Virginia

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Virginia

This jurisdictional hub aggregates FRC holdings related to Virginia. It supports research on the Commonwealth’s firearms history, technology, law, policy, and culture from the colonial period through statehood to the present.

Legal sources: statutes and session laws, administrative code, attorney general opinions, appellate decisions, and select municipal ordinances.
Historical materials: newspapers, photographs, maps, catalogs, colonial and militia records, maritime and manufacturing archives, agricultural and law-enforcement collections, and oral histories tied to Virginia people and places.
Research outputs: technical reports, academic studies, training manuals, and curated datasets relevant to the Commonwealth.

Cite the Firearms Research Center and the item’s handle/DOI when using materials. Rights and licensing vary by item.

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1874-75 Va. Acts 282-83
(1874)
Ch. 239, § 6, sched. B(18): Included the value of all "rifles, muskets, and other fire-arms, bowie-knives, dirks, and all weapons of a similar kind" in list of taxable personal property, imposing a tax payable of 50 cents per 100 dollars of value.
1934 Va. Acts 137-39
(1934)
Ch. 96, §§ 1-7: Prohibited possession or use of a machine gun during a violent crime; punishable by death or imprisonment for a minimum of 20 years. Prohibited unlawful possession or use of a machine gun for offensive or aggressive purposes; punishable by imprisonment for a minimum of 10 years. Requires manufacturers to keep a register of machine guns.
1901-02 Va. Acts 526
(1902)
Ch. 467, § 35, pt. 8: To direct the location of all building for storing gunpowder, fire-crackers, or other fireworks manufactured or prepared therefrom, kerosene oil, nitroglycerine, camphene, burning fluid, or other combustible material; to regulate the exhibition of fireworks, the discharge of fire-arms, the use of candles and lights in barns, stables, or other buildings, and to regulate or restrain the making of bonfires in streets and yards.
1902-03 Va. Acts & Resolutions 155-57
(1903)
Extra Session, ch. 148, § 6, pt. 18.The aggregate value of all shot-guns, rifles, muskets, and other fire-arms, bowie knives, dirks, and all weapons of a similar kind: provided, that all fire-arms issued by the State to members of volunteer companies, or for purposes of police, shall not be listed for taxation (along with other tangible property taxed at twenty cents per 100.00)
1908 Va. Laws 381
(1908)
Ch. 259, § 1: If any person carry about his person, hid from common observation, any pistol, dirk, bowie knife, razor, slungshot, or any weapon of like kind he shall be fined not less than twenty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or be committed to jail not more than thirty days, or both, in the discretion of the court, or jury, trying the case
1902-03 Va. Acts 331-32
(1903)
Extra Session, ch. 227, §2070a: It shall be unlawful for any person to shoot at, kill or capture any wild water fowl or wild turkey at any time during the night in this State. . . or to shoot at any game on land or water in this State with a gun larger than an eight bore. . . The possession of any of said guns, sneak boats, nets, traps, reflectors, or other unlawful appliances shall be prima facie evidence of the guilt of the person in whose possession they are found.
Ordinances of the City of Norfolk 262 (1902) (enacted 1899).
(1899)
Ch. 62, § 561: No person shall discharge a fire arm or bring any dog in the park.
1901 Va. Acts 203, Extra Session, ch. 189, § 13.
(1901)
The council shall have, subject to the provisions of this act, the control and management of the fiscal and municipal affairs of the town; of all property, real and personal, belonging to said town; and may make such ordinances, orders, and by-laws and regulations as it may deem necessary to carry out the following powers, which are hereby conferred on it . . . to regulate or prevent the storing of gunpowder
1923 Va. Gen. Laws 1422
(1902)
§ 4697: Prohibited transfer of "any toy gun, pistol, rifle, or other toy firearm, if the same shall, by means of powder or other explosive discharge blank or ball charges, to any person under the age of twelve years."
1926 Va. Acts. 285-87
(1926)
Ch. 158, §§ 1-9: Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That it shall be the duty of every person residing in this State and owning a pistol or revolver therein, to pay on or before the first day of January of each year a license tax of one dollar on each pistol or revolver so owned, or in the event that such pistol or revolver shall be acquired by any such person on or after the first day of February, such license tax shall be forthwith paid thereon.
1902-03 Va. Acts 261
(1903)
Ch. 186, §§ 1-2: 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or association, to sell, barter, exchange, furnish, or dispose of by purchase, gift, or in any other manner, any toy gun, pistol, rifle, or other toy firearm, if the same shall, by means of powder or other explosive discharge blank or ball charges, to any person under the age of twelve years.
1916 Va. Acts 568
(1916)
Ch. 348, §1: Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons to hunt, pursue, kill, or destroy in any way, any wild game or to enter with dog or gun or both with intent to hunt, kill, pursue, destroy any wild game upon any of those tracts of land in Shenandoah county in what is known as the Massanutten purchase area to which the government of the United States of America has acquired the legal title under the Week's law for the acquisition of lands upon the head waters . . .
1898 Va. Code Supp. 377 (1898)
(1895)
