---
type: "Bill"
title: "Retail Sales and Use Tax; exemption for certain gun safes."
description: "Sales tax exemption; gun safes. Establishes an exemption from retail sales tax for a gun safe with a selling price of $1,500 or less. The bill defines \"gun safe\" as a safe or vault that is (i) commercially available, (ii) secured with a digital or dial combination locking mechanism or biometric locking mechanism, and (iii) designed for the storage of a firearm or of ammunition for use in a firearm. Under the bill, \"gun safe\" does not include a glass-faced cabinet. This bill is identical to HB 888."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 268"
citation: "Virginia SB 268 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["John J. Bell"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 33
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-03"
last_action: "2020-03-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3a8b08e4-ee76-4877-a91d-d75e94017449"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB268"
source_hash: "48f25bece1c460906869808e8fb32f9b1ad75f7430e84e625416a498f50287b0"
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 268 (2020) — Retail Sales and Use Tax; exemption for certain gun safes.

Sales tax exemption; gun safes. Establishes an exemption from retail sales tax for a gun safe with a selling price of $1,500 or less. The bill defines "gun safe" as a safe or vault that is (i) commercially available, (ii) secured with a digital or dial combination locking mechanism or biometric locking mechanism, and (iii) designed for the storage of a firearm or of ammunition for use in a firearm. Under the bill, "gun safe" does not include a glass-faced cabinet. This bill is identical to HB 888.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0191)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0191)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB268ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB268ER)
3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB268H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB268H1)
4. **Engrossed by Senate as amended SB268E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB268E)
5. **Impact statement from TAX (SB268)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB268)

## Votes

- Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- House substitute agreed to by Senate (31-Y 6-N) — **31–6** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations with amendment (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (99-Y 1-N) — **98–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- John J. Bell — primary (person)
- Bryce E. Reeves — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-03** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20102386D `introduction`
- **2020-01-03** Referred to Committee on Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-08** Moved from Finance to Finance and Appropriations due to a change of the committee name
- **2020-01-18** Impact statement from TAX (SB268)
- **2020-01-21** Reported from Finance and Appropriations with amendment (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-22** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-23** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-01-23** Reading of amendment waived
- **2020-01-23** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2020-01-23** Engrossed by Senate as amended SB268E
- **2020-01-23** Printed as engrossed 20102386D-E
- **2020-01-24** Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-11** Impact statement from TAX (SB268E)
- **2020-02-12** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-12** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-12** Referred to Committee on Finance `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-12** Reported from Finance with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-12** Committee substitute printed 20108161D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-02-14** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-17** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-17** Committee substitute agreed to 20108161D-H1
- **2020-02-17** Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB268H1
- **2020-02-17** Passed House with substitute (99-Y 1-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-17** VOTE: Passage (99-Y 1-N)
- **2020-02-19** House substitute agreed to by Senate (31-Y 6-N)
- **2020-02-19** Title replaced 20108161D-H1
- **2020-02-24** Enrolled
- **2020-02-24** Impact statement from TAX (SB268ER)
- **2020-02-24** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-02-25** Signed by President
- **2020-02-28** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on February 28, 2020
- **2020-02-28** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 6, 2020
- **2020-03-06** Approved by Governor-Chapter 191 (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/3a8b08e4-ee76-4877-a91d-d75e94017449`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).