Legislative Update

It took a little over three and a half hours last night to advance 11 pro-rights bills and defeat 13 gun control bills.  This morning, the full House Public Safety Committee reported all 11 pro-rights bills to the full House.  Bills that were defeated included bills to institute a three-day waiting period on firearm purchases, a ban on modern sporting rifles and standard capacity magazines, mandatory storage requirements, a bill raising the age to purchase modern sporting rifles to 21, a bill establishing a compensated confiscation fund and program, and a microstamping bill.  Two bills received a lot of attention in particular.  First was House Bill 2273 where the patron, Delegate Cliff Hayes, gave an impassioned presentation of his bill to institute a three day waiting period before completing the purchase of a firearm.  He used the tragic shooting at a Walmart in Chesapeake late last year to illustrate why the bill was needed.  The shooter in that incident purchased his firearm the morning of the shooting. Delegate Hayes represents Chesapeake and the shooter lived three doors down from the Delegate.

The bill was defeated on a vote of 5-4.

The next bill that drew a lot of attention was Delegate Helmer's House Bill 2240, a bill that would ban the sale of modern sporting rifles, suppressors, and standard capacity magazines.  Helmer is a veteran and fully knows the difference between firearms used by the military and what is sold to civilians.  That did not stop him from taking the opportunity to imply that he was simply seeking to ban "weapons of war".  After Helmer presented his bill, the public had the opportunity to speak in support and opposition to the bill which was followed by committee member comments.  Delegate Candi Mundon King took the opportunity to chastise the committee for not advancing any of the gun ban legislation and accused the delegates opposed to those bills as being pawns of the "gun lobby".  This prompted Subcommittee Chairman Delegate Nick Freitas to speak up.  He had kept quiet other than to run the meeting up to this point.  You can see Helmer's bill presentation, Delegate Mundon King's comments, and Delegate Freitas' response below.

The bill was defeated on a vote of 6-4.

The list of bills that were reported last night and confirmed by the full committee this morning are:

HB1407  Adds an exception for persons who have been issued a valid concealed handgun permit by the Commonwealth or persons who have a valid concealed handgun or concealed weapon permit or license by reciprocity to the prohibition of carrying a firearm within Capitol Square and the surrounding area, any building owned or leased by the Commonwealth or any agency thereof, or any office where employees of the Commonwealth or any agency thereof are regularly present for the purpose of performing their official duties.

HB1422 Adds a firearms safety or training course conducted by the United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) or by a USCCA-certified firearms instructor, or any firearms safety or training course or class available to the general public offered by a law-enforcement agency, institution of higher education, or private or public institution or organization or firearms training school utilizing instructors certified by the USCCA to those programs that satisfy the demonstration of competence requirement for the issuance of a Virginia resident or nonresident concealed handgun permit.

HB1427 Removes a locality's authority to prohibit the possession or carrying of firearms, ammunition, or components or any combination thereof in (i) any public park owned or operated by the locality; (ii) any recreation or community center facility operated by the locality; or (iii) any public street, road, alley, or sidewalk or public right-of-way or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public and is being used by or is adjacent to a permitted event or an event that would otherwise require a permit.

HB1462 Removes the provision that prevents a firearms dealer from selling or otherwise transferring a firearm to a prospective purchaser until 30 days after the date of issue of the prospective purchaser's original or duplicate photo identification.

HB1570 Provides that the prohibition on carrying a firearm or explosive material in any building owned or leased by the Commonwealth shall not apply to any highway rest area.

HB1871 Extends from five years to 10 years the period during which a concealed handgun permit remains valid. The bill also provides that if a valid concealed handgun permit holder presents a written notice of a change in identifying information on a form provided by the Department of State Police to the clerk of the court who issued such permit, then such clerk shall issue a replacement permit specifying the permit holder's new information.

HB2228 Provides that a person who was previously issued a concealed handgun permit is not required to provide any proof of training or demonstration of competence to be issued a renewal permit.

HB2420 Provides that if the Department of State Police has not issued a nonresident concealed handgun permit nor determined that the applicant for such permit is disqualified within 90 days of receipt of the application for such permit, the Department shall immediately issue the permit. 

