Virginia's prohibited-person framework runs in parallel with the federal 18 U.S.C. 922(g) catalog. A person disqualified under either layer cannot lawfully...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Virginia's prohibited-person framework runs in parallel with the federal 18 U.S.C. 922(g) catalog. A person disqualified under either layer cannot lawfully possess a firearm in Virginia. The state-level categories include felons, certain non-citizens, persons acquitted by reason of insanity, persons adjudicated incompetent or committed to mental institutions, persons subject to protective orders, persons subject to substantial risk orders, persons convicted of misdemeanor assault and battery of a family or household member, persons with two qualifying drug misdemeanors in 36 months, and minors. They are codified in Va. Code 18.2-308.1:1 through 18.2-308.1:8, 18.2-308.2, 18.2-308.2:01, and 18.2-308.7. Transfer-side prohibitions at Va. Code 18.2-308.2:1 (sale or transfer to a known prohibited person), 18.2-308.2:2 (mandatory dealer check), 18.2-308.2:5 (private-sale check, 2020), and 18.2-308.2:3 (dealer-employee check) enforce the same disability list at the point of sale. Virginia has no stand-alone state-level possession ban for adjudicated drug abusers or habitual drunkards. Those statuses reach gun rights only at the CHP-eligibility layer (Va. Code 18.2-308.09, subdivisions 8 and 9) and through federal 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3).
This section covers PEOPLE-based prohibitions and the transfer-check infrastructure. For location-based prohibitions, see PROHIBITED_PLACES. For substantial-risk-order mechanics, see RED_FLAG. For CHP disqualifications, which incorporate this list and add carve-outs, see APPLICATION_PROCESS.
| Category | Statute | Grade | Restoration Pathway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Convicted felon | Va. Code 18.2-308.2 | Class 6 felony | Governor's restoration of civil rights plus circuit court order under subsection C |
| Felon previously convicted of violent felony | Va. Code 18.2-308.2 | Class 6 felony plus 5-year mandatory minimum | Same as above |
| Felon convicted of other felony within prior 10 years | Va. Code 18.2-308.2 | Class 6 felony plus 2-year mandatory minimum | Same as above |
| Non-citizen unlawfully present (any firearm) | Va. Code 18.2-308.2:01(B) | Class 6 felony | None under Virginia law (federal status change required) |
| Non-citizen or non-LPR (assault firearm only) | Va. Code 18.2-308.2:01(A) | Class 6 felony | Same |
| Two qualifying drug misdemeanors in 36 months (handgun purchase or transport only) | Va. Code 18.2-308.1:5 | Status-based bar (no penalty in the section itself) | Automatic five years after the second conviction, absent a further qualifying offense |
| Sale, gift, or transfer of any firearm to a person known prohibited under most categories | Va. Code 18.2-308.2:1 (paragraph 1) | Class 4 felony | n/a (per-transfer offense) |
| Sale, gift, or transfer of any firearm to a person known prohibited under 18.2-308.1:7 or 18.2-308.1:8 | Va. Code 18.2-308.2:1 (paragraph 2) | Class 1 misdemeanor | n/a (per-transfer offense) |
| Acquitted by reason of insanity | Va. Code 18.2-308.1:1 | Class 1 misdemeanor | Petition for relief after discharge from custody |
| Adjudicated legally incompetent or mentally incapacitated | Va. Code 18.2-308.1:2 | Class 1 misdemeanor | Petition after capacity is restored |
| Involuntarily admitted or ordered to outpatient treatment | Va. Code 18.2-308.1:3 | Class 1 misdemeanor | Petition to general district court; de novo appeal to circuit |
| Subject to qualifying protective order (purchase or transport) | Va. Code 18.2-308.1:4(A) | Class 1 misdemeanor | Order expiration |
| Subject to qualifying protective order (knowing possession) | Va. Code 18.2-308.1:4(B) | Class 6 felony | Order expiration |
| Subject to emergency or full substantial risk order | Va. Code 18.2-308.1:6 | Class 1 misdemeanor | Order expiration |
| Convicted of misdemeanor A and B of family or household member (offense on or after 7/1/2021) | Va. Code 18.2-308.1:8 | Class 1 misdemeanor | 3 years from conviction |
| Under 18 (handgun or assault firearm) | Va. Code 18.2-308.7 | Class 1 misdemeanor | Turns 18 |
The federal 18 U.S.C. 922(g) list adds fugitives from justice, unlawful users of controlled substances, persons dishonorably discharged, persons who have renounced citizenship, persons convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence under the federal definition, and certain protective-order subjects. Federal 922(g) violations now carry up to 15 years under 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(8), added by the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Pre-BSCA 922(g) offenses were prosecuted under former 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(2), which carried up to 10 years. Note that "under indictment" is a federal disability under 18 U.S.C. 922(n), not 922(g).
