virginia citizens defense league

Defending Your Right to Defend Yourself

va-alert

Published 2/17/2026

Gun-Bill Status At Crossover

The gun bills are now at the halfway point – called “crossover.” Each house has voted on their own bills and starting tomorrow (2/18/26) the bills that survived head to the other house and the process starts over.

Some of the gun-control bills are dead. Some were carried over for consideration next year. The rest of bills were passed, some in their original form and others were modified.

Some of the bills that were killed include:

• HB 1359, permit to purchase requirement. The senate version (SB 643) had morphed into something completely different
• HB 207, $500 tax on suppressors
• HB 700, 5-day waiting period on gun purchases
• HB 907, unreasonable gun storage requirements for gun dealers

Even though several bills have been weakened, VCDL will continue to oppose them as they still are chipping away at our right to keep and bear arms!

Here are the gun-control bills that are crossing over

• “Assault firearms” prohibition. “Assault firearms” and magazines that hold more than 15 roundscannot be sold, transferred, or purchased after July 1 (SB 749) or no purchase, sale, or transfer of “assault firearms” or magazines that hold more than 10 rounds after July 1 (HB 217).  The differences in those two bills will need to be reconciled by both houses
  
  
• “Assault firearms” and handguns for those under 21. No one under 21 but over 18 can purchase an assault firearm or a handgun. “Assault firearm” is defined as a firearm with a magazine that holds more than 20 rounds and has a folding stock and/or threaded barrel. Shotguns that hold more than 7 rounds are also considered assault firearms (SB 643, HB 1525)
  
  
• Prohibition on the carry of “assault” rifles and shotguns in public (SB 727) or prohibition of carry of “assault” handguns, rifles, and shotguns in public (HB 1524).  The differences in those two bills will need to be reconciled by both houses
  
  
• Severe restrictions of concealed handgun permit recognition (SB 115).  NOTE: the House version (HB 24) was defeated!
  
  
• Guns left in unattended vehicles. $500 fine and possible towing for a handgun left visible in an unattended vehicle (HB 110) or a Class 4 misdemeanor for handguns, SBSs, or SBRs left in plain view or not stored in a locked hard-sided container that is attached to the vehicle’s interior by a steel cable or bolt (SB 496).  The differences in those two bills will need to be reconciled by both houses
  
  
• Firearms industry can be sued frivolously (HB 21, SB 27)
  
  
• Firearms in a home that has a minor or prohibited person must be in a locked container. Loaded guns can be in a container with a combination lock, a coded lock, or a biometric lock (SB 348) or loaded guns must be in a biometric safe only (HB 871).  The differences in those two bills will need to be reconciled by both houses
  
  
• 11% excise tax on guns and ammunition (SB 763).  NOTE: the House version (HB 919) was carried over to 2027.
  
  
• Expansion of Red Flag laws (HB 901)
  
  
• Homemade guns must be serialized (HB 40, SB 323)
  
  
• Prohibition of firearms and knives with blades longer than 3.5 inches in facilities that provide mental health services or developmental services (SB 173, HB 229)
  
  
• Prohibition of guns in the buildings of public institutions of higher education (SB 272, HB 626)
  
  
• Prohibition on the carry of firearms within 100 feet of a polling place (HB 909)
  
  
• Battery in a “dating relationship” takes away gun rights for 3 years (HB 19, SB 160)
  
  
• A hate crime removes gun rights (HB 1015)
  
  
• Requirement that a person with a protective order against them to turn their guns over to someone 21 or older and not living in the same house (SB 38, HB 93)
  
  
• Creation of a state agency called “Safer Communities Through Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention.” Basically, a jobs program for gun-controllers (SB 364). Another bill creates a workgroup to study “firearm violence.” (HB 969)
  
  
• Creation of a “Virginia Firearms Give-Back Program and Fund.” (HB 702)

Here is the status of the final gun bills – 

voted on Monday and Tuesday of this week

DEAD – NEVER GOT A FLOOR VOTE HB 24, Delegate Helmer, severely restricts concealed handgun permit recognition with other states.  Currently, Virginia honors permits from all other states, which, in turn, allows Virginians to be able to carry in most of those states. Virginia residents may not use a permit from another state to carry in Virginia. They must have a Virginia permit. 

Permit holders from other states have been peacefully carrying in Virginia for years.  This bill is an unjust and demeaning slap in the face to law-abiding Virginia gun owners, as it will reduce the number of states where a Virginia permit holder can carry a handgun for self-defense. This bill makes Virginians who are traveling less safe! It will also discourage gun owners outside of Virginia from visiting the Commonwealth, effecting the state’s economy. This bill is a solution in search of a problem.

