§ 1 — The headline law
Assault firearm & magazine sales ban
HB 217 / SB 749 Ch. 1106 / 1107 Effective Jul 1, 2026 Class 1 misdemeanor
This is the law everything else orbits. It makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to import, sell, manufacture, purchase, or transfer an "assault firearm," and a separate Class 1 misdemeanor to import, sell, barter, transfer,
or purchase a "large capacity ammunition feeding device" — a magazine, belt, drum, or feed strip holding more than 15 rounds.
It does not ban possession of what you already own. It bans the market.
The definition of "assault firearm" lives in § 18.2-308.2:2;
the sale ban is the new § 18.2-287.4:1; the magazine ban is the
new § 18.2-309.1. Get the definition right and the rest of the
package falls into place — because the carry ban in § 2
points to the exact same definition.
The test — how a gun becomes an "assault firearm"
A firearm qualifies when it matches a defined action plus a
defined set of military-style features. The catch most coverage gets
wrong: the number of features required is not the same
for rifles, pistols, and shotguns.
Rifle
Semi-auto, centerfire, detachable mag
1
feature is enough
- Folding, telescoping, or collapsible stock
-
Thumbhole stock, or pistol grip protruding conspicuously beneath
the action
-
Second handgrip or protruding grip for the non-trigger hand
- Grenade launcher
-
Threaded barrel that accepts a muzzle brake, compensator, sound
suppressor, or flash suppressor
Pistol
Semi-auto, centerfire, detachable mag
2
features required
-
Second handgrip or protruding grip for the non-trigger hand
-
Capacity to accept a magazine that attaches outside the pistol
grip
-
Barrel shroud that lets you hold the pistol without burning your
hand
-
Threaded barrel that accepts a suppressor, flash suppressor,
barrel extender, or forward grip
-
Buffer tube or arm brace behind the grip designed to fire from
the shoulder
Shotgun
Semi-automatic
1
feature is enough
- Folding, telescoping, or collapsible stock
-
Thumbhole stock, or pistol grip protruding conspicuously beneath
the action
- Ability to accept a detachable magazine
- Fixed magazine capacity over 15 rounds
- Any characteristic of like kind
And four catch-alls — banned on their own, no feature count
needed
Fixed mag > 15
Any semi-auto centerfire rifle or pistol with a fixed magazine
over 15 rounds.
Revolving shotgun
Any shotgun with a revolving cylinder, full stop.
Belt-fed
Any firearm that can accept a belt ammunition feeding device.
Modified to qualify
Any firearm modified to be operable as an assault firearm under
the prongs above.
The word that does the work: "fixed"
The standalone over-15 prong only catches a fixed
magazine — one built into the gun. Almost nothing modern has that.
The Governor proposed striking "fixed" so the prong would catch ordinary
detachable magazines too; the General Assembly
rejected that amendment. So a normal rifle or pistol
is judged by its features, not by how many rounds its
detachable magazine holds.
What is NOT an assault firearm
Antique firearms — excluded by definition
Permanently inoperable firearms
Anything manually operated by bolt, pump, lever,
or slide action — the entire hunting and sporting world of non-semi-autos
.22 rimfire tube-fed guns — the tubular
.22 LR carve-out keeps a 10/22-style tube out of the rifle prong
| Firearm | Configuration | Result |
|---|
| AR-15 / M4-pattern | Detachable mag + pistol grip + collapsible stock | Assault firearm |
| AK-pattern rifle | Detachable mag + pistol grip | Assault firearm |
| AR-pattern pistol | Arm brace + threaded barrel (two features) | Assault firearm |
| Semi-auto shotgun | Accepts a detachable magazine (one feature) | Assault firearm |
| Belt-fed semi-auto | Any belt-feed capability | Assault firearm |
| Ruger Mini-14 | Standard stock, detachable mag, no listed features | Not covered |
| Glock 17 (stock) | Detachable mag, no two listed features | Not the gun * |
| Bolt-action hunting rifle | Manually operated | Excluded |
| Pump shotgun | Manually operated | Excluded |
* The Glock as a firearm is not an assault firearm — its
magazine is detachable and it lacks two listed features. But see the magazine
rule below: its factory 17-round magazine is a banned large-capacity device
for sale and transfer.
15
Round magazine cap
It is a Class 1 misdemeanor to import, sell, barter, transfer, or
purchase any magazine, belt, drum, or feed strip that holds —
or can be readily restored to hold — more than 15 rounds.
The gun-versus-magazine trap
This is where most explainers go wrong. A standard Glock 17, Glock 19, or a 1911 with an extended magazine is not itself an "assault firearm." But the magazine is the catch: factory 17-round Glock mags and extended pistol mags hold
more than 15 rounds, so after July 1 they cannot be sold, bartered, transferred,
or purchased. The pistol can still change hands with a 15-round-or-under
magazine; the bigger mags are what leave the market.
Grandfather clause — possession is safe
If you lawfully owned an assault firearm or a large-capacity
magazine
before July 1, 2026, you keep it. You may also
import it, sell or transfer it to a licensed dealer or to someone
out of state, hand it to a gunsmith and get it back, inherit it,
gift it to an
immediate family member (spouse, children, parents, grandparents,
siblings) who is not prohibited, or use a range's loaner on the premises.
A large-capacity magazine can also be permanently modified down to 15
rounds.
Correction worth stating on camera
The enacted law has no hunting-shotgun exemption. The
Governor proposed an amendment carving out certain semi-automatic shotguns
used for hunting. The General Assembly rejected that amendment at the
April 22 reconvened session, and she signed the bill unchanged on May 14, 2026 (some outlets reported May 15). A semi-auto hunting shotgun stays legal
only if it has none of the listed features — not because hunting
is exempt.
And one more penalty layer
Anyone convicted under the sale ban is barred from purchasing,
possessing, or transporting any firearm for
three years from the conviction (§ 18.2-308.1:9).
Rights restore automatically after three years unless another disqualifier
applies.
§ 2 — The other half of the definition
Carrying a loaded assault firearm in public, prohibited
HB 1524 / SB 727 Ch. 1101 Effective Jul 1, 2026 Class 1 misdemeanor
This rewrites § 18.2-287.4 to prohibit carrying a loaded assault firearm — using the exact same
§ 18.2-308.2:2 definition from § 1 — on or about your person on any public street, road, alley, sidewalk,
public right-of-way, in any public park, or in any other place open to
the public, in the cities of Alexandria, Chesapeake, Fairfax, Falls Church,
Newport News, Norfolk, Richmond, and Virginia Beach and the counties of
Arlington, Fairfax, Henrico, Loudoun, and Prince William.
Two of the old statute's limits survive: the gun must be
loaded, and the ban still applies only in the same eight
cities and five counties. What changed is the firearms covered
— the old narrow list is replaced by the full assault-firearm
definition — and who is exempt. The governor's April 22
amendment, adopted by both chambers, restored the loaded and
locality limits that the enrolled bill had stripped. The version
some early coverage described, a statewide ban loaded or not,
never became law.
Your concealed handgun permit no longer covers this
The old statute exempted anyone with a valid concealed handgun
permit, and licensed security guards. The permit exemption was deleted.
What remains: law enforcement and military in the performance of official duties, licensed security guards on duty, recognized public-college cadet
corps during sanctioned training or an official ceremony, and people
actually engaged in lawful hunting or recreational shooting at an
established range or contest. The general § 18.2-308 carry
exemptions still apply.
Read § 1 and § 2 together: the same configuration question
decides both whether you can buy the gun and whether you can
carry it in public.