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2003 SESSION


CHAPTER 106
An Act to amend and reenact § 59.1-148.3 of the Code of Virginia, relating to purchase of handguns of certain officers.
[S 1076]
Approved March 16, 2003

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 59.1-148.3 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 59.1-148.3. Purchase of handguns of certain officers.

A. The Department of State Police, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the Marine Resources Commission, the Capitol Police, any sheriff, any regional jail board or authority and any local police department may allow any full-time sworn law-enforcement officer, deputy, or regional jail officer, a local fire department may allow any full-time sworn fire marshal, the Department of Motor Vehicles may allow any law-enforcement officer, and any institution of higher learning named in § 23-14 may allow any campus police officer appointed pursuant to Chapter 17 (§ 23-232 et seq.) of Title 23, retiring on or after July 1, 1991, who retires after at least twenty 20 years of service or as a result of a service-incurred disability to purchase the service handgun issued to him by the agency or institution at a price of one dollar $1. This privilege shall also extend to any former Superintendent of the Department of State Police who leaves service after a minimum of five years. Other weapons issued by the Department of State Police for personal duty use of an officer, may, with approval of the Superintendent be sold to the officer subject to the qualifications of this section at a fair market price determined as in subsection B, so long as the weapon is a type and configuration that can be purchased at a regular hardware or sporting goods store by a private citizen without restrictions other than the instant background check.

B. The agencies listed above may allow any full-time sworn law-enforcement officer who retires with ten 10 or more years of service, but less than twenty 20, to purchase the service handgun issued to him by the agency at a price equivalent to the weapon's fair market value on the date of the officer's retirement. Any full-time sworn law-enforcement officer employed by any of the agencies listed above who is retired for disability as a result of a nonservice-incurred disability may purchase the service handgun issued to him by the agency at a price equivalent to the weapon's fair market value on the date of the officer's retirement. Determinations of fair market value may be made by reference to a recognized pricing guide.

C. The agencies listed above may allow the immediate survivor of any full-time sworn law-enforcement officer (i) who is killed in the line of duty or (ii) who dies in service and has at least twenty 20 years of service to purchase the service handgun issued to the officer by the agency at a price of one dollar $1.

D. The governing board of any institution of higher learning named in § 23-14 may allow any campus police officer appointed pursuant to Chapter 17 (§ 23-232 et seq.) of Title 23 who retires on or after July 1, 1991, to purchase the service handgun issued to him at a price equivalent to the weapon's fair market value on the date of the officer's retirement. Determinations of fair market value may be made by reference to a recognized pricing guide.

E. The Department of State Police may allow any full-time sworn state police law-enforcement officer who retires as a result of a service-incurred disability and who was on disability leave at the time the Department issued 10-mm semiautomatic handguns to its officers to purchase one of the 10-mm semiautomatic handguns used by the Department of State Police at a price of one dollar $1.

F. The Department of State Police may allow any officer who at the time of his retirement was a full-time sworn law-enforcement officer and who retires after twenty 20 years of state service, even if a portion of his service was with another state agency, to purchase the service handgun issued to him by the Department at a price of one dollar $1.

G. The sheriff of any county with a population between 63,000 and 65,000 may allow any auxiliary or volunteer deputy sheriff with a minimum of fifteen 15 years of service, upon leaving office, to purchase for one dollar $1 the service handgun issued to him.

H. Any sheriff or local police department, in accordance with written authorization or approval from the local governing body, may allow any auxiliary law-enforcement officer with more than 20 years of service to purchase the service handgun issued to him by the agency at a price that is equivalent to or less than the weapon's fair market value on the date of purchase by the officer.