---
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 SB 22. This bill is identical to HB 812."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 69"
citation: "Virginia SB 69 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mamie E. Locke"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 46
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2019-11-22"
last_action: "2020-04-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/828c8c4b-69a3-481a-87d1-bba6c40a9788"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB69"
source_hash: "58bbb6bf6bff5896052be125e04570e3732044a8d2a4e5c60998b93102ea0954"
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 69 (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 SB 22. This bill is identical to HB 812.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0992)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0992)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB69ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB69ER)
3. **Impact statement from VCSC (SB69)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB69)
4. **Impact statement from VCSC (SB69H1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB69H1)
5. **Impact statement from VCSC (SB69S1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB69S1)

## Votes

- House substitute rejected by Senate (1-Y 39-N) — **1–39** (fail) · upper
- Senate acceded to request (23-Y 17-N) — **23–17** (pass) · upper
- Conference report agreed to by Senate (21-Y 19-N) — **21–19** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Public Safety with substitute (13-Y 9-N) — **13–9** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (53-Y 47-N) — **52–47** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Judiciary with substitute (9-Y 5-N) — **9–5** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (52-Y 47-N) — **51–47** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 19-N) — **21–19** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Mamie E. Locke — primary (person)
- Adam P. Ebbin — cosponsor (person)
- Jennifer B. Boysko — cosponsor (person)
- Jennifer L. McClellan — cosponsor (person)
- Joseph D. Morrissey — cosponsor (person)
- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)
- Richard L. Saslaw — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-11-22** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20101200D `introduction`
- **2019-11-22** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2019-11-27** Impact statement from VCSC (SB69)
- **2020-01-08** Moved from Courts of Justice to Judiciary due to a change of the committee name
- **2020-01-13** Reported from Judiciary with substitute (9-Y 5-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-13** Incorporates SB22 (Saslaw)
- **2020-01-13** Committee substitute printed 20105654D-S1 `substitution`
- **2020-01-14** Impact statement from VCSC (SB69S1)
- **2020-01-14** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-15** Impact statement from DPB (SB69S1)
- **2020-01-15** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-01-15** Reading of substitute waived
- **2020-01-15** Committee substitute agreed to 20105654D-S1
- **2020-01-15** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB69S1
- **2020-01-16** Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 19-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-13** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-13** Referred to Committee on Public Safety `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-14** Reported from Public Safety with substitute (13-Y 9-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-14** Committee substitute printed 20108288D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-02-18** Impact statement from VCSC (SB69H1)
- **2020-02-18** Impact statement from DPB (SB69H1)
- **2020-02-18** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-19** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-19** Committee substitute agreed to 20108288D-H1
- **2020-02-19** Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB69H1
- **2020-02-19** Passed House with substitute (53-Y 47-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-19** VOTE: Passage (53-Y 47-N)
- **2020-02-21** Passed by for the day
- **2020-02-24** House substitute rejected by Senate (1-Y 39-N)
- **2020-02-25** House insisted on substitute
- **2020-02-25** House requested conference committee
- **2020-02-27** Senate acceded to request (23-Y 17-N)
- **2020-02-27** Conferees appointed by Senate
- **2020-02-28** Conferees appointed by House
- **2020-03-05** Amended by conference committee
- **2020-03-05** Conference report agreed to by House (52-Y 47-N)
- **2020-03-05** VOTE: Adoption (52-Y 47-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 (SB69ER)
- **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 992 (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/828c8c4b-69a3-481a-87d1-bba6c40a9788`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).