---
type: "Bill"
title: "Concealed handgun permit; permit requirements."
description: "Provides that a concealed handgun permit shall be of a size comparable to a Virginia driver's license and may be laminated or use a similar process to protect the permit. Current law requires that the permit be no larger than two inches wide by three and one-fourth inches long."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "HB 1849"
citation: "Virginia HB 1849 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Crimes and Offenses Generally", "Weapons"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["C. Todd Gilbert"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 15
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2017-01-10"
last_action: "2017-02-17"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1b1bfa15-0c14-4e5f-b154-26b7f7cfd000"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+HB1849"
source_hash: "449d722500a6ec169f7418c83e99fef1a5c211ce5dbb5bda98d6beb060414a15"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 1849 (2017) — Concealed handgun permit; permit requirements.

Provides that a concealed handgun permit shall be of a size comparable to a Virginia driver's license and may be laminated or use a similar process to protect the permit. Current law requires that the permit be no larger than two inches wide by three and one-fourth inches long.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0047)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+CHAP0047)
2. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1849ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB1849ER)
3. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17102314D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB1849)

## Votes

- Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE — **99–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Militia, Police and Public Safety — **19–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passed Senate — **39–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **15–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **5–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- C. Todd Gilbert — primary (person)
- Ronald A. Villanueva — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-10** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17102314D `introduction`
- **2017-01-10** Referred to Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-17** Assigned MPPS sub: #1 `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-23** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2017-01-24** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2017-01-25** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-01-26** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2017-01-26** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-08** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2017-02-10** Enrolled
- **2017-02-10** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-02-13** Signed by President
- **2017-02-13** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 2/13/17
- **2017-02-13** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, February 20, 2017
- **2017-02-17** Approved by Governor-Chapter 47 (effective 7/1/17) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1b1bfa15-0c14-4e5f-b154-26b7f7cfd000`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).