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;¹ or

• Who is a firearms dealer from transferring any assault firearm to such a person;² 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.”³

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.”⁴

With certain exceptions, Virginia law prohibits any person under 18 years of age from knowingly and intentionally possessing or transporting an assault firearm.⁵ 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.⁶

Virginia law also prohibits the carrying of certain loaded high-powered firearms in public places in certain cities. See the Other Location Restrictions section for further information.

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1. Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-308.2:01.[↩]
2. Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-308.2:2(B)(1).[↩]
3. Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-308.8.[↩]
4. Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-308.2:2(G).[↩]
5. Va. Code Ann. § 18.2:308.7.[↩]
6. Id.[↩]