Proposed Virginia Firearm Legislation HB217
Legislation Overview
Title: Assault firearms and certain ammunition feeding devices; importation, sale, etc., prohibited.
Description: Importation, sale, manufacture, etc., of assault firearms and certain ammunition feeding devices prohibited; penalties. Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person who imports, sells, manufactures, purchases, or transfers an assault firearm, as that term is defined in the bill with some exceptions, and prohibits a person who has been convicted of such violation from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm for a period of three years from the date of conviction. The bill provides that an assault firearm does not include any firearm that is an antique firearm, has been rendered permanently inoperable, is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action, or was manufactured before July 1, 2026. The bill also prohibits the sale of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, as that term is defined in the bill. The bill provides that any person who willfully and intentionally (i) sells an assault firearm to another person or (ii) purchases an assault firearm from another person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and that any person who imports, sells, barters, or transfers a large capacity ammunition feeding device is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person younger than 21 years of age to import, sell, manufacture, purchase, possess, transport, or transfer an assault firearm regardless of the date of manufacture of such assault firearm with some exceptions.
Session: 2026 Regular Regular Session
Last Action: Assigned HMPPS sub: Firearms
Last Action Date: January 16, 2026
Sponsors
Note: the first sponsor listed is normally the primary sponsor. If a sponsor's name is a hyperlink you can click on it to 'follow the money'.
1 sponsors: Dan Helmer (D);
Percentage of House of Delegates sponsoring bill: 1% (1 of 100)
History
| Chamber | Date | Action |
| House | Jan 16, 2026 | Assigned HMPPS sub: Firearms |
| House | Jan 14, 2026 | Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB217) |
| House | Jan 8, 2026 | Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (1/8/2026 5:09 pm) |
| House | Jan 7, 2026 | Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100315D |
| House | Jan 7, 2026 | Referred to Committee on Public Safety |
Texts
| Type | Date | State Link | Text |
| Introduced | Jan 7, 2026 | state link | bill text |
Amendments
| Title | Description | Date | State Link | Text | Adopted |
| There are no amendments to this bill at this time | |||||
Votes - Click on description to view vote roll call
There have not been any votes on this bill
Link: link to state bill page