SB 496, Senator Marsden, requires a handgun, a short-barreled rifle, or a short-barreled shotgun be placed out of plain view and stored in a locked hard-sided container. The container must be attached to the vehicle’s interior by a steel cable or a bolt.  A locked glove box and a locked console can be used to store a gun. As long as a stolen handgun is reported to law enforcement within 48 hours, the potential charge for failing to secure the handgun under this code section is waived.

Storing guns in a locked trunk should not also require the guns to be placed in a locked, hard-sided container attached to the car.

SB 643, Senator Surovell, now eliminates the permit to purchase and instead prohibits 18, 19, and 20-year-olds from purchasing a handgun or “assault firearm” anywhere in the Commonwealth. The definition of “assault firearm” is “any (i) semi-automatic centerfire rifle or handgun that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material and is equipped at the time of the offense with a magazine that will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition or designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer or equipped with a folding stock or (ii) shotgun with a magazine that will hold more than seven rounds of the longest ammunition for which it is chambered.” The bill also no longer eliminates the CHP exemption to One Handgun a Month. 

Eliminating the purchase of handguns or “assault firearms” by young adults is unconstitutional.

DEAD – NEVER GOT A FLOOR VOTE HB 700, Delegate Hayes, requires that a person must wait five days before a purchased or rented firearm can be transferred to them.

Gun sales, both private and commercial, will require a buyer to make two trips to a dealer to get the firearm, and such trips could be lengthy. The bill will also do severe harm to gun shows, as most are only two days long and would therefore require all purchasers to travel to a gun store, possibly across the state, to pick up the firearm. There are many sad cases where someone who urgently needed a firearm for self-defense was murdered while in the waiting period. California has a 10-day waiting period, with plenty of mass murders and a violent crime rate more than double that of Virginia in 2023. Virginia has the 14^th lowest crime rate in the U.S. (https://www.statista.com/statistics/200445/reported-violent-crime-rate-in-the-us-states/). So much for the promise to citizens that the system would be an “instant check” when that law was passed. This bill would also make renting a gun at a gun range to try it out, or to take a firearm-safety class before you buy your first gun, pretty much impossible.

HB 901, Delegate Sullivan, expands the Red Flag law by allowing more categories of people to petition for someone to be Red Flagged. The expanded types of petitioners cover various kinds of counselors and medical professionals. It now also includes immediate family or household members and intimate partners.

The recent lawful acquisition of a firearm or ammunition is considered possible evidence that someone might need to be Red Flagged! This bill will discourage someone from getting medical or counselling help, as the person will not be able to trust that any information he shares won’t be used against him. The expanded list of petitioners will greatly increase abuse of the Red Flag law by someone with a grudge.

DEAD – NEVER GOT A FLOOR VOTE HB 907, Delegate Shin, requires gun dealers who don’t work out of their residence to have security cameras filming inside and outside where firearms are stored; bars or security screens, etc. on all outside doors and windows where guns are stored; a continuously monitored burglar alarm system where guns are stored; “if practicable”, whatever that means, having physical barriers to prevent vehicles from ramming the building where guns are stored; and a requirement on how guns are to be stored after business hours that makes no sense.

There are a lot of problems with this bill. 1) Some gun dealers simply cannot comply with all the requirements based on where their gun store is located, such as in a mall. 2) The wording on how guns are to be stored after hours is so poorly written as to be unintelligible. 3) The requirements are going to be too onerous for some gun dealers and will drive up costs for the consumer.

DELAYED FURTHER ACTION UNTIL NEXT YEAR HB 919, Delegate Lopez, before being carried over to 2027: creates an 11% excise tax on firearm dealers, firearm manufacturers, and ammunition vendors for gross retail sales of firearms and ammunition into the Commonwealth.

Is there going to be an excise tax for book publishers, raising the cost for people who want to exercise their First Amendment rights? This is a “sin tax,” that affects a basic civil right. Owning a gun is not a sin. Guns are used to save hundreds of thousands of lives every year.

HB 969, Delegate Price, now directs the Virginia State Police to create a workgroup to study “firearms violence.”

The workgroup 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 workgroup consists of relevant stakeholders, including gun-control advocates, but not gun-rights advocates. The gun-control advocates will undoubtedly blame guns and not criminals for violence and push for yet more gun control.

HB 1015, Delegate Tran, prohibits a person convicted of a misdemeanor assault and battery hate crime from being able to possess firearms.

Misdemeanors should never take away a person’s civil rights.

DEAD – NEVER GOT A FLOOR VOTE 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. 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. A person may rent a gun at a range without needing a 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 no longer 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.

HB 1524, Delegate McGuire, 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.