Bill Commons

VA HB 696

Status unknown

Firearm/explosive material; carrying into a bldg. owned or leased by the Commonwealth, exceptions.

Virginia · 2026 Regular Session · lower

Quick answers

Did VA HB 696 pass?

The current status of VA HB 696 is not known from the official record. Latest recorded action (2026-02-18): Left in Committee Public Safety

What is VA HB 696 about?

Carrying a firearm or explosive material into a building owned or leased by the Commonwealth; exceptions for highway rest areas and government stores. Provides that the prohibition on carrying a firearm or explosive material in any building owned or leased by the Commonwealth shall not apply to any highway rest area or government store, as those terms are defined in relevant law.

Who sponsors VA HB 696?

Eric R. Zehr is the primary sponsor of VA HB 696.

Description

Carrying a firearm or explosive material into a building owned or leased by the Commonwealth; exceptions for highway rest areas and government stores. Provides that the prohibition on carrying a firearm or explosive material in any building owned or leased by the Commonwealth shall not apply to any highway rest area or government store, as those terms are defined in relevant law.

Introduced
2026-01-13
Latest action
2026-02-18 — Left in Committee Public Safety
Bill type
bill
Last updated

Sponsors

  • Eric R. Zehrprimary

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

  1. 2026-01-13

    Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103607D

    filing,introduction

  2. 2026-01-13

    Referred to Committee on Public Safety

    referral-committee

  3. 2026-01-20

    Assigned HMPPS sub: Firearms

    referral-committee

  4. 2026-01-22

    Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (6-Y 3-N)

  5. 2026-02-02

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB696)

  6. 2026-02-18

    Left in Committee Public Safety

Versions

Documents

Votes

  • Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely

    2026-01-22 · pass · 6-3

    Member-level votes (10)
    • Nadarius E. Clark: yes
    • Alfonso H. Lopez: yes
    • Dan I. Helmer: yes
    • Adele Y. McClure: not voting
    • Michael B. Feggans: yes
    • Debra D. Gardner: yes
    • Kimberly Pope Adams: yes
    • Tony O. Wilt: no
    • Delores Oates: no
    • Eric R. Zehr: no

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T05:35:59.552682Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Use this data

Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=VA&identifier=HB 696. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.

Known limitations

  • Sponsor party and chamber affiliation are not yet captured by this API.
  • Committee referrals are not yet captured.

See the methodology page for data sources and limitations.