Jurisdiction: Virginia

§ 1. Where used in this act; (a) “Machine gun” applies to and includes a weapon of any description by whatever name known, loaded or unloaded, from which more than seven shots or bullets may be rapidly, or automatically, or semi-automatically discharged from a magazine, by a single function of the firing device, and also applies to and includes weapons, loaded or unloaded, from which more than sixteen shots or bullets may be rapidly, automatically, semi-automatically or otherwise discharged without reloading. (b) “Crime of violence” applies to and includes any of the following crimes or an attempt to commit any of the same, namely, murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, rape, . . .§ 2. Possession or use of machine gun in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of a crime of violence is hereby declared to be a crime punishable by death or by imprisonment in the State penitentiary for a term not less than twenty years. § 3. Unlawful possession or use of a machine gun for offensive or aggressive purpose is hereby declared to be a crime punishable by imprisonment in the State penitentiary for a term of not less than ten years. § 4. Possession or use of a machine gun shall be presumed to be for offensive or aggressive purpose; (a) When the machine gun is on premises not owned or rented, for bona fide permanent residence or business occupancy, by the person in whose possession the machine gun may be found; or (b) When in the possession of , or used by, an unnaturalized foreign born person, or a person who has been convicted of a crime of violence in any court of record, state or federal, of the United States of America, its territories or insular possessions; or (c) When the machine gun is of the kind described in section eight and has not been registered as in said section required; or (d) When empty or loaded pistol shells of thirty (thirty one-hundredths inch or seven and sixty-three one hundredths millimeter ) or larger caliber which have been or are susceptible to use in the machine gun are found in the immediate vicinity thereof. § 5. The presence of a machine gun in any room, boat, or vehicle shall be prima facie evidence of the possession or use of the machine gun by each person occupying the room, boat, or vehicle where the weapon is found. § 6. (excludes military police etc. ) § 7. Every manufacturer or dealer shall keep a register of all machine guns manufactured or handled by him. This register shall show the model and serial number, date of manufacture, sale, load, gift, delivery or receipt, of every machine gun, the name, address, and occupation of the person to whom the machine gun was sold, loaned, given or delivered, or from whom it was received; and the purpose for which it was acquired by the person to whom the machine gun was sold. . .

