republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/sb-272.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Firearm or explosive material; exemptions, carrying in public institutions of higher education."
description: "Carrying a firearm or explosive material within Capitol Square or building owned or leased by the Commonwealth; exemptions; public institutions of higher education; penalty. Limits the exemption from the prohibition on the carrying of any firearm or explosive material within any building owned or leased by the Commonwealth or agency thereof or any office where employees of the Commonwealth or any agency thereof are regularly present for the purpose of performing their official duties that currently applies to any property owned or operated by a public institution of higher education to instead apply to any individual within a building owned or operated by a public institution of higher education who possesses a weapon as part of such public institution of higher education's curriculum or activities or as part of any organization authorized by such public institution of higher education to conduct its programs or activities within such building, as such uses are approved through the law-enforcement or public safety unit of such institution. This bill is identical to HB 626."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 272"
citation: "Virginia SB 272 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["R. Creigh Deeds"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 28
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-12"
last_action: "2026-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f99b0cde-b075-4e25-9a49-1b5f794822e7"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB272"
source_hash: "6c4260c3e412453b99561ef9991c8956ea5f9e5d444059f5420800dea8355df3"
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 272 (2026) — Firearm or explosive material; exemptions, carrying in public institutions of higher education.

Carrying a firearm or explosive material within Capitol Square or building owned or leased by the Commonwealth; exemptions; public institutions of higher education; penalty. Limits the exemption from the prohibition on the carrying of any firearm or explosive material within any building owned or leased by the Commonwealth or agency thereof or any office where employees of the Commonwealth or any agency thereof are regularly present for the purpose of performing their official duties that currently applies to any property owned or operated by a public institution of higher education to instead apply to any individual within a building owned or operated by a public institution of higher education who possesses a weapon as part of such public institution of higher education's curriculum or activities or as part of any organization authorized by such public institution of higher education to conduct its programs or activities within such building, as such uses are approved through the law-enforcement or public safety unit of such institution. This bill is identical to HB 626.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1087052.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1221453.PDF)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1168690.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Public Safety — **13–7** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **21–19** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **9–5** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations — **10–5** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **63–35** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- R. Creigh Deeds — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-12** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100667D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-12** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-14** Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (1/14/2026 6:52 pm)
- **2026-01-26** Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 5-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-04** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 5-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-05** Rules suspended
- **2026-02-05** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-02-05** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-05** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB272)
- **2026-02-06** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-06** Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-09** Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-12** Placed on Calendar
- **2026-02-12** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-12** Referred to Committee on Public Safety `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-13** Reported from Public Safety (13-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-15** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-16** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-16** Passed House (63-Y 35-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-02-18** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-02-18** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB272ER) `passage`
- **2026-02-18** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB272)
- **2026-02-18** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-02-18** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-10** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-10** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 644 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-13** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0644)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f99b0cde-b075-4e25-9a49-1b5f794822e7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).