Va. Code » Title 18.2. Crimes and Offenses Generally » Chapter 7. Crimes Involving Health and Safety » Article 4. Dangerous Use of Firearms or Other Weapons
Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-286 (2026)

Shooting in or across road or in street

✓ current as of May 2026
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If any person discharges a firearm, crossbow, slingbow, arrowgun, or bow and arrow in or across any road, or within the right-of-way thereof, or in a street of any city or town, he shall, for each offense, be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor.

The provisions of this section shall not apply to firing ranges or shooting matches maintained, and supervised or approved, by law-enforcement officers and military personnel in performance of their lawful duties.

Code 1950, § 33.1-349; 1970, c. 322; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 1993, c. 322; 1994, c. 18; 2017, c. 530; 2018, cc. 557, 558.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases, 1994–2001 · leading case: Stephens v. Commonwealth, 543 S.E.2d 609 (Va. Ct. App. 2001).
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Stephens v. Commonwealth, 543 S.E.2d 609 (Va. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 2× “1, rather than Code § 18.2-286, which makes it a misdemeanor to discharge a firearm across a road, is granted.”
Commonwealth v. Matthews, 34 Va. Cir. 96 (Fairfax Cir. Ct. 1994). “Matthews also argued that the certificate was inadmissible, because the Commonwealth failed to prove that the person signing the Certificate of Analysis was a designee of the Director of the Division of Forensic Sciences as required by § 18.2-286. By virtue of § 18.2-268.11,…”
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