HOUSE BILL NO. 702

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE

(Proposed by the House Committee on Public Safety

on ________________)

(Patron Prior to Substitute—Delegate Cole)

A BILL to direct local law-enforcement agencies to implement a firearm give-back program or a firearm buy-back program.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. § 1. That each local law-enforcement agency shall develop policies and procedures to implement either a firearm give-back program or a firearm buy-back program by January 1, 2028. Such policies shall include requirements that require (i) that each local law-enforcement agency designate when and where a person may voluntarily return a firearm, which shall be subsequently subjected to forensic testing; (ii) that such firearm may be retained by the receiving law-enforcement agency to be used as evidence if such firearm is determined to have been used in the commission of a crime; (iii) that returned firearms not used in the commission of a crime shall be destroyed; and (iv) that the identity of any person who surrenders a firearm shall be kept confidential. Such policies and procedures shall also require local law-enforcement agencies to submit an annual report to the Department of State Police that includes the number of firearms that have been received through the implemented program.