Virginia Gun Laws: Carry, Permits, and Prohibited Firearms

Virginia gun laws set who can own a firearm, require a background check on nearly every transfer (including private sales), allow open carry without a permit for anyone who can lawfully possess a gun, and require a state-issued permit to carry concealed. A new assault firearms ban signed May 15, 2026 takes effect July 1, 2026 and adds significant new restrictions on certain semi-automatic firearms and large-capacity magazines.¹

Who Cannot Own a Firearm in Virginia

Federal law sets the age floors: 18 to buy a rifle or shotgun and 21 to buy a handgun from a licensed dealer. Virginia’s concealed handgun permit is also limited to people 21 and older.

Beyond age, Virginia bars several categories of people from possessing or transporting any firearm.

Anyone convicted of a felony in any jurisdiction loses the right to possess firearms, ammunition, stun weapons, or explosives. A felon caught with a firearm faces a Class 6 felony, carrying one to five years in prison. A prior violent felony triggers a mandatory minimum of five years; other felonies within the past 10 years carry a two-year mandatory minimum.²

If you are subject to a protective order, you cannot purchase or transport any firearm while the order is in effect, and you must surrender any concealed handgun permit. Violating the purchase and transport rule is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Knowingly possessing a firearm while under a final protective order is a Class 6 felony.³

Non-citizens who are not lawfully present in the United States cannot possess or transport any firearm. Non-citizens who are lawfully admitted but are not permanent residents face a narrower rule: they cannot possess assault firearms. Both are Class 6 felonies.⁴

People who have been adjudicated mentally incapacitated or involuntarily committed are also disqualified, along with those with certain substance abuse histories.

Red Flag Orders

A judge or magistrate can issue an emergency substantial risk order temporarily removing firearms from someone who poses a substantial risk of injury to themselves or others. A prosecutor or law enforcement officer must petition for it, and the judge must find probable cause.⁵ The emergency order lasts 14 days, during which the person cannot purchase, possess, or transport any firearm and must surrender firearms to law enforcement. Extending the order past 14 days requires a full hearing.⁶

Background Checks on Every Transfer

Every purchase from a licensed dealer runs through a criminal history record check by the Virginia State Police. The dealer takes the buyer’s information on a consent form, contacts the State Police, and can complete the sale once the check clears.⁷

Private sales are not exempt. If you sell a firearm to another person, you have to take the buyer to a licensed dealer, who runs the same background check. The dealer can charge up to $15 for the service on top of the State Police fee. Transferring a firearm without going through a dealer is a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.⁸⁹

If you want to buy more than one handgun within a 30-day window, you have to submit a separate application (Form SP-207) to the Virginia State Police. This applies to dealer sales and private transfers alike.¹⁰

Open Carry vs. Concealed Carry

Virginia does not require a permit for open carry. If you can lawfully possess a firearm, you can carry it openly in most public places, subject to the location restrictions below.

Carrying a concealed handgun without a valid permit is a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine. A valid concealed handgun permit exempts you from that prohibition.¹¹ While carrying concealed, you must show your permit and photo ID on request from a law enforcement officer. Failing to display them carries a $25 civil penalty.¹²

How to Get a Concealed Handgun Permit

Eligibility and Training

You must be at least 21 and a Virginia resident. You also have to prove in-person competency with a handgun. Online-only courses do not qualify. Acceptable training includes a firearms safety course from an NRA-certified, USCCA-certified, or state-certified instructor; a hunter education course; law enforcement firearms training; or equivalent experience such as military service or organized shooting competition.¹³ Typical course costs run $40 to $175.

Application, Fees, and Timing

The application is Virginia State Police Form SP-248, downloadable from the State Police website.¹⁴ It asks for your legal name, date of birth, five-year address history, and physical descriptors, plus a series of yes-or-no questions about felony convictions, misdemeanor history, mental health commitments, substance abuse treatment, and other disqualifying factors.¹⁵ Lying on the form is a criminal offense.

File the completed SP-248, your proof of training, and a government-issued photo ID with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county or city where you live. The total fee is capped at $50, which covers court processing, the local law enforcement investigation, and the State Police background check. The court has 45 days from receipt to issue or deny the permit; if it hasn’t acted in that time, the clerk certifies your application and that certified copy serves as a temporary permit for up to 90 days.¹⁴

Renewal

The permit lasts five years. To renew, you do not need to retake a training course or appear in person. Submit the renewal application and a photocopy of your photo ID by mail between 90 and 180 days before expiration, and the new five-year term starts when the old permit ends.¹⁶

Non-Residents

Non-residents apply through the Virginia State Police Firearms Transaction Center rather than a circuit court. The form is still the SP-248, but non-residents must also submit fingerprints on a Virginia State Police fingerprint card. Online-only training still doesn’t count. Request an application package by writing to the Firearms Transaction Center or emailing nonrespermit@vsp.virginia.gov.¹⁷

Reciprocity for Travelers

Virginia recognizes concealed handgun permits from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. territories. To carry concealed in Virginia on an out-of-state permit, you must be at least 21, carry a valid government-issued photo ID with your permit, display both on request, and must not have had a Virginia permit revoked.¹⁸

The reverse is not automatic. Virginia recognizing your state’s permit doesn’t mean your state recognizes Virginia’s. Before you travel out of state with a concealed handgun, check the destination state’s rules directly.

Where Firearms Are Prohibited

Even with a permit, some places are off limits.

