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2005 SESSION

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055050292
HOUSE BILL NO. 2764 Offered January 13, 2005 A BILL to amend and reenact § 18.2-308.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to possession of a firearm on school property; firearms in vehicles. ---------- Patron-- Dillard ---------- Referred to Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety ----------

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That § 18.2-308.1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 18.2-308.1. Possession of firearm, stun weapon, or other weapon on school property prohibited.

A. If any person possesses any (i) stun weapon or taser as defined in this section, (ii) knife, except a pocket knife having a folding metal blade of less than three inches, or (iii) weapon, including a weapon of like kind, designated in subsection A of § 18.2-308, other than a firearm, upon (a) the property of any public, private or parochial elementary, middle or high school, including buildings and grounds, (b) that portion of any property open to the public used for school-sponsored functions or extracurricular activities while such functions or activities are taking place, or (c) any school bus owned or operated by any such school, he shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

B. If any person possesses any firearm designed or intended to expel a projectile by action of an explosion of a combustible material while such person is upon (i) any public, private or parochial elementary, middle or high school, including buildings and grounds, (ii) that portion of any property open to the public used for school-sponsored functions or extracurricular activities while such functions or activities are taking place, or (iii) any school bus owned or operated by any such school, he shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony; however, if the person possesses any firearm within a public, private or parochial elementary, middle or high school building and intends to use, or attempts to use, such firearm, or displays such weapon in a threatening manner, such person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years to be served consecutively with any other sentence.

The exemptions set out in § 18.2-308 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the provisions of this section. The provisions of this section shall not apply to (i) persons who possess such weapon or weapons as a part of the school's curriculum or activities,; (ii) a person possessing a knife customarily used for food preparation or service and using it for such purpose,; (iii) persons who possess such weapon or weapons as a part of any program sponsored or facilitated by either the school or any organization authorized by the school to conduct its programs either on or off the school premises,; (iv) any law-enforcement officer,; (v) any person who possesses a knife or blade which he uses customarily in his trade,; or (vi) a person who possesses an unloaded firearm that is in a closed container, or a knife having a metal blade, that is in or upon a motor vehicle, or; (vii) a teacher or employee of the school who possesses an unloaded firearm that is in a closed container in or upon a motor vehicle or an unloaded shotgun or rifle in a firearms rack in or upon a motor vehicle, and who has obtained prior written approval of the principal of the school to bring a properly stored firearm onto school property; or (viii) during hunting season, a student enrolled at the school who has filed a written parental consent form with the principal that permits the student to posses an unloaded firearm that is in a closed container in or upon a motor vehicle or an unloaded shotgun or rifle in a firearms rack in or upon a motor vehicle, if the principal has provided written approval to bring a properly stored firearm onto school property and the student possesses a valid Virginia hunting license. For the purposes of this paragraph, "weapon" includes a knife having a metal blade of three inches or longer and "closed container" includes a locked vehicle trunk.

As used in this section:

"Stun weapon" means any mechanism that is (i) designed to emit an electronic, magnetic, or other type of charge that exceeds the equivalency of a five milliamp 60 hertz shock and (ii) used for the purpose of temporarily incapacitating a person; and

"Taser" means any mechanism that is (i) designed to emit an electronic, magnetic, or other type of charge or shock through the use of a projectile and (ii) used for the purpose of temporarily incapacitating a person.