It shall be unlawful for any person to carry a loaded (a) semi-automatic center-fire rifle or pistol that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material and is equipped at the time of the offense with a magazine that will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition or designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer or equipped with a folding stock or (b) shotgun with a magazine that will hold more than seven rounds of the longest ammunition for which it is chambered on or about his person on any public street, road, alley, sidewalk, public right-of-way, or in any public park or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public in the Cities of Alexandria, Chesapeake, Fairfax, Falls Church, Newport News, Norfolk, Richmond, or Virginia Beach or in the Counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Henrico, Loudoun, or Prince William.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to law-enforcement officers, licensed security guards, military personnel in the performance of their lawful duties, or any person having a valid concealed handgun permit or to any person actually engaged in lawful hunting or lawful recreational shooting activities at an established shooting range or shooting contest. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
The exemptions set forth in §§ 18.2-308 and 18.2-308.016 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the provisions of this section.
1991, c. 570; 1992, c. 790; 2003, c. 976; 2004, c. 995; 2005, c. 160; 2007, c. 813; 2016, c. 257.
Notes of Decisions
Joshua Saquan Maurice Eley v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 826 S.E.2d 321 (Va. Ct. App. 2019).
· cites it 12× “Joshua Saquan Maurice Eley appeals his misdemeanor conviction for carrying a loaded firearm equipped with a high-capacity magazine in public in violation of Code § 18.2-287.4. On appeal, he suggests that he was entitled to the statutory exemption in Code § 18.”
Dist. of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008).
· cites it 2× “2007) (general handgun restriction does not apply to "the wearing, carrying, or transporting by a person of a handgun used in connection with," inter alia, "a target shoot, formal or informal target practice, sport shooting event, hunting, [or] a Department of Natural…”
Armstrong v. Commonwealth, 562 S.E.2d 139 (Va. 2002).
· cites it 2× “” Similar definitions of a firearm or a specific type of firearm may be found, for example, in Code §§ 18.2-287.4, 18.2-308.2:01, 18.2-308.”
South v. Commonwealth, 623 S.E.2d 419 (Va. Ct. App. 2005).
· cites it 4× “2-85 (exempting members of the "armed forces of the United States" and "law-enforcement officers" from the prohibition on manufacturing or possessing explosive devices); Code § 18.2-287.4 (exempting "law-enforcement officers" and "military personnel" from the prohibition of…”
Sean Marquise Hughes v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2026).
· cites it 4× “147 (2023), in which this Court declined to extend Code § 18.2-287.4 beyond its terms based solely on a firearm’s configuration, when the Commonwealth failed to prove that the weapon satisfied the statute’s operative definition.”
United States v. Traquan Henderson (4th Cir. 2023).
“See Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-287.4 (prohibiting, subject to exception, possession of certain loaded firearms equipped with a magazine that will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition) Nonetheless, because a longer magazine can hold more of the same type of ammunition than a shorter…”
— Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-287.4(a) — 2 cases
Joshua Saquan Maurice Eley v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 826 S.E.2d 321 (Va. Ct. App. 2019).
“Joshua Saquan Maurice Eley appeals his misdemeanor conviction for carrying a loaded firearm equipped with a high-capacity magazine in public in violation of Code § 18.2-287.4. On appeal, he suggests that he was entitled to the statutory exemption in Code § 18.”
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