Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §15.2-915 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§15.2-915. Control of firearms; applicability to authorities and local governmental agencies.
A. No locality shall adopt or enforce any ordinance,
resolution,
or motion, as permitted by §15.2-1425, and no agent of such locality shall
take any administrative action, governing the purchase, possession, transfer,
ownership, carrying, storage,
or transporting of firearms, ammunition, or components or combination thereof
other than those expressly authorized by statute. For purposes of this section,
a statute that does not refer to firearms, ammunition, or components or
combination thereof,
shall not be construed to provide express authorization.
Nothing in this section shall prohibit a locality from adopting workplace rules relating to terms and conditions of employment of the workforce. However, no locality shall adopt any workplace rule, other than for the purposes of a community services board or behavioral health authority as defined in §37.2-100, that prevents an employee of that locality from storing at that locality's workplace a lawfully possessed firearm and ammunition in a locked private motor vehicle. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a law-enforcement officer, as defined in §9.1-101, from acting within the scope of his duties.
The provisions of this section applicable to a locality shall also apply to any authority or to a local governmental entity, including a department or agency, but not including any local or regional jail, juvenile detention facility, or state-governed entity, department, or agency.
The provisions of this section notwithstanding, any locality may by ordinance prohibit the possession or carrying of firearms, ammunition, or components or any combination thereof in a public space during a permitted event or an event that would otherwise require a permit.
B. Any local ordinance, resolution,
or motion adopted prior to the effective
date of this act July 1, 2004,
governing the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying, or transporting of firearms,
ammunition, or components or combination thereof, other than those expressly
authorized by statute, is invalid.
C. In addition to any other relief provided, the court may award reasonable attorney fees, expenses, and court costs to any person, group, or entity that prevails in an action challenging (i) an ordinance, resolution, or motion as being in conflict with this section or (ii) an administrative action taken in bad faith as being in conflict with this section.
D. For purposes of this section, "workplace" means "workplace of the locality."