---
type: "Bill"
title: "Antique firearms; possession by nonviolent felons."
description: "Permits nonviolent felons to possess, transport, and carry muzzle-loading firearms and black powder in a quantity not exceeding five pounds if it is intended to be used solely for sporting, recreational, or cultural purposes in muzzle-loading firearms."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 1533"
citation: "Virginia SB 1533 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Crimes and Offenses Generally", "Weapons"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mark D. Obenshain"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 18
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2017-01-20"
last_action: "2017-03-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/da7a1f0e-6cfb-440b-8cfb-cd959afe97c8"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+SB1533"
source_hash: "cbc43ad5de98361d01c88d44ee712de876c6a4bfc22499004c5f8fa82b9f6212"
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 SB 1533 (2017) — Antique firearms; possession by nonviolent felons.

Permits nonviolent felons to possess, transport, and carry muzzle-loading firearms and black powder in a quantity not exceeding five pounds if it is intended to be used solely for sporting, recreational, or cultural purposes in muzzle-loading firearms.

## Version chain

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

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0767)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+CHAP0767)
2. **House: Committee substitute printed 17105395D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1533H1)
3. **Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1533ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1533ER)
4. **Senate: Presented and ordered printed 17103505D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1533)

## Votes

- House substitute agreed to by Senate — **38–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **39–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passed House with substitute — **94–4** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Militia, Police and Public Safety with substitute — **20–1** (pass) · legislature
- Read third time and passed Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **14–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Mark D. Obenshain — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-01-20** Presented and ordered printed 17103505D `introduction`
- **2017-01-20** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-30** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2017-02-03** Placed on Calendar
- **2017-02-03** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2017-02-03** Referred to Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-13** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-02-14** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2017-02-14** Committee substitute agreed to 17105395D-H1
- **2017-02-14** Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB1533H1
- **2017-02-14** Passed House with substitute (94-Y 4-N) `passage`
- **2017-02-16** Title replaced 17105395D-H1
- **2017-02-20** Enrolled
- **2017-02-20** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-02-21** Signed by President
- **2017-02-21** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 2/21/17
- **2017-02-21** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 27, 2017
- **2017-03-27** Approved by Governor-Chapter 767 (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/da7a1f0e-6cfb-440b-8cfb-cd959afe97c8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).