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SB643 • 2026

Firearms, certain; possession, transportation, or purchase by certain persons, penalty.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 18.2-308.7 of the Code of Virginia, relating to possession or transportation of certain firearms by certain persons; penalty.

Children Crime Firearms Land Parental Rights
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Surovell
Last action
2026-03-24
Official status
Failed
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details about enforcement actions or all exceptions for firearm purchases by those under 21.

Firearms Restrictions for Young People

This law stops people under 18 from having or moving certain guns within Virginia, and limits those under 21 from buying them, unless exceptions apply.

What This Bill Does

  • It makes it against the rules for anyone younger than 18 to have or move a handgun or assault firearm within Virginia.
  • It also prohibits any person younger than 21 years of age, with certain exceptions outlined in the bill, from purchasing a handgun or assault firearm in Virginia.
  • Violating this rule is considered a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People under 18 years old who have or move certain firearms within Virginia.
  • People between 18 and 20 years old trying to buy certain firearms in Virginia, unless exceptions apply.

Terms To Know

Class 1 misdemeanor
A type of crime that is considered very serious, leading to possible jail time or fines.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify all the exceptions for people under 21 who might be allowed to buy certain firearms.
  • It's unclear what specific actions will be taken by law enforcement to enforce these rules.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

SB643AC

2026-03-14 • Conference

Conference Report

Plain English: The amendment proposes to reject a previous version of the bill and accept a new substitute version to address disagreements.

  • Rejects the House Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (26108805D).
  • Accepts a new Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (26109913D) to resolve differences.
  • The specific details and content of the new substitute amendment are not provided, making it hard to explain concrete changes.
  • Without the full text of the new amendment, we cannot describe what exactly is being changed in the bill.
SB643AC1

2026-03-14 • Conference

Conference Report

Plain English: The amendment proposes to reject a previous House Amendment and accept a new one to resolve disagreements about Senate Bill No. 643, which deals with penalties for certain people possessing or transporting firearms.

  • Rejects the previously proposed House Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (26108805D).
  • Accepts a new Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (26110050D) to address disagreements.
  • The official amendment text does not provide details about what changes are made by the accepted substitute amendment, making it hard to explain specific concrete changes.
  • Without additional information on the content of Amendment (26110050D), we cannot describe its exact effects.
SB643S4

2026-03-14 • Conference

Conference Report Substitute

Plain English: The amendment changes the law so that it is illegal for anyone under 18 years old to possess or transport a handgun or assault firearm in Virginia, with some exceptions.

  • It becomes unlawful for individuals younger than 18 years of age to knowingly and intentionally possess or transport handguns or assault firearms anywhere in the Commonwealth.
  • The law now includes specific conditions under which minors can possess firearms on their property or that of a parent, grandparent, legal guardian, with written permission from the landowner.
  • The amendment text is complex and may have additional implications not fully covered in this summary.
  • There are detailed exceptions to the rule which allow minors to possess firearms under certain conditions.
SB643S5

2026-03-14 • Conference

Conference Report Substitute

Plain English: The amendment changes the law so that anyone under 18 years old is not allowed to possess or transport a handgun or assault firearm anywhere in Virginia, except in certain situations.

  • Changes the age restriction from 'under' to 'younger than' for those who cannot possess or transport handguns or assault firearms.
  • Clarifies that subsection B of the law does not apply when someone under 18 is on their own property, a parent's property, or another person’s property with written permission and accompanied by an adult.
  • The amendment text includes complex legal language which may be difficult to fully interpret without additional context.
  • Specific details about the fiscal impact of the changes are not provided in plain terms within the amendment text.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-24 Senate

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB643)

  2. 2026-03-14 Senate

    Conference report agreed to by Senate

  3. 2026-03-14 Senate

    Different conference report agreed to by each chamber (failed)

  4. 2026-03-14 Conference

    Conference Report released

  5. 2026-03-14 Conference

    Conference Report released

  6. 2026-03-14 Senate

    Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (3/14/2026 12:42 pm)

  7. 2026-03-14 House

    Conference report agreed to by House (59-Y 37-N 0-A)

  8. 2026-03-14 Senate

    Conference report agreed to by Senate (21-Y 18-N 0-A)

  9. 2026-03-14 Senate

    Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (3/14/2026 4:28 pm)

  10. 2026-03-12 House

    Conferees appointed by House

  11. 2026-03-12 House

    House Conferees: McGuire, Simon, Oates

  12. 2026-03-10 Senate

    Senate Conferees: Surovell, Srinivasan, Stuart

  13. 2026-03-10 Senate

    Conferees appointed by Senate

  14. 2026-03-10 Senate

    Senate acceded to request Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A)

  15. 2026-03-09 House

    House insisted on substitute

  16. 2026-03-09 House

    House requested conference committee

  17. 2026-03-06 Senate

    House substitute rejected by Senate (0-Y 40-N 0-A)

