Historic gun safety legislation enacted in Virginia

Members of Moms Demand Action (right) watch the General Assembly consider gun legislation in January.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed into law several bills passed by the General Assembly aimed at reducing gun violence, including the following:

• Senate bill 70 (incorporating House bill 2) requires background checks for all firearm sales and transfers, including those at gun shows. A violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor. 

• Senate bill 240 and House bill 674 establish an “extreme risk protective order,” which creates a legal mechanism for law enforcement and courts to remove firearms from someone who poses a danger to themselves or others. 

• Senate Bill 69 and House Bill 812 reinstate Virginia’s one-handgun-a-month rule to help curtail firearm stockpiling and trafficking.

• House Bill 9 requires gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms to law enforcement within 48 hours or face a civil penalty.

• House Bill 1083 prevents children from accessing firearms by increasing the penalty (to a Class 1 misdemeanor) for recklessly leaving a loaded, unlocked firearm in their presence.

• Northam proposed an amendment to Senate Bill 35 and House Bill 421 which allow localities to regulate firearms in public buildings, parks, recreation centers, and during permitted events. Northam’s amendment would clarify the exemption for institutions of higher education. 

• Northam also proposed amending Senate Bill 479 and House Bill 1004, which prohibit individuals subject to protective orders from possessing firearms, require them to turn over their firearms within 24 hours, and certify to the court that they have turned over their weapons. Northam amended this legislation at the request of the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance to allow judges to hold respondents in contempt of court if they fail to comply with the certification requirements.