This is the signature Virginia possession ban. Subsection A makes it unlawful for three groups to knowingly and intentionally possess or transport any firearm, ammunition, stun weapon, or explosive material, or to carry concealed any weapon listed in subsection A of Va. Code 18.2-308:
A covered person may possess a stun weapon, as defined in Va. Code 18.2-308.1, in his residence or its curtilage.
Base offense: Class 6 felony (1 to 5 years, or at the discretion of the court or jury up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500, either or both).
Enhancements:
The mandatory minimum terms must be served consecutively with any other sentence. The court cannot suspend or reduce them.
Subsection B carves out (i) members of the U.S. Armed Forces, the National Guard of Virginia, or the National Guard of another state carrying out their duties; (ii) law-enforcement officers in the performance of their duties; (iii) persons pardoned or whose political disabilities have been removed under Article V, Section 12 of the Constitution of Virginia, subject to any conditions the Governor placed in the document; (iv) persons whose firearm rights have been restored under the law of another state, subject to any conditions in that restoration; and (v) certain juvenile adjudicatees who completed at least two years of military service and, if discharged, received an honorable discharge, and who are not otherwise prohibited.
Subsection C2 allows any person other than one convicted of an act of violence (Va. Code 19.2-297.1) or a violent felony (Va. Code 17.1-805(C)) to possess, transport, or carry antique firearms or up to five pounds of black powder intended solely for sporting, recreational, or cultural purposes in antique firearms. "Antique firearm" here means a muzzle-loading rifle, shotgun, or pistol designed to use black powder or a black powder substitute and that cannot use fixed ammunition, per subdivision 3 of the definition in subsection F of Va. Code 18.2-308.2:2. A person convicted of an act of violence or a violent felony remains barred from antique firearms.
Virginia's restoration pathway for felons is a two-step process:
A petitioner who has been convicted of a felony cannot proceed to the circuit-court step unless his civil rights have first been restored by the Governor or other appropriate authority. The civil-rights restoration is a necessary but not sufficient prerequisite.
Upon grant, the clerk certifies the order to the Central Criminal Records Exchange (CCRE) with a complete set of the petitioner's fingerprints. The State Police enter the petitioner's name and description in the CCRE so the order is visible to law enforcement on criminal-history queries. The restoration applies to firearms, ammunition, and stun weapons. Explosive-material restoration requires separate federal authorization under subsection C1.
The restoration order is state-level. A Virginia-restored felon remains a prohibited person under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) unless the underlying conviction is removed by the convicting jurisdiction through pardon, expungement, or set-aside, because the federal disability turns on the conviction, not on Virginia's restoration.
Two prohibitions:
The statute provides that a violation "shall be punishable as a Class 6 felony." Subsection A reaches lawfully present non-permanent-resident non-citizens, such as visa holders and asylees, but only as to assault firearms. Subsection B reaches the unlawfully present and applies to any firearm.
The federal layer at 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(5) reaches aliens illegally or unlawfully present and certain non-immigrant aliens, with limited exceptions. Virginia's subsection B tracks 922(g)(5)(A). Subsection A is a Virginia-specific configuration restriction with no direct federal analog.
Va. Code 18.2-308.2:1 is titled "Prohibiting the selling, etc., of firearms to certain persons; penalties." Despite its position in the Code next to the possession-ban statutes, it is a transfer-side prohibition, not a possession ban. Two penalty tiers:
The statute does not apply when the recipient has (i) been issued a restoration order under subsection C of Va. Code 18.2-308.2 or been granted relief under subsection B of 18.2-308.1:1 or under 18.2-308.1:2 or 18.2-308.1:3; (ii) been pardoned or had political disabilities removed under subsection B of 18.2-308.2; or (iii) obtained a federal permit to ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms.
