Proposed Virginia Firearm Legislation SB173
Legislation Overview
Title: Weapons; possession prohibited in hospital that provides mental health or developmental services.
Description: Weapons; possession prohibited in a hospital that provides mental health services or developmental services; penalty. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to knowingly and intentionally possess in the building of any hospital that provides mental health services or developmental services in the Commonwealth, including an emergency department or other facility rendering emergency medical care, a (i) firearm, (ii) knife with a blade over three and one-half inches, or (iii) other dangerous weapon, including explosives and stun weapons. The bill also provides that notice of such prohibitions shall be posted conspicuously at each public entrance of any hospital and that no person shall be convicted of the offense if such notice is not posted, unless such person had actual notice of the prohibitions. The bill provides that such firearm, knife, explosive, or weapon shall be subject to seizure by a law-enforcement officer and forfeited to the Commonwealth and specifies certain exceptions to the prohibition.
Session: 2026 Regular Regular Session
Last Action: Signed by President
Last Action Date: February 18, 2026
Sponsors
Note: the first sponsor listed is normally the primary sponsor. If a sponsor's name is a hyperlink you can click on it to 'follow the money'.
1 sponsors: Angelia Williams Graves (D);
Percentage of Senate sponsoring bill: 3% (1 of 40)
History
| Chamber | Date | Action |
| House | Feb 18, 2026 | Signed by Speaker |
| Senate | Feb 18, 2026 | Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB173) |
| Senate | Feb 18, 2026 | Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB173ER) |
| Senate | Feb 18, 2026 | Enrolled |
| Senate | Feb 18, 2026 | Signed by President |
| House | Feb 16, 2026 | Passed House (63-Y 35-N 0-A) |
| House | Feb 16, 2026 | Read third time |
| House | Feb 15, 2026 | Read second time |
| House | Feb 13, 2026 | Reported from Public Safety (13-Y 7-N) |
| House | Feb 12, 2026 | Referred to Committee on Public Safety |
| House | Feb 12, 2026 | Placed on Calendar |
| House | Feb 12, 2026 | Read first time |
| Senate | Feb 9, 2026 | Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A) |
| Senate | Feb 6, 2026 | Courts of Justice Substitute agreed to |
| Senate | Feb 6, 2026 | Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB173) |
| Senate | Feb 6, 2026 | Read second time |
| Senate | Feb 6, 2026 | Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute (Voice Vote) |
| Senate | Feb 5, 2026 | Rules suspended |
| Senate | Feb 5, 2026 | Passed by for the day (Voice Vote) |
| Senate | Feb 5, 2026 | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) |
| Senate | Feb 4, 2026 | Reported from Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 5-N) |
| Senate | Jan 30, 2026 | Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (1/30/2026 1:45 pm) |
| Senate | Jan 28, 2026 | Committee substitute printed 26106282D-S1 |
| Senate | Jan 28, 2026 | Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB173) |
| Senate | Jan 26, 2026 | Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 5-N) |
| Senate | Jan 26, 2026 | Senate committee offered |
| Senate | Jan 12, 2026 | Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (1/12/2026 11:30 am) |
| Senate | Jan 8, 2026 | Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice |
| Senate | Jan 8, 2026 | Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26105103D |
Texts
| Type | Date | State Link | Text |
| Enrolled | Feb 18, 2026 | state link | bill text |
| Comm Sub | Jan 28, 2026 | state link | bill text |
| Comm Sub | Jan 26, 2026 | state link | bill text |
| Introduced | Jan 8, 2026 | state link | bill text |
Amendments
| Title | Description | Date | State Link | Text | Adopted |
| There are no amendments to this bill at this time | |||||
Votes - Click on description to view vote roll call
| Description | Vote Date | Yea Votes | Nay Votes | No Votes | Absent | Passed |
| Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 5-N) | 01/26/2026 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 1 | Yes |
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| resort votes by: party yeas nays name | ||||||
| Reported from Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 5-N) | 02/4/2026 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
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| resort votes by: party yeas nays name | ||||||
| Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) | 02/5/2026 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
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| resort votes by: party yeas nays name | ||||||
| Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A) | 02/9/2026 | 21 | 19 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
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| resort votes by: party yeas nays name | ||||||
| Reported from Public Safety (13-Y 7-N) | 02/13/2026 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 2 | Yes |
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| resort votes by: party yeas nays name | ||||||
| Passed House (63-Y 35-N 0-A) | 02/16/2026 | 63 | 35 | 0 | 2 | Yes |
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| resort votes by: party yeas nays name | ||||||
Link: link to state bill page