  18. 2026-03-06 Public Safety

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB643)

  19. 2026-03-04 House

    Read third time

  20. 2026-03-04 House

    committee substitute agreed to

  21. 2026-03-04 House

    Engrossed by House - committee substitute

  22. 2026-03-04 House

    Passed House with substitute (61-Y 37-N 0-A)

  23. 2026-03-03 House

    Read second time

  24. 2026-02-27 Public Safety

    Reported from Public Safety with substitute (14-Y 8-N)

  25. 2026-02-27 Public Safety

    Committee substitute printed 26108805D-H1

  26. 2026-02-27 Public Safety

    Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (2/27/2026 3:32 pm)

  27. 2026-02-26 Firearms

    Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 3-N)

  28. 2026-02-24 House

    Placed on Calendar

  29. 2026-02-24 House

    Read first time

  30. 2026-02-24 Public Safety

    Referred to Committee on Public Safety

  31. 2026-02-24 Firearms

    Assigned HMPPS sub: Firearms

  32. 2026-02-17 Senate

    Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (2/17/2026 8:45 am)

  33. 2026-02-17 Senate

    Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A)

  34. 2026-02-16 Senate

    Floor substitute printed 26108027D-S3 (Surovell)

  35. 2026-02-16 Senate

    Floor Offered

  36. 2026-02-16 Senate

    Engrossed by Senate - floor substitute

  37. 2026-02-16 Senate

    Engrossment reconsidered by Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A)

  38. 2026-02-16 Finance and Appropriations

    Committee substitute reconsidered (40-Y 0-N 0-A)

  39. 2026-02-16 Finance and Appropriations

    Finance and Appropriations Substitute rejected

  40. 2026-02-16 Senate

    Reading of amendment waived (Voice Vote)

  41. 2026-02-16 Senate

    Senator Surovell Substitute agreed to (21-Y 19-N 0-A)

  42. 2026-02-16 Senate

    Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote)

  43. 2026-02-13 Senate

    Passed by for the day

  44. 2026-02-12 Senate

    Read third time

  45. 2026-02-12 Senate

    Passed by for the day

  46. 2026-02-11 Senate

    Passed by for the day

  47. 2026-02-10 Senate

    Read second time

  48. 2026-02-10 Senate

    Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute (Voice Vote)

  49. 2026-02-10 Courts of Justice

    Committee substitute rejected (Voice Vote)

  50. 2026-02-10 Finance and Appropriations

    Committee substitute agreed to (Voice Vote)

  51. 2026-02-10 Senate

    Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote)

  52. 2026-02-09 Senate

    Rules suspended

  53. 2026-02-09 Senate

    Rules suspended

  54. 2026-02-09 Senate

    Passed by for the day

  55. 2026-02-09 Finance and Appropriations

    Committee substitute printed 26107394D-S2

  56. 2026-02-09 Finance and Appropriations

    Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (2/9/2026 10:03 am)

  57. 2026-02-09 Senate

    Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)

  58. 2026-02-09 Senate

    Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)

  59. 2026-02-08 Courts of Justice

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB643)

  60. 2026-02-05 Finance and Appropriations

    Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (10-Y 5-N)

  61. 2026-01-30 Courts of Justice

    Committee substitute printed 26106156D-S1

  62. 2026-01-30 Courts of Justice

    Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (1/30/2026 1:17 pm)

  63. 2026-01-28 Senate

    Incorporates SB797 (Carroll Foy)

  64. 2026-01-28 Courts of Justice

    Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 6-N)

  65. 2026-01-26 Senate

    Senate committee offered

  66. 2026-01-20 Senate

    Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (1/20/2026 4:34 pm)

  67. 2026-01-14 Senate

    Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104904D

  68. 2026-01-14 Courts of Justice

    Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

Official Summary Text

Possession or transportation of certain firearms by certain persons; penalty.
Prohibits any person younger than 18 years of age from knowingly and intentionally possessing or transporting a handgun or assault firearm within the Commonwealth. The bill also prohibits any person younger than 21 years of age, with certain exceptions outlined in the bill, from purchasing a handgun or assault firearm in the Commonwealth. The bill provides that a violation of the provisions of the bill is a Class 1 misdemeanor. This bill incorporates SB 797.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
JOINT CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT

We, the conferees, appointed by the respective bodies to consider and report upon the disagreeing vote on
Senate Bill No. 643
, report as follows:

A. We recommend that the House Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (26108805D) be rejected.

B. We recommend that the attached Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (26110050D) be accepted to resolve the matter under disagreement.

Respectfully submitted,

Senator Scott A. Surovell (signed)

Senator Kannan Srinivasan (signed)

Senator Richard H. Stuart (not signed)

Conferees on the part of the Senate

Delegate Garrett Z. McGuire (signed)

Delegate Marcus B. Simon (signed)

Delegate Delores Oates (not signed)

Conferees on the part of the House