Va. Code 18.2-308.2:1 is the criminal-liability backstop to the transfer infrastructure at Va. Code 18.2-308.2:2 (dealer check) and 18.2-308.2:5 (private-sale check). The dealer-check and private-sale-check statutes police the process. Section 18.2-308.2:1 polices the outcome by punishing knowing transfers regardless of whether a check was run.
The statute is sometimes mis-cited as a Virginia possession ban for adjudicated drug abusers or habitual drunkards. It is not. Virginia has no stand-alone state-level possession ban for adjudicated drug abusers or habitual drunkards. Those statuses reach Virginia gun rights only in two places:
The closest Virginia possession-side drug disability is Va. Code 18.2-308.1:5, discussed below, which bars handgun purchase or transport for five years after two qualifying drug misdemeanors in a 36-month window.
Any person convicted, within a 36-consecutive-month period, of two misdemeanor offenses under Chapter 11 (Va. Code 4.1-1100 et seq.) of Title 4.1, subsection B of former Va. Code 18.2-248.1:1, or Va. Code 18.2-250 (possession of a controlled substance) is ineligible to purchase or transport a handgun. The bar lifts automatically five years after the date of the second conviction, provided the person has not been convicted of any such offense within that period.
Va. Code 18.2-308.1:5 is a status-based bar with no penalty grade in the section itself. The bar is enforced indirectly:
The bar applies only to handguns. Long-gun purchase and transport remain lawful while a Va. Code 18.2-308.1:5 disability is in effect, absent a separate disqualification.
Three Virginia statutes cover mental-health-based disabilities, each with its own restoration pathway.
Any person acquitted by reason of insanity and committed to the custody of the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, on a charge of treason, a felony, or a qualifying misdemeanor, may not knowingly and intentionally purchase, possess, or transport any firearm. Class 1 misdemeanor. Restoration: upon discharge from the Commissioner's custody, the person may petition the general district court of his residence to restore his rights. The court applies the standard described below.
Any person adjudicated (i) legally incompetent under former Va. Code 37.1-128.02 or former 37.1-134, (ii) mentally incapacitated under former Va. Code 37.1-128.1 or former 37.1-132, or (iii) incapacitated under Chapter 20 (Va. Code 64.2-2000 et seq.) of Title 64.2 may not purchase, possess, or transport any firearm. Class 1 misdemeanor.
Restoration: after competency or capacity is restored under former Va. Code 37.1-134.1, former 37.2-1012, or Va. Code 64.2-2012, the person may petition the general district court of his residence to restore his firearm rights. The court receives evidence on the circumstances of the disability, the person's criminal history, treatment record, and reputation. It must find that the petitioner "will not be likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety" and that granting relief "would not be contrary to the public interest." De novo appeal lies to the circuit court if relief is denied.
The broadest of the three mental-health statutes. It covers six categories:
Class 1 misdemeanor.
Restoration: same standard and procedure as Va. Code 18.2-308.1:2. The person may petition the general district court at any time after release. The court applies the "not likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety" and "not contrary to the public interest" tests, with de novo appeal to the circuit court.
The federal layer at 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(4) reaches any person adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution. A Virginia state-court restoration under Va. Code 18.2-308.1:2 or 18.2-308.1:3 is the federal relief-from-disability mechanism recognized under the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007. The clerk certifies the restoration to the CCRE, which transmits it to NICS.
Two-tier prohibition:
Subsection A reaches a broad list of orders, including preliminary protective orders, protective orders, emergency and stalking protective orders under Va. Code 16.1-253.1, 16.1-253.4, 16.1-278.2, 16.1-279.1, 19.2-152.8, 19.2-152.9, and 19.2-152.10, certain spousal-support orders under Va. Code 20-103(B), certain stalking orders under Va. Code 18.2-60.3(D), certain preliminary protective orders under Va. Code 16.1-253(F), and substantially similar out-of-state orders.
