---
type: "Bill"
title: "Auto sears and trigger activators; prohibition on manufacture, importation, sale, etc., penalty."
description: "Manufacture, importation, sale, etc., of auto sears; prohibition; penalty. Prohibits the manufacture, importation, sale or offer to sell, possession, transfer, or transportation of an auto sear, defined in the bill as a device, other than a trigger activator, for use in converting a semi-automatic firearm to shoot automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. A violation is punishable as a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides for the forfeiture of any auto sear concealed, possessed, transported, or carried in violation of the prohibition. This bill is identical to SB 210."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 22"
citation: "Virginia HB 22 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Michael J. Jones"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 48
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2023-12-13"
last_action: "2024-03-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/fca80e52-312f-4e6b-a229-e7260ab24ed1"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB22"
source_hash: "e6b3a5f177bd8daea87f2c6315740c0aef5165c81a75d006a7bbd123ead9fefc"
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 22 (2024) — Auto sears and trigger activators; prohibition on manufacture, importation, sale, etc., penalty.

Manufacture, importation, sale, etc., of auto sears; prohibition; penalty. Prohibits the manufacture, importation, sale or offer to sell, possession, transfer, or transportation of an auto sear, defined in the bill as a device, other than a trigger activator, for use in converting a semi-automatic firearm to shoot automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. A violation is punishable as a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides for the forfeiture of any auto sear concealed, possessed, transported, or carried in violation of the prohibition. This bill is identical to SB 210.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0163** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0163)
2. **Committee substitute printed 24105447D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB22H1)
3. **Committee substitute printed 24107867D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB22S1)
4. **HB22ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB22ER)
5. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24101228D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB22)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Appropriations (21-Y 0-N) — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (13-Y 0-N) — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate with substitute (27-Y 13-N) — **27–13** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 5-N) — **10–5** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (89-Y 2-N) — **88–2** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (92-Y 0-N) — **91–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Public Safety with substitute (20-Y 0-N) — **20–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (10-Y 0-N) — **10–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Michael J. Jones — primary (person)
- Adele Y. McClure — cosponsor (person)
- Alex Q. Askew — cosponsor (person)
- Amy J. Laufer — cosponsor (person)
- Atoosa R. Reaser — cosponsor (person)
- Bonita G. Anthony — cosponsor (person)
- Dan I. Helmer — cosponsor (person)
- Debra D. Gardner — cosponsor (person)
- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker — cosponsor (person)
- Holly M. Seibold — cosponsor (person)
- Irene Shin — cosponsor (person)
- Kannan Srinivasan — cosponsor (person)
- Karen Keys-Gamarra — cosponsor (person)
- Kathy K.L. Tran — cosponsor (person)
- Katrina Callsen — cosponsor (person)
- Laura Jane Cohen — cosponsor (person)
- Marcus B. Simon — cosponsor (person)
- Marty Martinez — cosponsor (person)
- Michael B. Feggans — cosponsor (person)
- Michelle Lopes Maldonado — cosponsor (person)
- Nadarius E. Clark — cosponsor (person)
- Rae Cousins — cosponsor (person)
- Rozia A. Henson, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
- Sam Rasoul — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-12-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24101228D `filing, introduction`
- **2023-12-13** Referred to Committee on Public Safety `referral-committee`
- **2023-12-14** Impact statement from VCSC (HB22)
- **2024-01-11** Impact statement from DPB (HB22)
- **2024-01-13** Assigned PS sub: Firearms `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-18** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-01-18** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (10-Y 0-N) `substitution`
- **2024-01-18** Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee on Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-19** Reported from Public Safety with substitute (20-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-19** Committee substitute printed 24105447D-H1 `substitution`
- **2024-01-19** Referred to Committee on Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-19** Impact statement from VCSC (HB22H1)
- **2024-01-21** Assigned App. sub: Transportation & Public Safety `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-23** Impact statement from DPB (HB22H1)
- **2024-01-24** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2024-01-29** Reported from Appropriations (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-31** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-01** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-01** Committee substitute agreed to 24105447D-H1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-01** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB22H1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-02** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (92-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-02** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (92-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-05** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2024-02-05** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-19** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-02-19** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (13-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-19** Committee substitute printed 24107867D-S1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-19** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-21** Impact statement from VCSC (HB22S1)
- **2024-02-23** Impact statement from DPB (HB22S1)
- **2024-02-28** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 5-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-29** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2024-03-01** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-03-01** Reading of substitute waived
- **2024-03-01** Committee substitute agreed to 24107867D-S1 `substitution`
- **2024-03-01** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB22S1 `substitution`
- **2024-03-01** Passed Senate with substitute (27-Y 13-N) `passage`
- **2024-03-04** Senate substitute agreed to by House 24107867D-S1 (89-Y 2-N) `substitution`
- **2024-03-04** VOTE: Adoption (89-Y 2-N)
- **2024-03-07** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-03-07** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB22ER) `passage`
- **2024-03-07** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-03-08** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Impact statement from DPB (HB22ER)
- **2024-03-11** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-26** Approved by Governor-Chapter 163 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-26** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0163)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/fca80e52-312f-4e6b-a229-e7260ab24ed1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).