---
type: "Bill"
title: "Concealed handgun permits; demonstration of competence."
description: "Concealed handgun permits; demonstration of competence."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 898"
citation: "Virginia SB 898 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Stuart"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 22
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2023-01-05"
last_action: "2023-03-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/aea26dce-91ab-45c7-b85a-88ab76f2ca3d"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+sum+SB898"
source_hash: "bd64aceabb37d7e57a3c04c55f5b233d90cb2698c0ba5707b394a5d2eedd4d5a"
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 898 (2023) — Concealed handgun permits; demonstration of competence.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0094** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+CHAP0094)
2. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23100813D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB898)
3. **SB898ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB898ER)

## Votes

- VOTE: Passage (56-Y 42-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Reported from Judiciary (15-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Reported from Public Safety (12-Y 10-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Stuart — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-05** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23100813D `filing, introduction`
- **2023-01-05** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-23** Reported from Judiciary (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-24** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2023-01-25** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2023-01-26** Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-08** Placed on Calendar
- **2023-02-08** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2023-02-08** Referred to Committee on Public Safety `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-10** Reported from Public Safety (12-Y 10-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-14** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2023-02-15** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2023-02-15** Passed House (56-Y 42-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-15** VOTE: Passage (56-Y 42-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-20** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-02-20** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB898ER) `passage`
- **2023-02-20** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-02-21** Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-03-02** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 2, 2023 `enrolled`
- **2023-03-02** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023 `executive-receipt`
- **2023-03-21** Approved by Governor-Chapter 94 (effective 7/1/23) `executive-signature`
- **2023-03-21** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0094)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/aea26dce-91ab-45c7-b85a-88ab76f2ca3d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).