Virginia Citizens Defense league

Defending Your Right to Defend Yourself

va-alert-Legislative Update

Published 3/6/2026

VCDL Legislative Update 3/6/26

More bills passed out of the House and Senate and are headed to the Governor’s desk. There still more gun-control bills that haven’t been passed.

If you haven’t yet sent an email to the Governor urging her not to sign gun-control bills, you can do so by clicking here.

Vote NO on the Democrat’s attempt to steal future elections by gerrymandering Virginia to wipe out the votes of large swaths of the state that are bright red. Early voting has now started!

This year’s General Assembly is over on March 14. Any bills left in either the Senate or the House that have not passed out by that date are dead.

These gun-control bills have passed both bodies between March 3 and March 6 and are now on their way to the Governor’s desk

HB 19, Delegate McClure, makes battery in a “dating relationship” a misdemeanor and takes away the right to purchase, possess, or transport a firearm for three years.

Misdemeanors should never take away a civil right.

HB 21, Delegate Helmer, allows one of the most highly regulated industries, the firearms industry, to be sued civilly for a variety of already illegal actions. It also holds the manufacturers and sellers of even the most benign of firearm accessories, like a butt stock or a gun case, liable to a civil lawsuit if it doesn’t “properly” protect that item from theft or misuse by a criminal.

How could a firearm accessory seller reasonably know if they were selling a gun sling to a prohibited person? Should a car parts store be sued if they sold a seat cover for a car used in a bank robbery? This bill is designed to have a chilling effect on all aspects of the firearms industry.

SB 27, Senator Carroll Foy, allows a highly regulated industry, the firearm industry, to be sued civilly for a variety of already illegal actions. It also holds the manufacturers and sellers of even the most benign of firearm accessories, like a butt stock or a gun case, liable to a civil lawsuit if it doesn’t “properly” protect that item from theft or misuse by a criminal!

How could a firearm accessory seller reasonably know if they were selling a gun sling or a holster to a prohibited person? If an automobile parts store sells a seat cover to a driver who subsequently drives drunk and kills a family, it would make no sense to allow the store and the seat cover manufacturer to be sued. This bill is designed to have a chilling effect on all aspects of the firearm industry and nothing else.

HB 40, Delegate Simon, makes unfinished firearm frames and receivers and un-serialized commercially made firearms unlawful to possess, purchase, sell, or transfer unless they are serialized. This law would become effective on January 1, 2027.

Even a chunk of aluminum, if sold to the public to become a frame or receiver once completed, must be serialized under this bill. The bill doesn’t grandfather existing homemade firearms. This bill is unconstitutional, as there was no analog in the history or traditions of firearms with any such limitations at the time the Bill of Rights was adopted. Homemade guns have been legal since before the United States existed. And, of course, government, our servant, exempts itself from all this foolishness.

SB 727, Senator Jones, bans the carry of 1) a semi-automatic centerfire rifle or pistol that has a fixed magazine that holds more than 10 rounds or 2) a semi-automatic centerfire rifle or pistol that accepts a detachable magazine of any size and has any of a variety of cosmetic features or 3) a semi-automatic shotgun with a fixed magazine that holds more than 7 rounds of the longest ammunition for which it is chambered or has a detachable magazine of any size, with any of a variety of cosmetic features, on or about a person on a public street, road, alley, sidewalk, public right-of-way, in a park, or in any place open to the public. There is an exception for carrying to/from a place of purchase or repair or a shooting range.

Concealed handgun permit holders and licensed security guards are no longer exempt from this code section, even though neither one has caused any legal issues by carrying such loaded firearms publicly for over a decade. Of course, the government, our servant, exempts itself from all this nonsense. The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that citizens have the right to carry firearms outside of their homes and in public, so this bill is unconstitutional on its face.

HB 871, Delegate Downey, requires all firearms in a home, that are not being carried on a person, to be unloaded and placed in a locked container if there is a minor in the home or if there is a prohibited person in the home. A gun may only be stored loaded if it is in a safe that has either a combination lock, a coded lock, or a biometric lock. Violation is Class 4 misdemeanor. Gun dealers must post signage about the law and there is also a provision to educate the public on firearm storage.

This bill does not allow the gun to be about the person, making things like cleaning the gun impossible to do legally.