---
type: "Bill"
title: "Firearms, certain; sale, etc., criminal history record information check delay increased to 5 days."
description: "Sale or transfer of firearms; criminal historyrecord information check delay. Increases from three businessdays to five business days the time provided for the Department of State Police to complete a background check before a firearm maybe transferred. If a dealer who has otherwise fulfilled all requirementsis told by the State Police that a response will not be availableby the end of the dealer's fifth business day, the dealer may completethe sale or transfer without being deemed in violation."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 2128"
citation: "Virginia HB 2128 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Alfonso H. Lopez"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 25
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2021-01-12"
last_action: "2021-02-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9abcf91c-bb71-44e6-8602-6a48e19e37e0"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+HB2128"
source_hash: "b8e807d02cf048fe23b1d7e920a4a9a7eafe9681bbab96439673a5d4a17d49a6"
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 2128 (2021) — Firearms, certain; sale, etc., criminal history record information check delay increased to 5 days.

Sale or transfer of firearms; criminal historyrecord information check delay. Increases from three businessdays to five business days the time provided for the Department of State Police to complete a background check before a firearm maybe transferred. If a dealer who has otherwise fulfilled all requirementsis told by the State Police that a response will not be availableby the end of the dealer's fifth business day, the dealer may completethe sale or transfer without being deemed in violation.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0031** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0031)
2. **HB2128ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2128ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21102376D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2128)

## Votes

- Reported from Public Safety (13-Y 9-N) — **13–9** (pass) · lower
- 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
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 3-N) — **5–3** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (22-Y 17-N) — **22–17** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Judiciary (9-Y 6-N) — **9–6** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Alfonso H. Lopez — primary (person)
- Dan I. Helmer — cosponsor (person)
- David A. Reid — cosponsor (person)
- Elizabeth R. Guzman — cosponsor (person)
- Kathleen Murphy — 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)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-12** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21102376D `introduction`
- **2021-01-12** Referred to Committee on Public Safety `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-13** Impact statement from VCSC (HB2128)
- **2021-01-14** Assigned PS sub: Firearms `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-18** Impact statement from DPB (HB2128)
- **2021-01-19** Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 3-N)
- **2021-01-22** Reported from Public Safety (13-Y 9-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-25** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-01-26** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-01-27** Read third time and passed House (54-Y 46-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-01-27** VOTE: Passage (54-Y 46-N)
- **2021-01-28** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2021-01-28** 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** Reported from Judiciary (9-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-12** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-15** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-15** Passed Senate (22-Y 17-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-17** Enrolled
- **2021-02-17** Impact statement from DPB (HB2128ER)
- **2021-02-17** Signed by President
- **2021-02-18** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-19** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 19, 2021
- **2021-02-19** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., February 26, 2021
- **2021-02-25** Approved by Governor-Chapter 31 (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/9abcf91c-bb71-44e6-8602-6a48e19e37e0`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).