Virginia statute
Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-287.4:1 — Importation, sale, manufacture, etc., of assault firearms prohibited; penalty
Current through 2026 Regular Session
Part of Article 4: Dangerous Use of Firearms or Other Weapons, Code of Virginia.
Criminal charges under this statute
Full text of Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-287.4:1
Statutory text current through the 2026 Regular Session. This publication reproduces the text of the Code of Virginia from the official Virginia Law Portal API published by the Virginia General Assembly's Division of Legislative Automated Systems; it is not the official Code of Virginia.
A. As used in this section:
"Assault firearm" means the same as that term is defined in § 18.2-308.2:2 .
"Federal firearms licensee" means any person who is licensed pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 923, as amended, as a federally licensed firearms dealer, importer, or manufacturer.
B. Any person who imports, sells, manufactures, purchases, or transfers an assault firearm is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
C. The provisions of this section shall not apply to (i) any government officer, agent, law-enforcement officer, employee, member of the Armed Forces of the United States, security personnel at a contracted defense facility as defined in § 18.2-121.3 , or person authorized by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to the extent that such person is otherwise authorized to acquire or possess an assault firearm and does so while acting within the scope of his duties; (ii) the import of an assault firearm by any member of the Armed Forces of the United States, or his spouse, who possessed an assault firearm prior to being in the Commonwealth and is sent to the Commonwealth under lawful orders; (iii) the import, barter, manufacture, transfer, purchase, or sale of an assault firearm by a federal firearms licensee to another federal firearms licensee, persons authorized to purchase an assault weapon, any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States, senior military colleges in the Commonwealth organized under 10 U.S.C. § 2111a(f), or to a law-enforcement officer or agency for use by that agency or its employees; (iv) any member of a cadet corps who is recognized by a public institution of higher education while such member is in the performance of lawful military training or such member is participating in an official ceremonial event for the Commonwealth; (v) the sale of an assault firearm by a person who lawfully purchased and possessed such assault firearm prior to July 1, 2026, to a firearms dealer or to an individual outside of the Commonwealth who may lawfully possess such assault firearm; (vi) the temporary transfer of an assault firearm by a person who lawfully purchased and possessed such assault firearm prior to July 1, 2026, to a federal firearms licensee or gunsmith and the return of such assault firearm to its owner; (vii) the receipt of an assault firearm by inheritance, and possession of the inherited assault firearm if the decedent lawfully possessed such assault firearm prior to his death and the person inheriting such assault firearm is not prohibited from possessing firearms by state or federal law; (viii) an assault firearm temporarily loaned by a firing range operated by a federal firearms licensee for lawful use solely for target shooting or firearms training within the physical premises of the firing range; (ix) the import of an assault firearm by a person who lawfully purchased and possessed such assault firearm prior to July 1, 2026; or (x) the transfer of an assault weapon as a gift to an immediate family member if the transferor lawfully purchased and possessed the assault firearm prior to July 1, 2026, and the immediate family member to whom the assault firearm is transferred is not prohibited from possessing firearms under state or federal law. For the purposes of this subdivision, "immediate family member" means a spouse, children, parents, grandparents, and siblings.
Official sources
Legal terms used in this section
Questions this section answers
Is importation, sale, manufacture, etc., of assault firearms prohibited a felony or a misdemeanor in Virginia?
Importation, sale, manufacture, etc., of assault firearms prohibited is a class 1 misdemeanor in Virginia under Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-287.4:1.
Which Virginia statute covers importation, sale, manufacture, etc., of assault firearms prohibited?
Importation, sale, manufacture, etc., of assault firearms prohibited is governed by Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-287.4:1 (Importation, sale, manufacture, etc., of assault firearms prohibited; penalty).
This reference is informational and is not legal advice.