virginia citizens defense league

Defending Your Right to Defend Yourself

va-alert

Published 2/22/2026

Urgent Action Items (3)

There are 14 gun-control bills being heard in the Senate Courts of Justice committee on Monday, February 23, at 8am!  NOTE: Even if you don’t see this in time for the committee hearing, send it any how as we can still stop these bills on the Senate Floor.

ACTION ITEM #1

Click here to send an email to your senator in opposition to those 14 bills.

ACTION ITEM #2

Three gun-control bills have already passed both bodies and are on their way to the Governor to sign (see list of the bills at the bottom). Click here to urge her to not sign any gun-control bills!

ACTION ITEM #3

You can call or email the key senators on the committee directly to urge them not to pass the 14 gun-control bills in the Courts of Justice committee. Here are the committee members we need to contact:

Senator Surovell, (804) 698-7534, senatorsurovell@senate.virginia.gov

Senator Deeds, (804) 698-7511, senatordeeds@senate.virginia.gov

Senator Boysko, (804) 698-7538, senatorboysko@senate.virginia.gov

Senator Carroll Foy, (804) 698-7533, senatorcarrollfoy@senate.virginia.gov

Senator Perry, (804) 698-7531, senatorperry@senate.virginia.gov

Senator Salim, (804) 698-7537, senatorsalim@senate.virginia.gov

Senator Favola, (804) 698-7540, senatorfavola@senate.virginia.gov

Senator Srinivasan, 804-698-7532, senatorsrinivasan@senate.virginia.gov

Senator Jones, 804-698-7515, SenatorJones@senate.virginia.gov

These gun-control bills have passed both bodies as of February 20 and are now on their way to the Governor’s desk

SB 38, Senator Favola, 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. Why can’t young adults be used to hold the guns?

SB 173, Senator Williams Graves, 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.

SB 272, Senator Deeds, 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.