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 exceptions to the prohibition.
Session: 2026 Regular Regular Session
Last Action: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB173)
Last Action Date: January 28, 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 | ||||||
Link: link to state bill page