HB2449 Limits the exception to the requirement that the State Police withhold from public disclosure concealed handgun permittee information submitted to the State Police for purposes of entry into the Virginia Criminal Information Network provided under current law for any law-enforcement agency, officer, or authorized agent thereof acting in the performance of official law-enforcement duties or an entity that has a valid contract with any local, state, or federal law-enforcement agency for the purpose of performing official duties of the law-enforcement agency to apply only when such permittee information is related to a criminal investigation or prosecution.

HB2460 Prohibits state agencies other than the Department of Corrections, Department of Juvenile Justice, and Virginia Port Authority and public institutions of higher education from adopting any regulation or workplace rule preventing officers or employees of such agencies from storing a lawfully possessed firearm and ammunition in a locked private motor vehicle at their workplace unless the adoption of the regulation is expressly authorized by statute. The bill also provides that any such regulation or rule adopted prior to July 1, 2023, is invalid.

HB2467 Provides that to establish personal identification and residence in Virginia for the purposes of purchasing a firearm, a prospective purchaser may present a special identification card without a photograph issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles to a person with a sincerely held religious belief prohibiting the taking of a photograph.

The bills that were defeated last night are:

HB1515 Makes it a Class 2 felony to possess or use an auto sear in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of a crime of violence. The bill also makes it a Class 4 felony to unlawfully possess or use an auto sear for an offensive or aggressive purpose. The bill defines auto sear as a small device with a combination of parts made of metal or plastic designed and intended for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun, as defined by 26 U.S.C. 5845(b).

HB1579 Provides that any person who, within a five-year period, has been convicted of two misdemeanor driving or boating while intoxicated offenses shall be ineligible to purchase or transport a handgun.

HB1729 Provides that a person who is prohibited from possessing a firearm because such person is subject to a protective order or has been convicted of an assault and battery of a family or household member may transfer a firearm owned by such prohibited person to any person who is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing such firearm, provided that such person who is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing such firearm is 21 years of age or older and does not reside with the person who is subject to the protective order.

HB1788  Provides that it is unlawful for any licensed dealer in firearms to sell, offer for sale, exchange, give, transfer, or deliver any firearm manufactured on or after July 1, 2025, unless such firearm has been verified as a microstamping-enabled firearm, as defined in the bill. The bill also makes it unlawful for any person to modify such microstamping-enabled firearm or microstamping component with the intent to prevent the production of a microstamp. The bill makes a first violation punishable as a Class 3 misdemeanor and a second or subsequent violation punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor and has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

HB1936 Directs the Department of State Police to establish the uniform standards for the creation of the Virginia Firearm Buy-Back Program. The bill requires the Department to (i) inform local law-enforcement agencies of the policies and procedures to be used for the Program, (ii) provide guidelines to participating local law-enforcement agencies on implementation of the Program, and (iii) establish a formula for determining any monetary incentive for a surrendered firearm. The bill clarifies that participation in the Program by a local law-enforcement agency is voluntary. The bill also directs the Department to establish the Virginia Firearm Buy-Back Fund, a nonreverting fund to be used solely for the purposes of development and implementation of the Program.

HB2164 Removes references to the National Rifle Association (the NRA) from the Code and repealing authority for special license plates in support of the NRA.

HB2240 Expands the definition of "assault firearm" and prohibits any person from importing, selling, transferring, manufacturing, purchasing, or transporting an assault firearm. A violation of this provision of the bill is a Class 6 felony. The bill also prohibits a dealer from selling, renting, trading, or transferring from his inventory an assault firearm to any person. The bill makes it a Class 6 felony to import, sell, transfer, manufacture, purchase, or transport a large-capacity firearm magazine, as defined in the bill, and a Class 1 misdemeanor to possess such large-capacity firearm magazine. The bill provides that any person who legally owns a large-capacity firearm magazine on July 1, 2023, may retain possession of such firearm magazine until January 1, 2024, and during that time, such person shall (i) render the large-capacity firearm magazine permanently inoperable, (ii) remove the large-capacity firearm magazine from the Commonwealth, (iii) transfer the large-capacity firearm magazine to a person outside the Commonwealth who is not prohibited from possessing it, or (iv) surrender the large-capacity firearm magazine to a state or local law-enforcement agency. Finally, the bill makes it a Class 6 felony for any person to import, sell, transfer, manufacture, or purchase a silencer, except as provided for in the National Firearms Act.

