Virginia Dems Advance Bill Requiring State Permission to Purchase a Firearm

Virginia Democrats have advanced several more gun control bills in the state Senate, including legislation designed to make it easier to sue gun makers, distributors, and sellers over the actions of criminals and a “permit-to-purchase” measure that would completely upend the process of buying a gun in the Commonwealth.

The bill is so poorly conceived that even one of the Democrats on the Senate Courts of Justice Committee had a problem with one of its provisions. 

Discussing permit to purchase (SB643). Dem Senator Perry pointed out that the requirement that you have a permit before you can rent likely runs counter to the requirement that you have training because a lot of people rent firearms for training. Other Dems unfazed by conflict.

— Virginia Shooting Sports Association (@VSSA) January 28, 2026

Of course they were. The intent of this legislation is to reduce the number of gun owners in Virginia. Requiring a permit-to-purchase to merely rent a a firearm at a range to use on the premises isn’t a bug, but a feature of the legislation. Imposing new fees, training mandates that are actually more onerous than those for concealed carry permits, and a potential 45-day waiting period are all burdens on the right to keep and bear arms that will cause some prospective gun owners to throw up their hands in disgust and decide it’s too much of a hassle to buy a gun… at least legally. 

According to the Virginia Shooting Sports Association, the bill was modified in a way that slightly improves it, though it’s still completely unacceptable from a Second Amendment standpoint. 

There is an enactment clause in the substitute to SB643 that it would not take effect until July 1, 2028. The enactment clause was not in the introduced bill. Also amended to allow 18-20 year-olds to buy shotgun and rifles. Only would prohibit 18-20 year-olds to buy handgun.

— Virginia Shooting Sports Association (@VSSA) January 28, 2026

That’s good news for would-be gun owners as well as gun sellers, who’ve seen a run on their products in the Commonwealth over the past couple of months. But it also speaks to the pointlessness of this legislation. If this was really necessary to improve public safety, Democrats would be rushing to enact this as quickly as possible. Instead, they’re okay with pushing back implementation for two years. I can’t help but wonder if they’re delaying the start date in the hopes that it will thwart the Trump administration from getting involved in litigation over the issue. The DOJ Civil Rights Division could still file a lawsuit on July 1, 2028, but if Democrats take back the White House that November they could move to dismiss the complaint long before the lawsuit has been decided on the merits.

Senator McDougle is going through the entire list of extra information you will have to give to get a purchase permit which is more than what you have to give for anything else in Virginia and now be in a federal database.

— Virginia Shooting Sports Association (@VSSA) January 28, 2026

That might be another reason for pushing back the effective date; if Democrats takeover of the federal government two years from now, they’d be thrilled to have a database of new Virginia gun owners, while the Trump administration would almost certainly stand in the way of that effort. 

For all I know the effective date could be moved back up to July 1, 2026 as it continues through the committee process, but this is what we’re dealing with for now… and whether it takes effect in six months or two years, we’re still talking about a flagrant violation of our right to keep and bear arms. 

Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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