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2015 SESSION
15101684DBe 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 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 religious elementary, middle or high school, including buildings and grounds; (b) that portion of any property open to the public and then exclusively 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 religious elementary, middle or high school, including buildings and grounds; (ii) that portion of any property open to the public and then exclusively 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.
C. If any person possesses any firearm designed or intended to expel a projectile by action of an explosion of a combustible material within a public, private or religious 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 guilty of a Class 6 felony and 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; (vi) a person who possesses an unloaded
firearm that is in a closed container, or a knife having a metal blade, in or
upon a motor vehicle, or an unloaded shotgun or rifle in a firearms rack in or
upon a motor vehicle; (vii) a person who has a valid concealed handgun permit
and possesses or stores a
concealed handgun while in
a motor vehicle in a parking lot, traffic circle, or other means of vehicular
ingress or egress to the school; or (viii)
an armed security officer, licensed pursuant to Article 4 (§ 9.1-138 et seq.)
of Chapter 1 of Title 9.1, hired by a private or religious school for the
protection of students and employees as authorized by such school; or
(ix) a person who has a valid concealed
handgun permit and possesses a concealed handgun upon any public, private, or
religious elementary, middle, or high school, including buildings and grounds,
outside normal school hours. 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:
"Normal school hours" means any period when the school is in regular session and does not include any period before or after such regular session, Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or school vacations, including summer vacations.
"Stun weapon" means any device that emits a momentary or pulsed output, which is electrical, audible, optical or electromagnetic in nature and which is designed to temporarily incapacitate a person.