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, or is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action. The bill also creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person who imports, sells, barters, or transfers a large capacity ammunition feeding device. 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.
Session: 2026 Regular Regular Session
Last Action: Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (2/27/2026 3:48 pm)
Last Action Date: February 27, 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'.
28 sponsors: Dan Helmer (D); Nadarius Clark (D); Rae Cousins (D); Marcia Price (D); Richard Sullivan (D); Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D); Gretchen Bulova (D);Betsy Carr (D); Laura Jane Cohen (D); Mark Downey (D);Rozia Henson (D); Phil Hernandez (D); Patrick Hope (D); Karen Keys-Gamarra (D); Paul Krizek (D); Amy Laufer (D); Destiny LeVere Bolling (D); Alfonso Lopez (D); Marty Martinez (D); Garrett McGuire (D);May Nivar (D);Atoosa Reaser (D); David Reid (D); Charlie Schmidt (D);Holly Seibold (D); Irene Shin (D); J.J. Singh (D);Kathy Tran (D);
Percentage of House of Delegates sponsoring bill: 28% (28 of 100)
History
| Chamber | Date | Action |
| House | Feb 27, 2026 | Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (2/27/2026 3:48 pm) |
| Senate | Feb 27, 2026 | Committee substitute printed 26108593D-S1 |
| Senate | Feb 25, 2026 | Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 6-N) |
| Senate | Feb 25, 2026 | Senate committee offered |
| House | Feb 10, 2026 | Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB217) |
| Senate | Feb 6, 2026 | Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) |
| Senate | Feb 6, 2026 | Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice |
| House | Feb 5, 2026 | Read third time and passed House (58-Y 34-N 0-A) |
| House | Feb 4, 2026 | committee substitute agreed to |
| House | Feb 4, 2026 | Engrossed by House - committee substitute |
| House | Feb 4, 2026 | Read second time |
| House | Feb 3, 2026 | Read first time |
| House | Feb 2, 2026 | Committee substitute printed 26106682D-H1 |
| House | Feb 2, 2026 | Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (2/2/2026 10:25 am) |
| House | Jan 30, 2026 | Reported from Public Safety with substitute (13-Y 6-N) |
| House | Jan 29, 2026 | Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 3-N) |
| House | Jan 29, 2026 | House subcommittee offered |
| House | Jan 24, 2026 | Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB217) |
| House | Jan 16, 2026 | Assigned HPS 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 | Referred to Committee on Public Safety |
| House | Jan 7, 2026 | Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100315D |
Texts
| Type | Date | State Link | Text |
| Comm Sub | Feb 27, 2026 | state link | bill text |
| Comm Sub | Feb 25, 2026 | state link | bill text |
| Comm Sub | Feb 2, 2026 | state link | bill text |
| Comm Sub | Jan 30, 2026 | state link | bill text |
| Comm Sub | Jan 29, 2026 | state link | bill 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
| Description | Vote Date | Yea Votes | Nay Votes | No Votes | Absent | Passed |
| Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 3-N) | 01/29/2026 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | Yes |
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| resort votes by: party yeas nays name | ||||||
| Reported from Public Safety with substitute (13-Y 6-N) | 01/30/2026 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 3 | Yes |
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| resort votes by: party yeas nays name | ||||||
| Read third time and passed House (58-Y 34-N 0-A) | 02/5/2026 | 58 | 34 | 0 | 8 | Yes |
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| resort votes by: party yeas nays name | ||||||
| Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 6-N) | 02/25/2026 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
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| resort votes by: party yeas nays name | ||||||
Link: link to state bill page
