More gun control bills continue to be introduced in Virginia ahead of next week’s deadline to file legislation for the 2026 session, including a measure that could put a stop to backyard plinking for some Virginia residents.
Virginia law already allows counties to prohibit the outdoor shooting of “firearms or arrows from bows or arrowguns in any areas of the county which are in the opinion of the governing body so heavily populated as to make such conduct dangerous to the inhabitants thereof.”
HB 926 would expand on that by allowing counties to enact an ordinance prohibiting the outdoor shooting of a firearm “unless the discharge of such firearm is conducted (i) on land of at least five acres and (ii) with reasonable care to prevent a projectile from crossing the bounds of the land.”
I know a lot of folks who’ve moved away from the D.C. suburbs to counties further afield in order to have a little piece of property where they can plant a garden, raise some chickens, and do some plinking on the weekend. They may only have a few acres, but that’s enough to do everything they want… or at least it was.
I understand the desire to ensure that folks are shooting safely in their backyard ranges, but this bill misses the mark. I’m sure there are plenty of properties across the state that are less than five acres where its perfectly safe to do some shooting, even with a berm or a backstop it would be illegal to shoot there.
The acreage requirement is just one issue. HB 926 also never really defines “reasonable care.” Instead, it states that it may include “discharging such firearm into a natural or man-made berm or backstop set at least 10 feet from a property line so that it prevents projectiles from entering the property of another.” That leaves counties with wide latitude to set even more restrictive policies if they choose, including limiting what kinds of firearms can be used on private property.
As written, the bill could also have a chilling effect on hunting across the Commonwealth. There is no exception to the “reasonable care” mandate for hunting, so under HB 926 counties could conceivably prohibit hunters from discharging their firearm unless there’s a berm or backstop behind the game they’re targeting.
While the bill is vague on what counts as “reasonable care,” it’s specific in regards to the penalty for violating a potential county ordinance. Counties can make it a civil offense punishable by fines only, but have the option of making it a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to twelve months in jail and a $2,500 fine.
The majority of gun control bills introduced so far this session have come from the House of Delegates, but we’re seeing a trickle of anti-2A legislation emerge from the Senate as well. This week northern Virginia Sen. Adam Ebbin introduced SB 312, a bill banning the carrying of so-called assault firearms on “any public street, road, alley, sidewalk, or public right-of-way or in any public park or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public.” That too would be punishable by up to a year behind bars and/or a fine of $2,500.
Ebbin’s already announced his intention to step down from his state Senate seat and become a senior advisor to the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority, so it’s possible that SB 312 will languish in committee if its chief sponsor is no longer in office. The fact that Ebbin is still introducing legislation, though, suggests that he’ll stick around long enough to try to shepherd his bills through the committee process and on to the Senate floor.
We’re still waiting to see the upper chamber’s version of a bill banning “assault firearms” and “large capacity” magazines, and Democrat senators have also been mulling a “permit-to-purchase” measure as well. The deadline to file legislation for the 2026 session is January 23, so Virginia gun owners should be prepared to see more flagrant attacks on our right to keep and bear arms in the coming days.
Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights, even as they start to see that maybe we had a point.
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