virginia citizens defense league

Defending Your Right to Defend Yourself

va-alert

Published 1/28/2026

On Thursday afternoon, January 29, at 4pm, the House Public Safety Firearms subcommittee is meeting to vote on large number of gun bills. 

ACTION ITEM #1

We need everyone to send a prewritten email to their delegate. Our system will figure out who your delegate is automatically, based on your address. This can be done in under a minute.

Click here to send the email.

ACTION ITEM #2

You can speak at the meeting online, so you don’t have to go to the Capitol to do so. Keep your comments short and they can be as simple as, “I oppose this bill.”  NOTE: There is one good bill in the mix: HB 1303 (Delegate Ware). In which case you could say something as simple as, “I support this bill.”

You can register to speak now. Your computer must have a microphone and camera. You can register by clicking here.  (Sign up for morning meetings by midnight, and for afternoon meetings by noon)

DETAILS ON GUN BILLS IN SUBCOMMITTEE ON THURSDAY

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 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 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.

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. 

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.

HB 93, Delegate Bennett-Parker, requires a person with a protective order against them or a person with a domestic violence conviction to surrender, sell, or turn their guns over to someone 21-years-old or older and someone who does not live with them. It requires the person to be advised that if a police officer believes they have not turned over all their guns, that the officer can get a search warrant to look for any such guns. 

There are multiple problems with the bill as written. If a husband and wife co-own a shotgun for home defense, for example, and the husband gets a protective order issued against him, the wife would no longer have access to that co-owned shotgun. That punishes the wife and needlessly endangers her life. There is also the question of not allowing a person 18 to 20-years-old to retain the guns. A person in that age range can legally possess rifles, shotguns, and handguns. Young adults should be able to hold the guns.

HB 110, Delegate Laufer, creates a $500 civil penalty and subjects a vehicle to towing if a person leaves a visible handgun in an unattended vehicle. 

The car owner should not be at fault even if a criminal opens an unlocked car door to steal a firearm. It is the criminal who is solely to blame. This bill would put a handgun in the possession of, and under the control of, a tow truck company! Punish criminals and stop harassing good people.

HB 217, Delegate Helmer, prohibits the sale, possession, transfer, and transport of an “assault firearm” made on or after July 1, 2026. It also prohibits sale, possession, transfer, and transport of an “assault firearm” to anyone under the age of 21. Magazines that hold more than 10 rounds and were made on or after July 1, 2026, are prohibited. 

The U.S. Supreme Court has said in both DC v Heller, and recently The New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v Bruen, that any firearm “in common use” is protected by the Second Amendment. The guns and magazines targeted by this bill are among the most common guns and magazines in the United States, making this bill unconstitutional. There are conservatively estimated to be over 20 million AR-15s and 700 million magazines that hold more than 10 rounds in civilian hands.

HB 229, Delegate Hernandez, prohibits firearms, or knives with a blade longer than 3.5 inches, in facilities that provide mental health services or developmental services, including hospitals, emergency departments, or emergency medical care facilities, if they offer such services. 

Disarming visitors and guests, including concealed handgun permit holders, at such facilities violates their right to protect themselves in an emergency. A U.S. District Court in the 2^nd Circuit has restrained enforcement of just such a law for being unconstitutional under New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v Bruen Supreme Court ruling.

HB 626, Delegate Callsen, restricts firearms at public institutions of higher education by requiring such firearms be part of an authorized program or activity inside a building. 

A solution in search of a problem. Higher education students are adults and have a right to self-defense.

HB 702, Delegate Cole, creates a “Virginia Firearm Give-Back Program and Fund.” The sole purpose is for either the State Police, or, optionally, local law enforcement, to collect and destroy any firearms that are voluntarily turned in. 

Destroying what might be perfectly functional, and possibly quite valuable, firearms is a waste of money. The State could offset any costs by selling the firearms to licensed gun dealers through an auction. The name of the program implies that the Commonwealth gives firearms to citizens and now wants citizens to give them back. That is not the case. This program is a “turn in” and not a “give-back” program.

HB 871, Delegate Downey, requires all firearms in a home, that are not being carried on or about 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 biometric safe. Gun dealers must post signage about the law and there is also a provision to educate the public on firearm storage. 

Biometric safes are more expensive than non-biometric safes. Biometric safes can be unreliable when being used under stress and they also require batteries to work. Why are biometric safes the only option for storing a loaded firearm? There are plenty of other locking mechanisms for safes that are just as secure.

HB 969, Delegate Price, creates a state agency named the Virginia Gun Violence Prevention Center. 

The Center would only be targeting violence committed using firearms and ignoring the root causes of crime, as well as all the other ways violence is inflicted on victims – knives, blunt objects, hands and feet, etc.  Half of violent crimes are not committed with a firearm!  The term “Gun Violence” in the name of the agency gives away the true agenda: “gun violence” is a term coined by the gun-control lobby to blame guns, which are inanimate objects, and not the criminals that misuse guns.  If a police officer shoots someone, the officer gets the blame, not his gun.  But, if a criminal shoots someone, the gun gets the blame and not the criminal.  No one says, “tire iron violence” or “hand and feet violence.”  Instead, it is just called “violence.”  But there is a disarmament agenda with firearms and “gun violence” is just an excuse to go after firearms with more useless gun control.

HB 1303, Delegate Ware, sets 90 days as the maximum number of days that the Virginia State Police can take when processing a non-resident concealed handgun permit. If the permit has not yet been approved after 90 days, then the permit is issued at that point. If the applicant is later found to be disqualified, the permit is revoked, and the applicant has to return it. 

Currently there is no limit and people have had to wait well over 6 to 8 months to get a permit issued! In fact, in June of 2021 the State Police had this on their website: "DUE TO A HIGH VOLUME OF APPLICATIONS, THE CURRENT PROCESSING TIME FOR NONRESIDENT CONCEALED HANDGUN PERMITS IS 5 TO 6 MONTHS." No other state that issues non-resident permits has an unlimited time to do so! The maximum time for other states to issue a non-resident permit runs from 14 days to 90 days. As a reference, residents pay a maximum of $50 and the permit must be issued in 45 days. The non-resident permit fee is $100. 90 days is more than sufficient for the State Police to issue a non-resident permit. Currently the State Police are issuing non-resident permits in less than 90 days, but it is important to set some kind of limit.

HB 1359, Delegate Hope, requires a person to have a permit to purchase a firearm (“permit”), which is good for 5 years. To qualify for a permit, the applicant must have had his fingerprints taken and have had firearms training within the last two years. The training must be approved by the Department of Criminal Justice Services and include live fire of at least 10 rounds. Persons under 21-years-old cannot apply for a permit and are thus prohibited from buying firearms. A person renting a gun, persons with dual residency, and out of state residents purchasing long guns must have a permit. In a private sale, the purchaser must have a verified permit. The State Police can charge whatever fee they feel covers their cost in processing the permit application and can take as long as 45 days to issue the permit. Local law enforcement will be notified that you have been issued or denied a permit. This bill adds new misdemeanor prohibitors from getting a permit. The bill also removes the exemption from One Handgun a Month by CHP holders.

This bill will get innocent people killed, as it will take at least two months before a person can purchase their first firearm. If they are purchasing that firearm for urgent self-defense, that is simply too long. The price to get a permit, which will likely be in the hundreds of dollars, will be prohibitive for poor people and is the equivalent of a poll tax. And even with all the hoops to get a permit, even citizens with concealed handgun permits will be limited to one handgun a month. Local law-enforcement will be handed a registry of gun owners. And gun rentals at shooting ranges will not be possible for people who have not yet got their permit or are visiting from out of state or from another country.