The subsection B possession ban includes a 24-hour grace period. A respondent served under subsection C of Va. Code 16.1-279.1 or subsection D of 19.2-152.10 may continue to possess and transport firearms for 24 hours solely to (a) surrender them to a designated local law-enforcement agency, (b) sell or transfer them to a Va. Code 18.2-308.2:2 dealer, or (c) sell or transfer them to a person not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm. Within 48 hours of service, the respondent must file a written certification with the issuing court that all firearms have been surrendered, sold, or transferred, or that he possesses none. Willful failure to certify is contempt of court.
Federal counterpart: 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8) reaches a narrower set of qualifying intimate-partner orders entered after notice and a hearing, with specific findings. Virginia's subsection B sweeps more broadly.
This is Virginia's red-flag prohibition. Any person subject to an emergency substantial risk order or a substantial risk order entered under Va. Code 19.2-152.13 or 19.2-152.14, or a substantially similar order from another jurisdiction, may not purchase, possess, or transport any firearm while the order is in effect. A CHP holder is barred from carrying any concealed firearm and must surrender his permit to the court entering the order. Class 1 misdemeanor.
See RED_FLAG for the procedural mechanics, including ex parte issuance on emergency orders and the duration framework.
This applies to a misdemeanor conviction for an offense that occurred on or after July 1, 2021. Any person who knowingly and intentionally purchases, possesses, or transports any firearm following a misdemeanor conviction for assault and battery of a family or household member, or a substantially similar out-of-state or federal offense, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
"Family or household member" means (i) the person's spouse, whether or not co-resident; (ii) the person's former spouse, whether or not co-resident; or (iii) any individual who has a child in common with the person, whether or not they have married or resided together.
The prohibition runs for three years following the date of conviction. After three years, firearm rights restore automatically unless the person receives another disqualifying conviction, becomes subject to a protective order restricting firearm rights, or is otherwise prohibited by law.
Federal counterpart: 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9) reaches a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence with a broader covered-relationship list, including current and former dating partners after the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The federal prohibition is permanent absent expungement, pardon, or set-aside, and the Virginia three-year sunset does not lift it.
Any person under age 18 may not knowingly and intentionally possess or transport a handgun or assault firearm anywhere in the Commonwealth. Class 1 misdemeanor. For this section, "assault firearm" includes both the centerfire-rifle-or-pistol configuration (magazine holding more than 20 rounds, designed to accommodate a silencer, or folding stock) and a shotgun with a magazine holding more than seven rounds of the longest ammunition for which it is chambered.
Carve-outs: (i) while in his home or on his property, or in the home or on the property of a parent, grandparent, or legal guardian, or on another's property with prior permission, carrying written parent or guardian permission on his person; (ii) while accompanied by an adult at, or going to and from, a lawful shooting range or firearms educational class, with weapons unloaded during transport; (iii) while engaged in lawful hunting or going to and from a hunting area, with weapons unloaded during transport; and (iv) while carrying out duties in the U.S. Armed Forces or the National Guard of Virginia or any other state.
The federal floor at 18 U.S.C. 922(x) generally makes it unlawful for a person under 18 to possess a handgun or handgun ammunition, with carve-outs for employment, ranching, farming, target practice, hunting, and class instruction with parental consent. Federal dealers may not transfer a handgun to a person under 21 under 18 U.S.C. 922(b)(1). Long guns may be transferred at 18.
This section requires a criminal history record information check by the Virginia State Police on every dealer firearm transfer. The dealer obtains the buyer's signed consent form, transmits identifying information to the State Police, and may not complete the sale until receiving authorization, or until the dealer's fifth business day passes without a response, in which case the dealer may proceed. Before 2020 this section applied only to handguns. The 2020 amendment (chapters 1111 and 1112) extended the check to all firearms, including long guns. Dealers collect a fee of $2 per transaction for Virginia residents and $5 for out-of-state residents.
Penalty provisions in this section: a willful and intentional materially false statement on the consent form is a Class 5 felony (subsection K). A dealer who willfully and intentionally transfers a firearm in violation of the section is guilty of a Class 6 felony (subsection L), except as provided in Va. Code 18.2-308.2:1. A straw purchase, that is, buying a firearm intending to resell or provide it to a person known or believed ineligible, is a Class 4 felony carrying a 1-year mandatory minimum for a single firearm, or a 5-year mandatory minimum if more than one firearm is involved (subsection M). This section also limits non-dealers to one handgun purchase within any 30-day period, a Class 1 misdemeanor if violated, subject to listed exceptions (subsection R).
