---
type: "Bill"
title: "Firearms; purchase, etc., following conviction for assault and battery of a family member."
description: "Purchase, possession, or transportation of firearms following conviction for assault and battery of a family or household member; penalties. Prohibits a person who has been convicted of assault and battery of a family or household member, as defined in the bill, from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm. A person who violates this provision is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 1992"
citation: "Virginia HB 1992 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Kathleen Murphy"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 65
vote_count: 13
first_action: "2021-01-11"
last_action: "2021-04-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1da21382-31ce-4457-bf4d-952c28eaa3c8"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+HB1992"
source_hash: "6d8b9e47f5c345e5b277ae1f1079f64fda25c2dbb05dffc0ba851453c456310b"
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 1992 (2021) — Firearms; purchase, etc., following conviction for assault and battery of a family member.

Purchase, possession, or transportation of firearms following conviction for assault and battery of a family or household member; penalties. Prohibits a person who has been convicted of assault and battery of a family or household member, as defined in the bill, from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm. A person who violates this provision is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0555** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0555)
2. **Committee substitute printed 21103901D-H2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1992H2)
3. **Committee substitute printed 21200021D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1992S1)
4. **Committee substitute printed 21200284D-S2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1992S2)
5. **Floor substitute printed 21103651D-H1 (Murphy)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1992H1)
6. **HB1992ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1992ER)

## Votes

- Senate rejected Governor's recommendation #3 (14-Y 26-N) — **14–25** (fail) · upper
- Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Judiciary (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (54-Y 46-N) — **53–46** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate with substitute (20-Y 19-N) — **20–19** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Judiciary with substitute (8-Y 7-N) — **8–7** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 3-N) — **5–3** (pass) · lower
- Senate rejected Governor's recommendations #1, #2 (12-Y 28-N) — **12–27** (fail) · upper
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (11-Y 4-N) — **11–4** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (13-Y 9-N) — **13–9** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Public Safety (10-Y 9-N) — **10–9** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Adoption (54-Y 45-N) — **53–45** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Adoption (52-Y 46-N) — **51–46** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Kathleen Murphy — primary (person)
- Alfonso H. Lopez — cosponsor (person)
- Betsy B. Carr — cosponsor (person)
- Dan I. Helmer — cosponsor (person)
- David A. Reid — cosponsor (person)
- Elizabeth R. Guzman — cosponsor (person)
- Hala S. Ayala — cosponsor (person)
- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)
- Kenneth R. Plum — cosponsor (person)
- Marcus B. Simon — cosponsor (person)
- Mark H. Levine — cosponsor (person)
- Patrick A. Hope — cosponsor (person)
- Vivian E. Watts — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-11** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21100815D `introduction`
- **2021-01-11** Referred to Committee on Public Safety `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-12** Impact statement from VCSC (HB1992)
- **2021-01-14** Impact statement from DPB (HB1992)
- **2021-01-14** Assigned PS sub: Firearms `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-19** Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 3-N)
- **2021-01-22** Reported from Public Safety (10-Y 9-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-25** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-01-26** Floor substitute printed 21103651D-H1 (Murphy)
- **2021-01-26** Motion to refer to committee agreed to
- **2021-01-26** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-27** Impact statement from VCSC (HB1992H1)
- **2021-01-27** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (13-Y 9-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-27** Committee substitute printed 21103901D-H2 `substitution`
- **2021-01-27** Impact statement from DPB (HB1992H1)
- **2021-01-28** Impact statement from VCSC (HB1992H2)
- **2021-01-28** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-01-29** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-01-29** Committee substitute agreed to 21103901D-H2
- **2021-01-29** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1992H2
- **2021-01-31** Impact statement from DPB (HB1992H2)
- **2021-02-01** Read third time and passed House (54-Y 46-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-01** VOTE: Passage (54-Y 46-N)
- **2021-02-02** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2021-02-02** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-05** Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Judiciary (14-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-10** Assigned Judiciary sub: Criminal Law `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-15** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-15** Reported from Judiciary with substitute (8-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-15** Committee substitute printed 21200021D-S1 `substitution`
- **2021-02-15** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-16** Impact statement from VCSC (HB1992S1)
- **2021-02-17** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-17** Impact statement from DPB (HB1992S1)
- **2021-02-17** Committee substitute printed 21200284D-S2 `substitution`
- **2021-02-17** Impact statement from VCSC (HB1992S2)
- **2021-02-17** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-17** Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (11-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-18** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-18** Passed by temporarily
- **2021-02-18** Impact statement from DPB (HB1992S2)
- **2021-02-18** Reading of substitute waived
- **2021-02-18** Committee substitute rejected 21200021D-S1
- **2021-02-18** Reading of substitute waived
- **2021-02-18** Committee substitute agreed to 21200284D-S2
- **2021-02-18** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB1992S2
- **2021-02-18** Passed Senate with substitute (20-Y 19-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-22** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-22** Senate substitute agreed to by House 21200284D-S2 (52-Y 46-N)
- **2021-02-22** VOTE: Adoption (52-Y 46-N)
- **2021-02-25** Enrolled
- **2021-02-25** Signed by President
- **2021-02-26** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-26** Impact statement from DPB (HB1992ER)
- **2021-03-01** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 1, 2021
- **2021-03-01** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-31** Governor's recommendation received by House
- **2021-04-07** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-04-07** House concurred in Governor's recommendation (54-Y 45-N)
- **2021-04-07** VOTE: Adoption (54-Y 45-N)
- **2021-04-07** Senate rejected Governor's recommendations #1, #2 (12-Y 28-N)
- **2021-04-07** Senate rejected Governor's recommendation #3 (14-Y 26-N)
- **2021-04-07** Communicated to Governor
- **2021-04-07** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., May 7, 2021
- **2021-04-15** Approved by Governor-Chapter 555 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1da21382-31ce-4457-bf4d-952c28eaa3c8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).