republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2024/sb-44.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Abuse and neglect of children; causing or enabling child to gain possession of a firearm, penalty."
description: "Abuse and neglect of children; causing or enabling child to gain possession of a firearm; penalty. Creates a Class 5 felony for any parent, guardian, or other person who is 18 years of age or older and is responsible for the care of a child under the age of 18 whose willful act or omission causes or enables that child to gain possession of a firearm (i) after having received notice of a preliminary determination, pursuant to relevant law, that such child poses a threat of violence or physical harm to self or others or (ii) when such parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the care of the child knows or reasonably should know that such child has been charged with, either by warrant or petition, convicted of, or adjudicated delinquent of a violent juvenile felony.The bill provides that no person shall be subject to arrest or prosecution regarding knowledge of a preliminary threat determination if such person received notice that the threat assessment team concluded that the child does not indicate a threat of violence or physical harm to self or others or that any case or review opened or conducted by that threat assessment team as a result of such preliminary determination has been closed. The bill also provides that no person shall be subject to arrest or prosecution if such person has received notice that any pending charge for a violent juvenile felony has been dismissed or a nolle prosequi has been entered.The bill provides an affirmative defense to prosecution if the parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the care of a child caused or enabled such child to gain possession of a firearm while in a dwelling because of a reasonable belief that he or such child was in imminent danger of bodily injury. Lastly, the bill provides that the new offense is eligible for the enhanced earned sentence credits. This bill is identical to HB 36."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "SB 44"
citation: "Virginia SB 44 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Adam P. Ebbin", "Schuyler T. VanValkenburg"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 42
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2023-12-19"
last_action: "2024-03-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a489f816-dffd-4d21-b4a9-428ed74c38ea"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+SB44"
source_hash: "4eca5ecc51b27a9f78e71fbe311f31480d1844e31298e6f7fd093d34c6f4d4bb"
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 44 (2024) — Abuse and neglect of children; causing or enabling child to gain possession of a firearm, penalty.

Abuse and neglect of children; causing or enabling child to gain possession of a firearm; penalty. Creates a Class 5 felony for any parent, guardian, or other person who is 18 years of age or older and is responsible for the care of a child under the age of 18 whose willful act or omission causes or enables that child to gain possession of a firearm (i) after having received notice of a preliminary determination, pursuant to relevant law, that such child poses a threat of violence or physical harm to self or others or (ii) when such parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the care of the child knows or reasonably should know that such child has been charged with, either by warrant or petition, convicted of, or adjudicated delinquent of a violent juvenile felony.The bill provides that no person shall be subject to arrest or prosecution regarding knowledge of a preliminary threat determination if such person received notice that the threat assessment team concluded that the child does not indicate a threat of violence or physical harm to self or others or that any case or review opened or conducted by that threat assessment team as a result of such preliminary determination has been closed. The bill also provides that no person shall be subject to arrest or prosecution if such person has received notice that any pending charge for a violent juvenile felony has been dismissed or a nolle prosequi has been entered.The bill provides an affirmative defense to prosecution if the parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the care of a child caused or enabled such child to gain possession of a firearm while in a dwelling because of a reasonable belief that he or such child was in imminent danger of bodily injury. Lastly, the bill provides that the new offense is eligible for the enhanced earned sentence credits. This bill is identical to HB 36.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0162** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0162)
2. **Committee substitute printed 24107464D-S2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB44S2)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24100621D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB44)
4. **SB44ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB44ER)
5. **SB44S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB44S1)

## Votes

- VOTE: Passage (55-Y 43-N) — **54–43** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Public Safety (13-Y 9-N) — **13–9** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (14-Y 1-N) — **14–1** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (27-Y 13-N) — **27–13** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (13-Y 0-N 2-A) — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Adam P. Ebbin — primary (person)
- Schuyler T. VanValkenburg — primary (person)
- Jennifer B. Boysko — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-12-19** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24100621D `filing, introduction`
- **2023-12-19** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2023-12-20** Impact statement from VCSC (SB44)
- **2024-01-10** Moved from Judiciary to Courts of Justice due to a change of the committee name
- **2024-01-15** Impact statement from DPB (SB44)
- **2024-01-31** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-01-31** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (13-Y 0-N 2-A) `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-31** Committee substitute printed 24106369D-S1 `substitution`
- **2024-01-31** Substitute bill reprinted 24106369D-S1
- **2024-01-31** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-02** Impact statement from VCSC (SB44S1)
- **2024-02-05** Impact statement from DPB (SB44S1)
- **2024-02-07** Senate subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-02-08** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-02-08** Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (14-Y 1-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-08** Committee substitute printed 24107464D-S2 `substitution`
- **2024-02-09** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2024-02-12** Impact statement from VCSC (SB44S2)
- **2024-02-12** Impact statement from DPB (SB44S2)
- **2024-02-12** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-12** Courts of Justice Committee substitute rejected 24106369D-S1
- **2024-02-12** Reading of substitute waived
- **2024-02-12** Finance and Appropriations Committee substitute agreed to 24107464D-S2 `substitution`
- **2024-02-12** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB44S2 `substitution`
- **2024-02-13** Read third time and passed Senate (27-Y 13-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-15** Placed on Calendar
- **2024-02-15** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-15** Referred to Committee on Public Safety `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-16** Reported from Public Safety (13-Y 9-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-20** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-21** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-21** Passed House (55-Y 43-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-21** VOTE: Passage (55-Y 43-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-26** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-02-26** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB44ER) `passage`
- **2024-02-26** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-02-27** Impact statement from DPB (SB44ER)
- **2024-02-28** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 `enrolled`
- **2024-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-26** Approved by Governor-Chapter 162 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-26** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0162)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a489f816-dffd-4d21-b4a9-428ed74c38ea`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).