House Bill Raising Age to Purchase Firearms Introduced in House

Friday was the last day to introduce bills for the 2019 General Assembly.  Most of the gun control bills that have been introduced has already been defeated but one last bill dropped on Friday - House Bill 2797.  The bill would raise the age to purchase firearms from 18 to 21.  Like Senator Saslaw's SB1162 that was defeated last week in Senate Courts of Justice, it gradually raises the age over three years (i.e. if an individual is 18, 19 or 20 by July 1, 2019, they would not be covered by this bill).   It also includes additional language (italicized) that was not in Senator Saslaws bill:

To purchase from a dealer a handgun or an assault firearm as herein defined, a person shall (i) be 21 years of age or older; (ii) have attained the age of 18 by July 1, 2019; or (iii) be 18, 19, or 20 years of age and have received a high school diploma, have passed a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education, or be a member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the National Guard of the Commonwealth or of any other state and shall consent in writing, on a form to be provided by the Department of State Police, to have the dealer obtain criminal history record information.

It is expected that the House will dispose of this bill like they did all of the other gun ban bills last Thursday evening.