HB 1524 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Assault firearms; carrying in public areas prohibited, exceptions, penalty.

Summary
Carrying assault firearms in public areas prohibited; penalty. Prohibits the carrying of certain semi-automatic center-fire rifles, pistols, and shotguns or any firearm modified to be operable as an assault firearm on any public street, road, alley, sidewalk, or public right-of-way or in any public park or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public, with certain exceptions. Under current law, the prohibition on carrying certain shotguns and semi-automatic center-fire rifles and pistols applies to a narrower range of firearms, only in certain localities, and only when such firearms are loaded. A violation of this prohibition is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Bill status vetoed 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Vetoed
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 27, 2026 Vetoed Apr 11, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Courts of Justice Substitute Governor Substitute · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill was revised from a Senate version to a Governor's substitute, significantly simplifying the language and narrowing the scope of prohibited firearms. The specific list of assault rifle features (such as folding stocks or threaded barrels) was removed and replaced with a reference to a separate legal definition of 'assault firearm.' Additionally, the prohibition on carrying shotguns with magazines holding more than seven rounds was removed entirely. These changes likely result in fewer firearms being classified as illegal to carry in public spaces.
Scope change
The bill's scope was narrowed by removing specific technical criteria for assault rifles and eliminating the ban on high-capacity shotguns, shifting the definition of prohibited weapons to rely on an external legal standard.
DEFINITION

Removed the detailed list of specific rifle and shotgun features (like folding stocks or threaded barrels) and replaced them with a reference to the legal definition of 'assault firearm' found in another section of the code.

REQUIREMENT

Deleted the specific prohibition against carrying shotguns with magazines holding more than seven rounds of ammunition in public areas.

ENFORCEMENT

Simplified the text by removing repetitive phrases and correcting grammatical errors present in the original Senate version.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 26, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 17, 2026

How they voted

390
Passed
Total votes 39
Feb 26, 2026
D Democratic20
20 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican19
19 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
50
Key actions
13
Committee
10
Amendments
1
Apr 11, 2026
Vetoed
Governor's recommendation received by House
executive
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1524ER)
lower
Mar 13, 2026
Lower · Passed
Conference report agreed to by House (55-Y 38-N 0-A)
lower
Mar 13, 2026
Upper · Passed
Conference report agreed to by Senate (21-Y 18-N 0-A)
upper
Mar 13, 2026
Legislature · Passed
Conference Report released
legislature
Mar 6, 2026
Committee
Senate requested conference committee
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Introduced
Senate insisted on amendments (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Mar 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate with substitute (21-Y 19-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 27, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day
upper
Feb 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 25, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 5-N)
upper
Feb 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 5-N)
upper
Feb 18, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
upper
Feb 17, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (54-Y 41-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 13, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Public Safety (13-Y 7-N)
lower
Feb 3, 2026
Committee
Assigned HMPPS sub: Firearms
lower
Jan 27, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Public Safety
lower
Jan 27, 2026
Introduced
Unanimous consent to introduce
lower
Jan 27, 2026
Introduced
Presented and ordered printed 26105949D
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Garrett McGuire
Garrett McGuire
DDemocratic
VA
17