A private-party sale of any firearm requires the seller to obtain verification from a licensed dealer that a Va. Code 18.2-308.2:2 check has been run on the buyer and that the buyer is not prohibited. The dealer may charge up to $15 for facilitating the check, in addition to the $2 or $5 State Police fee. A seller who willfully and intentionally completes a private sale without verification, and a buyer who does the same, each commit a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Carve-outs: (i) sales to an authorized Commonwealth representative in a voluntary gun buy-back or give-back program; (ii) sales at a firearms show where the seller has obtained a State Police determination under Va. Code 54.1-4201.2; and (iii) sales conducted under Va. Code 59.1-148.3, with an exception for sales under subsection C of that section.
A federally licensed dealer may not employ as a firearms seller any person who would be prohibited under Va. Code 18.2-308.1:1, 18.2-308.1:2, or 18.2-308.1:3, subsection B of 18.2-308.1:4, or 18.2-308.1:6, 18.2-308.1:7, 18.2-308.1:8, 18.2-308.2, or 18.2-308.2:01, who is an illegal alien, or who is prohibited from purchasing or transporting a firearm under subsection A of 18.2-308.1:4 or under 18.2-308.1:5. The dealer must submit the applicant's fingerprints to the Central Criminal Records Exchange and obtain national criminal-history record information from the FBI before the applicant works as a seller. A materially false statement by the applicant is a Class 5 felony.
The federal prohibited-person catalog applies in Virginia in addition to all state prohibitions. A person prohibited under federal law but not state law, or the reverse, is still a prohibited person for purposes of federal possession.
| Subsection | Prohibition |
|---|---|
| 922(g)(1) | Convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment exceeding one year |
| 922(g)(2) | Fugitive from justice |
| 922(g)(3) | Unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance |
| 922(g)(4) | Adjudicated mental defective or committed to a mental institution |
| 922(g)(5) | Illegal alien, or non-immigrant alien (with carve-outs) |
| 922(g)(6) | Dishonorable discharge from the U.S. Armed Forces |
| 922(g)(7) | Renounced U.S. citizenship |
| 922(g)(8) | Subject to a qualifying intimate-partner protective order |
| 922(g)(9) | Convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence |
| 922(n) | Under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment exceeding one year |
Note that 922(n), under indictment, is a separate prohibition from the 922(g) possession bans. Penalty: 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(8), added by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in 2022, provides up to 15 years for a knowing violation of subsection (d) or (g) of section 922. Pre-BSCA cases under former 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(2) carried a maximum of 10 years.
18 U.S.C. 925(c) authorizes the Attorney General to grant relief from federal firearm disability, but since 1992 Congress has annually defunded ATF's processing of these applications, so the avenue is closed in practice for federal felony convictions.
The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 created a federal-recognition mechanism for state-court relief from mental-health disability under 922(g)(4). A Virginia restoration order under Va. Code 18.2-308.1:2 or 18.2-308.1:3 qualifies, because Virginia's program is ATF-certified.
For 922(g)(1) felons, federal relief generally requires the underlying conviction to be removed by the convicting jurisdiction through pardon, expungement, or set-aside. In Logan v. United States, 552 U.S. 23 (2007), the Supreme Court held that an automatic state restoration of civil rights that does not affect the underlying conviction does not necessarily remove the federal disability. Treat a Va. Code 18.2-308.2(C) restoration as state-only relief unless the convicting jurisdiction has independently removed the conviction.
