2026 SESSION
INTRODUCED
26104545D
SENATE BILL NO. 727
Offered January 14, 2026
A BILL to amend and reenact § 18.2-287.4 of the Code of Virginia, relating to carrying loaded firearms in public areas prohibited in the Commonwealth; penalty.
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Patron—Jones, M.
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Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 18.2-287.4 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 18.2-287.4. Carrying loaded firearms in public areas prohibited; penalty.
It shall be is unlawful for any person to carry a loaded (a) (i) semi-automatic center-fire rifle or pistol that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material and is (a) equipped at the time of the offense with a magazine that will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition, or (b) designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer, or (c) equipped with a folding stock or (b) (ii) shotgun with a magazine that will hold more than seven rounds of the longest ammunition for which it is chambered on or about his person on any public street, road, alley, sidewalk, public right-of-way, or in any public park or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public in the Cities of Alexandria, Chesapeake, Fairfax, Falls Church, Newport News, Norfolk, Richmond, or Virginia Beach or in the Counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Henrico, Loudoun, or Prince William Commonwealth.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to law-enforcement officers, licensed security guards, military personnel in the performance of their lawful duties, or any person having a valid concealed handgun permit or to any person actually engaged in lawful hunting or lawful recreational shooting activities at an established shooting range or shooting contest. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
The exemptions set forth in §§ 18.2-308 and 18.2-308.016 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the provisions of this section.