Under state law, firearms are barred from the Capitol building, Capitol Square and the surrounding area, any building owned or leased by the Commonwealth, and any office where state employees regularly work.¹⁹

Possessing a firearm on the property of any public or private school (preschool through high school), including buildings, grounds, and school buses, is a Class 6 felony. Bringing a firearm inside a school building and using it, attempting to use it, or displaying it threateningly carries a five-year mandatory minimum on top of any other sentence.²⁰

Virginia’s preemption statute generally blocks localities from writing their own gun laws, but allows them to ban firearms in government-owned buildings, public parks, recreation centers, and public streets adjacent to permitted events.²¹ Rules vary by city and county, so check local ordinances.

Restricted Firearms and Accessories

Assault Firearms Ban Effective July 1, 2026

Virginia has banned the import, sale, manufacture, purchase, and transfer of assault firearms. The law was signed May 15, 2026 and takes effect July 1, 2026. It defines “assault firearm” broadly to cover semi-automatic center-fire rifles, pistols, and shotguns with certain features such as folding stocks, pistol grips, threaded barrels, or fixed magazines exceeding 15 rounds. It also prohibits the sale of large-capacity ammunition feeding devices. Violations are a Class 1 misdemeanor, and anyone convicted is barred from purchasing, possessing, or transporting any firearm for three years afterward.¹

Antique firearms, permanently inoperable firearms, and firearms operating by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action fall outside the ban. If you own guns or magazines that might come within the new definitions, read the statute closely; the interaction between the assault firearm definition and the magazine thresholds turns on specific features and configurations.

Auto Sears and Trigger Activators

Virginia prohibits manufacturing, importing, selling, possessing, or transporting any auto sear or trigger activator. An auto sear converts a semi-automatic firearm to fire automatically; a trigger activator uses recoil to reset the trigger so the gun keeps firing from a single pull. Possession is a Class 6 felony (one to five years). The only exception is for devices registered under the federal National Firearms Act.²²

Machine Guns

Machine guns are legal in Virginia if they comply with federal law, but every machine gun in the state must be registered with the Virginia State Police within 24 hours of acquisition. Registration stays valid as long as ownership doesn’t change; there is no annual renewal. Notify the State Police promptly if your address or other registration details change.²³

Storing Firearms Around Children

Virginia doesn’t mandate a specific storage method, but reckless storage is a crime. Leaving a loaded, unsecured firearm where a child under 14 could access it and be endangered is a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.²⁴⁹ The statute uses “recklessly,” so prosecutors have to show more than simple negligence, but a loaded handgun left on a coffee table with a toddler in the house is the kind of fact pattern that leads to charges.

Restoring Firearm Rights After a Conviction

If you lost your firearm rights to a felony conviction, restoration takes two steps. First, the Governor of Virginia must restore your political rights (voting, holding office). Second, you petition the circuit court where you live or where you were convicted for a hearing on restoring firearm rights specifically.²⁵

The restoration has to be unrestricted to satisfy federal law. A permit limiting you to rifles and shotguns for hunting, for example, does not lift your federal firearms disability. Out-of-state felony convictions require political-rights restoration from the state of conviction plus an unrestricted firearms restoration from that state’s courts. Federal felony convictions require a separate federal process through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Once your rights are restored, you are responsible for sending proof of eligibility to the Virginia State Police Firearms Transaction Center.

1
Virginia’s Legislative Information System. SB749 – 2026 Regular Session
2
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-308.2 – Possession or Transportation of Firearms, Firearms Ammunition, Stun Weapons, Explosives or Concealed Weapons by Convicted Felons
3
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-308.1:4 – Purchase or Transportation of Firearm by Persons Subject to Protective Orders
4
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-308.2:01 – Possession or Transportation of Certain Firearms by Certain Persons
5
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 19.2-152.13 – Emergency Substantial Risk Order
6
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code Title 19.2 Chapter 9.2 – Substantial Risk Orders
7
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-308.2:2 – Criminal History Record Information Check Required for the Transfer of Certain Firearms
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-308.2:5 – Criminal History Record Information Check Required for Transfer of Certain Firearms
9
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-11 – Punishment for Conviction of Misdemeanor
10
Virginia Code Commission. 19VAC30-101-30 – Application for Multiple Handgun Purchase
11
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-308 – Carrying Concealed Weapons; Exceptions; Penalty
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-308.01 – Carrying a Concealed Handgun With a Permit
13
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-308.02 – Application for a Concealed Handgun Permit; Virginia Resident or Domiciliary
14
Virginia State Police. Resident Concealed Handgun Permits
15
Virginia State Police. Application for Concealed Handgun Permit SP-248
16
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-308.010 – Renewal of Concealed Handgun Permit
17
Virginia State Police. Nonresident Concealed Handgun Permits
18
Virginia State Police. Reciprocity and Recognition
19
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-283.2 – Carrying a Firearm or Explosive Material Within Capitol Square and the Surrounding Area, Into a Building Owned or Leased by the Commonwealth
20
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-308.1 – Possession of Firearm, Stun Weapon, or Other Weapon on School Property Prohibited
21
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 15.2-915 – Control of Firearms; Applicability to Authorities and Local Governmental Entities
22
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-308.5:1 – Manufacture, Importation, Sale, Possession, Transfer, or Transportation of Auto Sears and Trigger Activators Prohibited
23
Virginia State Police. Machine Gun Registration
24
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-56.2 – Allowing Access to Firearms by Children; Penalty
25
Virginia State Police. Restoration of Firearm Rights