---
type: "Bill"
title: "Handguns; limitation on purchases, penalty."
description: "Purchase of handguns; limitation on handgun purchases; penalty. Prohibits any person who is not a licensed firearms dealer from purchasing more than one handgun in a 30-day period and establishes such an offense as a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill exempts from this provision (i) persons who have been issued a certificate by the Department of State Police under certain circumstances and with an enhanced background check, (ii) law-enforcement agencies and officers, (iii) state and local correctional facilities, (iv) licensed private security companies, (v) persons who hold a valid Virginia concealed handgun permit, (vi) persons whose handgun has been stolen or irretrievably lost or who are trading in a handgun, (vii) purchases of handguns in a private sale, and (viii) purchases of antique firearms. This bill incorporates HB 1502. This bill is identical to SB 69."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 812"
citation: "Virginia HB 812 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jeion A. Ward"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 51
vote_count: 11
first_action: "2020-01-07"
last_action: "2020-04-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a45ca2c3-4c60-42c7-8b45-2339155b76fd"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB812"
source_hash: "ac578018c5852339f0a1b0a8f63f57f00eb7e3afcea5a6ccbfbc362670f5de42"
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 812 (2020) — Handguns; limitation on purchases, penalty.

Purchase of handguns; limitation on handgun purchases; penalty. Prohibits any person who is not a licensed firearms dealer from purchasing more than one handgun in a 30-day period and establishes such an offense as a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill exempts from this provision (i) persons who have been issued a certificate by the Department of State Police under certain circumstances and with an enhanced background check, (ii) law-enforcement agencies and officers, (iii) state and local correctional facilities, (iv) licensed private security companies, (v) persons who hold a valid Virginia concealed handgun permit, (vi) persons whose handgun has been stolen or irretrievably lost or who are trading in a handgun, (vii) purchases of handguns in a private sale, and (viii) purchases of antique firearms. This bill incorporates HB 1502. This bill is identical to SB 69.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0991)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0991)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB812ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB812ER)
3. **Impact statement from VCSC (HB812)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB812)
4. **Impact statement from VCSC (HB812H1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB812H1)
5. **Impact statement from VCSC (HB812S1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB812S1)

## Votes

- Senate insisted on substitute (23-Y 17-N) — **23–17** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate with substitute (22-Y 18-N) — **22–18** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate with substitute (21-Y 19-N) — **21–19** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: REJECTED (0-Y 97-N) — **0–96** (fail) · lower
- Conference report agreed to by Senate (21-Y 19-N) — **21–19** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (51-Y 48-N) — **50–48** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Judiciary with substitute (9-Y 6-N) — **9–6** (pass) · upper
- Reconsideration of Senate passage agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (53-Y 47-N) — **52–47** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Public Safety with substitute (13-Y 9-N) — **13–9** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jeion A. Ward — primary (person)
- Betsy B. Carr — cosponsor (person)
- Eileen Filler-Corn — cosponsor (person)
- Mark H. Levine — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20103354D `introduction`
- **2020-01-07** Referred to Committee on Public Safety `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-08** Impact statement from VCSC (HB812)
- **2020-01-15** Impact statement from DPB (HB812)
- **2020-01-24** Reported from Public Safety with substitute (13-Y 9-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-24** Committee substitute printed 20106618D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-01-24** Incorporates HB1502 (Ward)
- **2020-01-27** Impact statement from VCSC (HB812H1)
- **2020-01-28** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-01-29** Impact statement from DPB (HB812H1)
- **2020-01-29** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-01-29** Passed by temporarily
- **2020-01-29** Committee substitute agreed to 20106618D-H1
- **2020-01-29** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB812H1
- **2020-01-30** Read third time and passed House (53-Y 47-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-01-30** VOTE: Passage (53-Y 47-N)
- **2020-01-31** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-01-31** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-24** Reported from Judiciary with substitute (9-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-24** Committee substitute printed 20108962D-S1 `substitution`
- **2020-02-25** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-26** Impact statement from VCSC (HB812S1)
- **2020-02-26** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-26** Reading of substitute waived
- **2020-02-26** Committee substitute agreed to 20108962D-S1
- **2020-02-26** Passed by for the day
- **2020-02-27** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-27** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB812S1
- **2020-02-27** Passed Senate with substitute (22-Y 18-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-27** Reconsideration of Senate passage agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-27** Passed Senate with substitute (21-Y 19-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-28** Impact statement from DPB (HB812S1)
- **2020-03-02** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-03-02** Senate substitute rejected by House 20108962D-S1 (0-Y 97-N)
- **2020-03-02** VOTE: REJECTED (0-Y 97-N)
- **2020-03-03** Senate insisted on substitute (23-Y 17-N)
- **2020-03-03** Senate requested conference committee
- **2020-03-04** House acceded to request
- **2020-03-04** Conferees appointed by House
- **2020-03-05** Conferees appointed by Senate
- **2020-03-05** Amended by conference committee
- **2020-03-05** Conference report agreed to by House (51-Y 48-N)
- **2020-03-05** VOTE: Adoption (51-Y 48-N)
- **2020-03-07** Conference report agreed to by Senate (21-Y 19-N)
- **2020-03-18** Enrolled
- **2020-03-18** Signed by President
- **2020-03-19** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-20** Impact statement from DPB (HB812ER)
- **2020-03-20** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 20, 2020
- **2020-03-20** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-09** Approved by Governor-Chapter 991 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a45ca2c3-4c60-42c7-8b45-2339155b76fd`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).