Under sections 18.2-308.1:1, 18.2-308.1:2, and 18.2-308.1:3 of the Code of Virginia, those who have lost their right to possess firearms based upon different types of mental health issues may also petition for restoration of those rights in the general district court of the jurisdiction where they reside. As you can see, these sections suffer from the same jurisdictional language flaw as that which existed in § 18.2-308.2(C) prior to July 1, 2015.

This year I drafted a bill to make the same correction to these three sections that Delegate Fowler’s bill made to § 18.2-308.2(C) in 2015. My local delegate Israel O’Quinn was kind enough to carry the bill despite my bringing it to him at the very last moment. Thanks to his assistance, HB 2429 passed both the House of Delegates and the Senate with unanimous votes and was signed into law by the Governor on March 16th.

It will go into effect on July 1, 2017 and will allow non-residents whose mental health prohibition originated in Virginia to petition the general district court in the jurisdiction where their most recent mental health disqualifying event occurred.

For more details, see my full article here.