VGA 2026 Session Wrap Up
The 2026 Virginia General Assembly session was an excellent one for gun violence prevention. During this 60 day session:
2,448 total bills were filed
1,208 total bills were passed by both houses and sent to the Governor
49 VFC-supported bills were filed
14 VFC-opposed bills were filed
0 VFC-opposed bills passed
36 VFC-supported bills were passed
4 VFC-supported bills were conformed (combined with other bills)
During the session, Virginians for Change:
Issued 14 Calls to Action
Provided deep dives on 14 GVP bills
Gathered 12 members to advocate at the Virginia General Assembly in coalition with groups across our commonwealth on MLK Day
Met with 14 VGA legislators and staffers
Dropped off one pagers detailing the bills and policies we supported and opposed to all 140 members of the VGA
Testified for a bill in subcommittee
Made over 400 phone calls, public comments, and emails to legislators advocating for commonsense gun reform
Democratic delegates and senators continued to be strong advocates for these vital pieces of legislation and are the reason these bills passed. All of the VFC-supported bills were patroned by Democrats. We continue to be so grateful to them for their representation of beliefs held by the majority of Virginians.We don't believe that gun violence prevention should be a partisan issue, and it was frustrating to see the lack of support among the Republican members of the VGA for evidenced-based policies that can save the lives of so many Virginians.
While in 2025 we saw 23 GOP votes in favor of passing a GVP bill that VFC supported, this session, there were only four. We would like to thank Sen. Mulchi for voting in favor of SB160 & HB19, and Del. Garrett and Del. McNamara for voting for HB1071.
There's honestly so many passed bills to be excited about; here’s our runthrough by topic:
ERPOs
SB38/HB93 (Favola/Bennett-Parker) Protect DV Survivors. Establish a clear process to separate a person from their firearms who has been convicted of a domestic violence offense, or who is subject to a protective order. This bill will strengthen protections for domestic violence survivors. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
SB160/HB19 (Perry/McClure) Close the Boyfriend Loophole. Ensures that intimate partner, or dating relationships, are included in the definition of domestic violence and firearms prohibitions are applicable. This bill will expand critical protections to additional relationship categories. For example, this bill would include a relationship where a woman cohabitates with her boyfriend. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
SB495/HB901 (Deeds/Sullivan) Expanding ERPO Petitioners. Expands risk orders to include family/household members and certain licensed mental health practitioners to the list of those who can petition the courts. Those closest to a person can often be the ones who are able to spot causes for concern. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
HB1071 (Laufer) Training for School Treat Assessment Teams. Requires training on ERPOs for k-12 and high ed school's threat assessment teams. ERPOs can be a vital tool for school threat assessment team to keep our kids safe. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
HB896 (Sullivan) Risk Order Training. Establishes a program to provide training on current ERPO laws in Virginia for law-enforcement agencies, judicial staff, and other public institutions. The program would also promote public awareness of current ERPO laws. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
HB1096 (Singh) ERPO Reporting. Creates a system for tracking and anonymized reporting of ERPOs. Data collection and analysis allows lawmakers to establish best practices and policies. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
GUN TYPE
SB323/HB40 (Ebbin/SImmon) Ban Ghost Guns. Bans “ghost guns” (weapons that have no serial number and are often made of plastic or other parts that can pass through metal detectors). This bill will make it easier to prosecute and prevent crimes committed by ghost guns. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
SB749/HB217 (Salim/Helmer) Assault Weapons Ban. Bans the sale of any semi-automatic assault rifle or pistol with a fixed magazine capacity in excess of 15 rounds regardless of when it was manufactured, with limited exceptions.
SB727/HB1524 (Jones/McGuire) No Assault Weapons in Public. Prohibits carrying assault firearms in public areas.
SB643/HB1525 (Surovell/McGuire) Age Minimum for Handgun Purchase. Reinforces federal law that handguns cannot be purchased in Virginia by a person under 21 years of age. This bill will give young adults more time to develop emotional maturity prior to being able to purchase handguns.
LOCATION
SB272/HB626 (Deeds/Callsen) No Guns on Campus. Allows colleges to ban firearms on campus. This bill will extend the protection of k-12 schools to our institutions of higher education. Right now, this is accomplished through the regulatory process, but putting it in the Code will ensure everyone benefits from these protections. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
HB909 (Shin) Expanding Gun Prohibitions at Polling Places. Prohibits procession of a firearm within 100 feet (current law is 40 feet) of a polling place, an election results meeting location, or an election recount location.
SB173/HB229 (Graves/Hernandez) No Weapons in Hospitals & Mental Health Facilities. Prohibits weapons in any facility that provides mental health services or emergency medical care. This bill will protect the safety of our medical care providers.
STORAGE
SB348/HB871 (Boysko/Downey) Child Access Prevention. Creates penalties for gun owners whose gun is illegally used by a minor.
SB109/HB201 (Pekarsky/Cohen) Lethal Means Awareness. Requires school boards to notify parents of the importance of safe storage of firearms and prescription medication. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
SB496/HB110 (Marsden/Laufer) Preventing Gun Thefts from Cars. Requires any person wishing to store their firearms in their car must have a valid concealed handgun permit. This bill will help to decrease the incredible amount of guns that are stolen each year. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
OTHER
SB27/HB21 (Carroll Foy/Helmer) Industry Accountability. Makes it easier to hold firearm manufacturers and distributors accountable for reckless behavior or practices that make our communities less safe. This bill will assist in forcing manufacturers to raise standards of safety. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
HB702 (Cole) Establishing a Statewide Give-Back Program. Each regional division headquarters of the state police may voluntarily serve as a drop-off point for individuals, of their own free will, to relinquish firearms to be destroyed. This bill will make it easier to destroy a gun that you no longer want or has come into your possession through something like inheritance.
HB1015 (Tran) Disarm Hate. Bans anyone convicted of a hate crime from owning a gun. This bill will help to protect minority communities in our commonwealth.
SB364/HB969 (Carroll Foy/Price) GVP Working Group. Creates a working group within the Department of Criminal Justice with the purpose of creating a plan for the development of a Virginia Gun Violence Prevention Center that would gather research, strategies, and best practices.
SB115 (Pekarsky) Gun Permit Reciprocity. Tightens concealed handgun permits (ensures that a permit from another state meets with the bar of Virginia’s laws). Visitors wishing to carry concealed handguns in Virginia will now need to meet the same level of safety requirements that we require of our state’s residents. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
What’ll we be looking towards for next year? Well a few bills we supported didn’t move forward this time--many had just been introduced for the first time this year, and sometimes it can take a bit for bills to work out exact language and get their legs under them. But, issues we’ll look forward to championing in the future are:
Firearms Purchaser Licensing
Purchase of firearms; waiting period; penalties
$500 Excise tax on sale of firearms suppressors
Prohibition on outdoor shooting of firearm on property without reasonable care; penalty
Mass Violence Care Fund established
Department of Health; suicide prevention; at-risk populations; work group; report
Security requirements for dealers in firearms; civil penalty
Retail sales and use tax; firearm and ammunition tax
We appreciate all of you working together to bring our mission to life. Virginians for Change aims to engage members with everyday activism, educate our community about GVP, encourage members to interact with elected officials through bite-sized advocacy, and endorse and support pro-GVP politicians in Virginia. Our organization is a 501c4 nonprofit and is entirely volunteer-run.
Thank you to all who used their voices to bring about change.
