Legislation that would restrict handgun purchases to one per 30 days passed the Virginia Senate on Thursday, but an added provision that exempts private transactions will likely prevent the bill from passing the House and cause the legislation to go to a conference committee to reach a compromise.
The exemption was added as a substitute to House Bill 812 by the Senate Judiciary Committee after the House passed the legislation about a month ago.
The Senate passed its own version, Senate Bill 69, which included the exemption, but the House passed the bill with a substitute removing the exemption.
The Senate rejected the substitute, leading to the House requesting and the Senate accepting a joint conference committee to hammer out their differences.
In both bills, a person would be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor for violating the law. Both bills include a few exemptions, including law enforcement agencies, licensed private security companies and licensed firearm dealers. Antique firearms are not subject to this restriction.
