At the Legislature's first crossover meeting on public safety, lawmakers advanced a package of public-safety bills — including several firearms measures, a ban on isolated confinement in state correctional facilities, and bills on offender registry timing and post-release job help — moving them out of committee for consideration on the floor.

The committee reported many measures along party-line margins on firearms policy and by larger margins on reentry and administrative fixes. One witness, Bonnie Atwood, who represents the Virginia Fire Prevention Association, urged the committee to explicitly include fire marshals in one bill’s enforcement language and the committee adopted that amendment before reporting the bill. "We like the bill. We like the purpose of the bill. We are merely suggesting that fire marshals be included in the bill," Atwood said.

Why this matters: Several bills affect gun policy that lawmakers have debated in prior sessions; passage out of committee sends them toward final floor votes before the general assembly’s crossover deadline. Other measures reported without opposition would alter corrections practice or create post-release supports already included in the governor’s proposed budget, which affects the bills’ implementation timeline.

Key actions and context
Lawmakers reported a mix of firearms bills, corrections reforms and administrative fixes. Many items were described as identical or substantially similar to House bills that had been considered earlier. Subcommittees returned mixed recommendations on several gun measures (subcommittee votes of 6–4 were recorded for some items) and the full committee recorded multiple close roll-call tallies (for example, several firearms bills were reported 11–9 or 10–9). The committee adopted one technical amendment to include fire marshals in enforcement language before moving that bill forward. The Department of Corrections job-search assistance bill was described as having a fiscal impact but included in the governor’s proposed budget; committee members said that alignment made floor action straightforward.

Votes at a glance (selected bills reported out of committee)
- Senate Bill 744 (Sen. Favola) — identical to House Bill 1960; reported out of committee (roll 10–7).
- Senate Bill 848 (Sen. Saleem) — raises age-related firearm purchase requirement (referenced as an 18/21-year threshold); reported 10–7.
- Senate Bill 861 (Sen. Reeves) — conformed to House Bill 2406; committee adopted amendment adding fire marshals to the bill’s enforcement definition; reported 19–1.
- Senate Bill 880 (Sen. Evans) — regulation on assault-style firearms in public (no text changes from last year); reported 11–9.
- Senate Bill 881 (Sen. Evans) — criminalizes manufacture of so-called "ghost guns"; reported 11–9.
- Senate Bill 877 (Sen. Evans) — directs the Department of Corrections to work with the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement on post-release job-search assistance; described as in the governor’s budget; reported 20–0.
- Senate Bill 891 (Sen. Saleem) — five-day waiting period on firearm purchases (identical to House Bill 2631); reported 11–9.
- Senate Bill 1110 (Sen. Williams Graves) — identical to House Bill 1977; reported 11–9.
- Senate Bill 1182 (Sen. Deeds) — enforces ban on firearms on college campuses (vehicle for House/other sponsor language); reported 11–9.
- Senate Bill 1251 (Sen. Durant) — conformed to House Bill 2071; committee moved the substitute and reported (committee noted House passage in amended form).
- Senate Bill 1134 (Sen. Boisco) — similar to a bill introduced last year; reported 11–9.
- Senate Bill 1181 (Sen. Deeds) — assault firearms measure (parallels House Bill 1607); reported 11–9.
- Senate Bill 1409 (Sen. Bagby) — prohibits use of isolated confinement in state correctional facilities subject to exceptions; reported 11–9.
- Senate Bill 883 (Sen. Perry) — expands definition of household/intimate partner for certain enforcement; subcommittee recommended conforming to HB1869 (subcommittee vote 6–4); full committee reported 11–9.
- Senate Bill 886 (Sen. Perry) — defines and bans certain trigger activator conversion kits; subcommittee 6–4 recommendation; full committee reported 10–9.
- Senate Bill 1329 (Sen. Marsden) — removes a concealed-carry exception for lawful possession in private vehicles and was moved to conform to HB1597; subcommittee recommended conforming (6–4); full committee reported 11–9.
- Senate Bill 844 (Sen. Craig) — corrects timing for registration of Tier 1 and Tier 2 offenders in the offender registry; subcommittee 6–0; committee reported 20–0.
- Senate Bill 770 (Sen. Favola) — consolidates and realigns reporting dates for certain public-safety reports; subcommittee 6–0; committee reported 20–0.

Discussion and next steps
Committee members and staff described several measures as carryovers from prior sessions and said they had already received testimony in earlier committee hearings. Where bills had fiscal impacts but were included in the governor’s budget (for example, the DOC workforce assistance provision), members said that reduced the need for further appropriations debate in committee. Several firearms measures were reported on narrow party-line margins and are expected to face continued debate on the floor.

The committee adopted at least one amendment requested by an outside group to broaden enforcement language to include fire marshals; further amendments, votes and floor scheduling will be set by legislative leaders as bills move toward floor consideration.