Creating Public Defense and Provisioning Act

SB 1071 proposes creating a state office of public defense to manage the procurement and sale of machine guns to qualified West Virginia residents. The bill cites the Second Amendment and West Virginia's state constitution (Article III, Section 22) as legal foundations, arguing that "arms of modern warfare" including machine guns are protected under these provisions. It establishes a new state office to handle the transfer process, referencing federal laws that permit states to transfer machine guns to law-abiding citizens. This bill directly affects eligible residents seeking to legally acquire machine guns for self-defense or state defense, as defined by the proposed office's regulations. The bill is currently in committee referral after its February 2026 introduction.