.75/hr. MIT living wage for 1 adult: $14.61/hr. Ratio 0.60 — minimum-wage workers earn 60% of what's needed to live there alone.

Lowest life expectancy in nation (72.2), USNews #46, NAEP scores well below average, weak infrastructure (D range). Low tax burden but services delivered are bottom-tier — low-input/low-output mediocrity.

IJ grades WV D (low burden, profit incentive). No QI reform. No-knock allowed. No body cam mandate. No comprehensive privacy law. Cooperates with ICE.

Excuse required for absentee voting. Early voting 10 days. Automatic registration enacted but limited. Strict photo ID since 2018. Felons vote after sentence completion including probation/parole. Republican-controlled redistricting with moderate bias. Limited recent expansions; HB 4504 (2024) added voter roll restrictions.

Medicaid expansion adopted 2014. Total abortion ban with narrow exceptions (HB 302, 2022). Trans youth gender-affirming care ban (HB 2007). Worst rural hospital crisis (Appalachia). Maternal mortality elevated. Opioid-driven public health crisis.

No qualified immunity reform. No statewide BWC mandate. Personnel records confidential. WV Law Enforcement Professional Standards decertifies. No no-knock ban. No necessity standard. Local prosecution. No statewide chokehold ban. Per-capita killings above median.

Total abortion ban. Gender-affirming care restrictions expanded in 2025. No LGBTQ+ protections. RFRA. Anti-trans school sports law (litigation ongoing post-Skrmetti). No conversion therapy ban. Active Christian-nationalist legislative trend.

Right-to-work state (2016). No paid family leave. No paid sick leave. Federal OSHA only. Prevailing wage repealed (2016). Weak wage theft enforcement. Highest or near-highest fatal occupational injury rate (mining). No heat, domestic worker, or scheduling protections.