SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

1995 SESSION

LD1052360
HOUSE BILL NO. 976
Offered January 25, 1994
A BILL to amend and reenact § 18.2-308.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the prohibition against possession of firearms and other designated weapons on school property; penalty.
----------
Patron--Moore
----------
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
----------

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.

If any person has in his possession any (i) stun weapon or taser as defined in this section or (ii) weapon, other than a firearm, designated in subsection A of § 18.2-308 upon (i) the property of 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 1 misdemeanor. If any person has in his possession any firearm designed or intended to propel a missile of any kind 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. All school property which falls under the provisions of this paragraph shall be conspicuously posted with signs designating such property as a "Gun Free Zone."

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 persons who possess such weapon or weapons as a part of the curriculum or other programs sponsored by the school or any organization permitted by the school to use its premises or to any law-enforcement officer while engaged in his duties as such. In addition, this section shall not apply to possession of an unloaded firearm which is in a closed container or an unloaded shotgun or rifle in a firearms rack in or upon a motor vehicle.

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 sixty 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.