HB2273 Provides that no person shall sell a firearm unless at least three days have elapsed from the time the prospective purchaser completes the written consent form to have a licensed dealer obtain criminal history record information, with exceptions for (i) transactions between licensed firearms importers or collectors, manufacturers, or dealers; (ii) purchases by or sales to any law-enforcement officer or agent of the United States, the Commonwealth or any local government, or any campus police officer; (iii) sales of antique firearms or curios or relics, as defined in relevant law; (iv) sales to an authorized representative of the Commonwealth or any subdivision thereof as part of an authorized voluntary gun buy-back or give-back program; (v) sales that occur at a firearms show and the seller has received a determination from the Department of State Police that the purchaser is not prohibited under state or federal law from possessing a firearm; or (vi) sales of a service weapon to a retired law-enforcement officer.

HB2288 Provides that in order to purchase an assault firearm a person must be 21 years of age or older. The bill also expands the definition of "assault firearm" as the term applies to criminal history record information checks.

HB2350 Requires any person who possesses a firearm in a residence where such person knows or reasonably should know that a minor under 18 years of age is present to store such firearm unloaded in a locked container, compartment, or cabinet and to store all ammunition in a separate locked container, compartment, or cabinet. The bill requires that the key or combination to such locked containers, compartments, or cabinets be inaccessible to any minor. The bill provides that a violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor, and, in a case where there is more than one firearm stored in violation of these provisions, a violation for each firearm shall constitute a separate Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill exempts any person in lawful possession of a firearm who carries such firearm on or about his person, the storage of antique firearms, and the lawful authorization of a minor to access a firearm.

HB2365 Limits the exemption from the prohibition on the carrying of any firearm or explosive material within any building owned or leased by the Commonwealth or agency thereof or any office where employees of the Commonwealth or any agency thereof are regularly present for the purpose of performing their official duties that currently applies to any property owned or operated by a public institution of higher education to instead apply to any individual within a building owned or operated by a public institution of higher education who possesses a weapon as part of such public institution of higher education's curriculum or activities or as part of any organization authorized by the public institution of higher education to conduct its programs or activities within such building.

HB2377 Provides that if a valid concealed handgun permit holder presents a written notice of a change of name, height, weight, or gender on a form provided by the Department of State Police to the clerk of the court who issued such permit, then such clerk shall issue a replacement permit specifying the permit holder's new information.

HB2407 Requires that a prospective purchaser of a firearm present proof that such prospective purchaser has demonstrated competence with a firearm or completed a firearms safety or training course, as specified in the bill, within the past five years.

Also yesterday, in the Senate Transportation Committee, SB901 was reported out of the committee to the full Senate.  This bill would required that no person leave, place, or store a handgun in an unattended motor vehicle, as defined in the bill, unless the vehicle is locked and the handgun is secured in a locked container or locked compartment of the vehicle. The bill provides that any person violating such prohibition is subject to a civil penalty of no more than $500 and such unattended motor vehicle may be subject to removal for safekeeping.

In the State Senate, the following bill was on the calendar today for final passage:

SB 1067 Substantial risk orders; substantial risk factors and considerations.  This bill makes various changes to the "red flag" law passed in 2020.  The bill was passed by for the day and will be on final passage again on Monday.

The following bills are on Second Reading in the Senate:

SB 1139 Firearms; storage in residence where minor present, penalty. This bill was passed by for the day. and will be on Second Reading again on Monday.

SB 1181 Unfinished frames or receivers and unserialized firearms; sale, transfer, or purchase, penalty. The bill was engrossed will be on final passage on Monday.

SB 1192 Assault firearms; carrying in public areas prohibited, penalty. The bill was engrossed and will be on final passage on Monday.

SB 1382 Assault firearms and certain ammunition feeding devices; purchase, possession, etc., prohibited. The bill was engrossed and will be on final passage on Monday.