Virginia - VA Gun Laws

No state permit is required to purchase a firearm, just the standard federal NICS background check through a licensed dealer. No waiting period. A 2026 law raised the minimum age to purchase a handgun or assault firearm to 21.

Virginia does not require a background check for private sales between individuals, there's no universal background check law here.

Standard federal disqualifying categories apply. Virginia has a red flag (Extreme Risk Protection Order) law, allowing courts to temporarily remove firearms from someone found to pose a danger to themselves or others.

Legal without a permit for adults 18 and older who can otherwise legally possess a firearm, subject to the same sensitive-location restrictions that apply to concealed carry.

Virginia is shall-issue: the circuit court in your county of residence (or the State Police, for non-residents applying by mail) must grant a permit if you meet the legal requirements, no discretionary denial. You must be 21, a resident of the county or city where you're applying (residents), pass a background check, and demonstrate handgun competency. A 2026 reciprocity law recognizes concealed handgun permits from any other state whose requirements are "substantially similar" to Virginia's own.

Consistent with the state's permit and permitless-adjacent framework for open and concealed carry, no separate vehicle-specific permit is required beyond the underlying carry authorization.

Standard categories: courthouses, schools, and posted government buildings, with the usual carve-outs for valid permit holders in some locations.

Under Va. Code § 18.2-308.7, anyone under 18 may not knowingly and intentionally possess or transport a handgun or assault firearm anywhere in the Commonwealth, with exceptions for being on their own or a parent/grandparent/guardian's property, or on someone else's property with prior written permission from both the property owner and the minor's parent or guardian. Furnishing a handgun to a minor is prohibited, but the law carves out transfers between family members and transfers for sporting events or activities. A 2026 law separately raised the minimum age to purchase a handgun or assault firearm to 21.

⚠️ Actively contested as of this writing. Governor Spanberger signed HB 217 / SB 749 on May 14, 2026, banning the future sale, manufacture, import, purchase, and transfer of semi-automatic centerfire rifles, pistols, and shotguns meeting defined feature tests, plus magazines over 15 rounds, with a grandfather clause for anything lawfully owned before July 1, 2026. Violations carry up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine. Multiple lawsuits were filed within hours of signing, and a Lancaster County Circuit Court judge granted a preliminary injunction in Crump v. Katz blocking enforcement statewide, in effect as of July 21, 2026 through at least December 31, 2026. The U.S. Department of Justice has signaled it may sue as well. Treat this as the section most likely to change again on this page.

Virginia has no stand-your-ground statute, but state courts have held there's no duty to retreat before using force in public in an unprovoked attack, functionally similar to stand-your-ground in most situations. Castle Doctrine isn't codified in a specific statute either, but the common-law principle is recognized the same way: no duty to retreat when facing a threat within your home or property.

Strong. Virginia has state preemption, local municipalities cannot enact firearms laws stricter than state law.

- Virginia State Police, Firearms Transaction Program: vsp.virginia.gov
- Code of Virginia, Title 18.2, Chapter 7, Article 4 (weapons statutes): law.lis.virginia.gov
- Your county Circuit Court Clerk's office, for concealed handgun permit applications
- ATF: for federal NFA questions, suppressors are legal in Virginia for residents complying with federal law, with no additional state-level restriction