Citation(s) from the GunPolicy.org literature library
Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 2024 ‘Assault Weapons in Virginia.’ Hardware & Ammunition. San Francisco, CA: Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 23 April
Relevant contents
Assault Weapons in Virginia
Virginia prohibits any person:
- Who is not a citizen of the U.S., or who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence, from knowingly and intentionally possessing or transporting any assault firearm; or
-Who is a firearms dealer from transferring any assault firearm to such a person; and
- From importing, selling, possessing or transferring "the Striker 12, commonly called a 'streetsweeper,' or any semi-automatic folding-stock shotgun of like kind with a spring tension drum magazine capable of holding twelve shotgun shells."
Virginia law defines "assault firearm" as:
[A]ny semi-automatic center-fire rifle or pistol which expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material and is equipped at the time of the offense with a magazine which will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition or designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer or equipped with a folding stock.
With certain exceptions, Virginia law prohibits any person under 18 years of age from knowingly and intentionally possessing or transporting an assault firearm. For purposes of this provision, an "assault firearm" means either:
- A semi-automatic centerfire rifle or pistol equipped with a magazine that will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition, is designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer or is equipped with a folding stock; or
- A shotgun with a magazine which will hold more than seven rounds of the longest ammunition for which it is chambered.
Virginia law also prohibits the carrying of certain loaded high-powered firearms in public places in certain cities…
[Editor's note: The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence regularly updates its webpages with new data as US gun regulation evolves state by state. For the most up-to-date information on US gun laws, please refer to the Giffords URL below]