Tit. 52, ch. 184, § 3780: Prohibited the carrying of a concealed pistol, dirk, Bowie knife, razor, slungshot, or any weapon of the like kind. Punishable by fine of $20-100 and forfeiture of the weapon.
1881 Va. Acts 499
(1881)
Extra Session, ch. 119, § 1, pt. 18: Taxed the aggregate value of all shot-guns, rifles, muskets, and other fire-arms, Bowie-knives, dirks, and other weapons of a similar kind. Applied to all males over the age of twenty one.
1883-84 Va. Acts 180
(1884)
Ch. 143, § 1: Prohibited the concealed carry of any pistol, dirk, bowie-knife, razor, slung-shot, or any weapon of the like kind. Violators fined not less than twenty but no more than one hundred dollars. Violators also punished with confiscation of the weapon.
Thomas D. Davis, The Code of the City of Lynchburg 117 (1887)
(1887)
Section 19: Vehicles carrying explosives (gunpowder, blasting powder, dynamite) must secure them in kegs, boxes, or canisters to prevent spilling or escaping. Section 20: Limits vehicles carrying over 25 lbs (or one keg/case) of explosives to maximum stays of 2 hours within city limits and 30 minutes on public streets or sidewalks. Daytime transport from storage facilities to supply merchants or wholesalers is permitted as needed.
1889-90 Va. Acts 118
(1890)
Ch. 152, § 1: Banned the sale, barter, transfer, giving, or furnishing, or cause to be sold to any minor under sixteen pistols, dirks, Bowie knives. Violators fined not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars.
Thomas D. Davis, The Code of the City of Lynchburg 116 (1887)
(1887)
Prohibited fireworks, firecrackers, and firearm discharge within city limits, restricted cannon firing, and imposed $1–$10 fines. It limited possession of gunpowder or explosives to 10 pounds, except for licensed retailers, who could store up to 50 pounds in secure metal containers.
1878 Va. Acts 301
(1877)
Carrying Concealed Weapons, ch. VI, § 7: If a person habitually carry about his person, hid from common observation, any pistol, dirk, bowie-knife, or any weapon of the like kind, he shall be fined not more than fifty dollars.
2 Va. Code, tit. 40, ch. 185, § 4695 (1919)
(1889)
Prohibited transfer "to any minor under sixteen years of age, cigarettes, or pistols, or dirks, or bowie knives."
1877 Va. Acts 305
(1877)
Ch. 7: Prohibited any person carrying a gun, pistol, Bowie-knife, dagger, or other dangerous weapon to a place of public worship while meeting for religious purposes. Violators fined not less than twenty dollars, and may be held without warrant for three hours by a "conservator of the peace."
1879-80 Va. Acts 104
(1879)
Ch. 5, § 4, pt. 19: To direct the location of all buildings for storing gun-powder or other combustible substances; to regulate the sale and use of gunpowder, fire-crackers, fire-works, kerosene oil, nitroglycerine . . . the discharge of firearms
1881-82 Va. Acts 233, ch. 219, § 1
(1881)
Prohibited the conceal carry of any pistol, dirk, Bowie-knife, or any weapon of the like kind. Violators fined not more than fifty dollars, nor less than fifteen dollars.
1885-86 Va. Acts 275
(1885)
Ch. 258, § 10: Any person who shall willfully destroy, injure or remove any tombstone or monument placed in the said cemetery . . . or shall shoot of or discharge any gun, pistol or other firearm within the said enclosure, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than five dollars. . .
1875 Va. Acts 102
(1875)
Ch. 124: Prohibited the carry of any gun, pistol, Bowie knife, dagger, or other dangerous weapon into places of public worship without sufficient cause.
1873 Va. Code 802–03
(1865)
Tit. 29, ch. 99, § 5: If any person shall hunt, shoot, fowl or range with or without dogs, on the lands of another, without the consent of the owner or tenant of such lands, or shoot along any public road, or in the streets of any town or village, in any of the counties of this commonwealth, on the lands comprehended in the survey of any proprietor, he shall be deemed guilty of a trespass, and shall be fined for each offense five dollars
1875 Va. Acts 109
(1875)
Ch. 100, § 12: If any person shall, at any time, either in the night or day-time, shoot at wild fowl in any county bordering . . . with any gun which cannot be conveniently discharged from the shoulder at arm's length without a rest, or have such gun in his possession on a boat, a justice of any such county shall require such gun to be surrendered, and shall order it to be destroyed, and shall fine the offender ten dollars.
1875 Va. Acts 164
(1875)
Ch. 162: Approved a property tax on all males over the age of twenty-one on the aggregate value of all rifles, muskets, and other firearms, Bowie-knives, and all weapons of a similar kind.
1870 Va. Acts 1206
(1870)
Tit. 54, ch. 191, § 7: If a person habitually carry about his person, hid from common observation, any pistol, dirk, bowie knife, or any weapon of the like kind, he shall be fined fifty dollars, and imprisoned for not more than twelve months in the county or corporation jail. The informer shall have half of such fine.
Revised Ordinances of the Corporation of Winchester 78 (1856)
(1856)
Section 3 prohibited firing a gun or pistol within the corporation carries a $1 fine, unless done out of necessity during public duty or during a military parade ordered by a commanding officer. Section 4 prohibited discharging a cannon or field-piece within 100 yards of a dwelling without the owner or occupier's consent, subject to a $5 fine for anyone participating, aiding, or abetting. Section 5 prohibited selling fireworks, firecrackers, or squibs within the corporation, punishing with a $5 fine per offense. Section 6 prohibited setting off fireworks or flying kites within the corporation, resulting in a $1 fine per offense, with half of the collected fine awarded to the informer.

Virginia

Virginia

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