The CHP disqualifications at Va. Code 18.2-308.09 incorporate the prohibited-person framework and add further bars, so a person who is possession-eligible under state and federal law may still be CHP-ineligible. Examples include a DUI or public-drunkenness conviction within three years (subdivision 9), certain assault, brandishing, and stalking convictions within three years (subdivisions 14 and 15), and mental-health or substance-abuse treatment in a residential setting within five years (subdivision 18). The reverse is also possible. A CHP revoked under Va. Code 18.2-308.013 does not by itself make the holder a prohibited person; he simply cannot carry concealed without a permit. See APPLICATION_PROCESS for the full grid.
| Conduct | Statute | Grade | Max Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Felon in possession (base) | Va. Code 18.2-308.2 | Class 6 felony | 1 to 5 years, or up to 12 months and $2,500 |
| Felon in possession, prior violent felony | Va. Code 18.2-308.2 | Class 6 felony plus mandatory minimum | 5-year mandatory minimum, consecutive |
| Felon in possession, other felony in prior 10 years | Va. Code 18.2-308.2 | Class 6 felony plus mandatory minimum | 2-year mandatory minimum, consecutive |
| Non-citizen unlawfully present, any firearm | Va. Code 18.2-308.2:01(B) | Class 6 felony | 1 to 5 years and $2,500 |
| Non-citizen or non-LPR, assault firearm | Va. Code 18.2-308.2:01(A) | Class 6 felony | 1 to 5 years and $2,500 |
| Sale, gift, or transfer of firearm to a person known prohibited under 18.2-308.1:1, :2, :3, :4(B), :6, 18.2-308.2, 18.2-308.2:01(B), or 18.2-308.7 | Va. Code 18.2-308.2:1 (paragraph 1) | Class 4 felony | 2 to 10 years and up to $100,000 |
| Sale, gift, or transfer of firearm to a person known prohibited under 18.2-308.1:7 or :8 | Va. Code 18.2-308.2:1 (paragraph 2) | Class 1 misdemeanor | 12 months and $2,500 |
| Handgun purchase or transport with two qualifying drug misdemeanors in 36 months | Va. Code 18.2-308.1:5 | Status bar (no in-statute penalty) | n/a |
| Acquitted by reason of insanity, possession | Va. Code 18.2-308.1:1 | Class 1 misdemeanor | 12 months and $2,500 |
| Adjudicated incompetent or incapacitated, possession | Va. Code 18.2-308.1:2 | Class 1 misdemeanor | 12 months and $2,500 |
| Involuntarily committed, possession | Va. Code 18.2-308.1:3 | Class 1 misdemeanor | 12 months and $2,500 |
| Protective-order subject, purchase or transport | Va. Code 18.2-308.1:4(A) | Class 1 misdemeanor | 12 months and $2,500 |
| Family-abuse or stalking protective-order subject, possession | Va. Code 18.2-308.1:4(B) | Class 6 felony | 1 to 5 years and $2,500 |
| Substantial-risk-order subject, possession | Va. Code 18.2-308.1:6 | Class 1 misdemeanor | 12 months and $2,500 |
| Misdemeanor A and B of family member, possession within 3 years | Va. Code 18.2-308.1:8 | Class 1 misdemeanor | 12 months and $2,500 |
| Under 18, handgun or assault firearm | Va. Code 18.2-308.7 | Class 1 misdemeanor | 12 months and $2,500 |
| Private sale without 18.2-308.2:5 verification | Va. Code 18.2-308.2:5 | Class 1 misdemeanor | 12 months and $2,500 (seller and buyer each) |
| Materially false statement on 18.2-308.2:2 consent form | Va. Code 18.2-308.2:2(K) | Class 5 felony | 1 to 10 years |
| Straw purchase for prohibited person | Va. Code 18.2-308.2:2(M) | Class 4 felony plus mandatory minimum | 1-year mandatory minimum (single firearm); 5-year mandatory minimum (more than one) |
| Federal 922(g) possession | 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(8) | Federal felony | Up to 15 years |
A Virginia resident or visitor cannot lawfully possess a firearm if he falls within any of the following categories, regardless of CHP status:
Transferring a firearm by sale, gift, or trade requires a Virginia State Police check through a licensed dealer in nearly all cases (dealer transfers under Va. Code 18.2-308.2:2, private transfers under Va. Code 18.2-308.2:5). The 2020 amendments closed the long-gun and private-sale gaps. A prohibited person cannot lawfully accept a firearm by gift or sale. The safe acquisition pathway runs through a State Police background check or a statutory exemption under subsection H of Va. Code 18.2-308.2:2, which covers FFL-to-FFL transactions, sales to law enforcement, and antique-firearm and curio-or-relic transactions.
This page covers one part of our Virginia concealed carry guide.
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