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That it shall be the duty of every person residing in this State and owning a pistol or revolver therein, to pay on or before the first day of January of each year a license tax of one dollar on each pistol or revolver so owned, or in the event that such pistol or revolver shall be acquired by any such person on or after the first day of February, such license tax shall be forthwith paid thereon. The application for the license shall give the name of the owner, and the number, make and calibre [sic] of such pistol or revolver, which shall be set forth in the license. All pistol or revolver licenses shall run from the first day of January to the first day of the following January. Such license taxes shall be paid to the treasurer of the city or county whrein the said owner resides, and the said treasurer shall not receive more for handling the funds arising from the tax imposed by this act than he receives for handling other State funds. The treasurers shall not receive compensation for their services in issuing the license cards herein provided for. Upon payment of the tax provided for in this section the person paying the same shall be entitled to a license card therefor, showing the year for which the license is paid, the county or city issuing the card, the serial number of the license, and the number, calibre [sic], make and owner of the pistol or revolver. When the license card is issued the treasurer shall record the name of the owner of the pistol or revolver, and the number, calibre [sic] and make thereof with the number of the license, in a book prepared for the purpose. The license cards and book shall be furnished by the boards herein provided and shall be paid out of the funds derived from the pistol and revolver licenses. If any such card should be lost the owner of the card shall pay to the treasurer twenty-five cents for a duplicate card.
2. It shall be the duty of every retailer selling a pistol or revolver in this State, at the time of such sale, to keep a record of the name and address of the purchaser and the number, make and calibre [sic] of the pistol or revolver, and to report once a month to the treasurer of his county or city the names of such purchasers, if any, together with the number, make and calibre [sic] of each pistol or revolver purchased; and all persons receiving or having in their possession a pistol or revolver for the purpose of repairing the same shall report to the treasurer of his county or city once a month giving the name and address of the owner and the calibre [sic], make and serial number of such pistol or revolver.
3. It shall be unlawful for any retailer in this State to sell ammunition for any pistol or revolver to any person unless the person desiring to make such purchase displays the license card for the current year provided for in this act.
4. Any person violating any provision of this act or using a license card not issued to him, for the purpose of purchasing ammunition, or using a license card for the purchase of pistol or revolver ammunition unless the ammunition is intended to be used for the weapon mentioned in the license card shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not less than twenty-five nor more than fifty dollars, or sentenced to the State convict road force for not less than thirty or not more than sixty days, or both, in the discretion of the tribunal trying the case.
5. The provisions of this act shall not apply to any officer authorized by law to carry a pistol or revolver nor to the pistol or revolver of such officer when such pistol or revolver is carried in discharge of his official duty, except that every officer shall list his pistol or revolver with the treasurer of his county or city annually by January first; nor to a pistol of an obsolete type kept as a souvenir, memento or relic, such as cap and ball type, etcetera, or souvenir used or captured by any person or relative in any war. But such pistol shall be registered as herein provided, upon satisfactory proof to the officer issuing such license that the pistol in question comes properly within this exception, in which case, no license tax shall be charged.
6. The tax hereby imposed shall be in lieu of all other taxes on such pistols and revolvers; but nothing in this act shall be construed to apply to such weapons in the stocks of licensed wholesaler or retailers.
7. All funds arising from pistol and revolver licenses, except as hereinbefore provided, shall be kept separate from other funds and shall be paid into the State treasury to establish a fund known as the diseased and crippled children’s hospital fund, which shall be used for the purpose of establishing and maintaining within the State at such place or places as may be selected by the board hereinafter provided for, a hospital or hospitals for the care, treatment and vocational training of diseased and crippled children resident in Virginia, or for any such rehabilitation work that the board may deem wise.
Each treasurer shall between the first and fifteenth of July and between the first and fifteenth of January report to the auditor of public accounts collections, which he is required to make by this act, and shall at the same time pay into the State treasury the amount collected less the commissions which he is authorized to retain for collecting same as provided for in this act, and the auditor of public accounts shall keep said funds separate from other funds to be designated and known as “the diseased and cripple children’s hospital fund.”
8. The adminsitration of the aid fund shall be under the direction of a board of seven physicians to be appointed by the governor. . . . [Description of board and its functions].
9. The State treasurer shall make payments from the fund hereinabove created on warrants from the auditor of pulic accounts, issued on vouchers certified by the chairman of the board hereinabove created on authority of the board.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons to hunt, pursue, kill, or destroy in any way, any wild game or to enter with dog or gun or both with intent to hunt, kill, pursue, destroy any wild game upon any of those tracts of land in Shenandoah county in what is known as the Massanutten purchase area to which the government of the United States of America has acquired the legal title under the Week’s law for the acquisition of lands upon the head waters . . .

If any person carry about his person, hid from common observation, any pistol, dirk, bowie knife, razor, slungshot, or any weapon of like kind he shall be fined not less than twenty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or be committed to jail not more than thirty days, or both, in the discretion of the court, or jury, trying the case: and such pistol, dirk, bowie knife, razor, slungshot, or any weapon of like kind, shall be forfeited to the Commonwealth and may be seized by an officer as forfeited. Upon conviction of the offender the said weapon shall be sold by the officer and the proceeds accounted for and paid over as provided in section twenty-one hundred and ninety; provided, that this section shall not apply to any police officer, town or city sergeant, constable, sheriff, conservator of the peace, collecting officer while in the discharge of his official duty: provided the judge of any circuit or hustings court in term time, upon a written application and satisfactory proof of the good character and necessity of the applicant to carry concealed weapon may grant such permission for one year; the order making same shall be entered in the order book of such court.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or association, to sell, barter, exchange, furnish, or dispose of by purchase, gift, or in any other manner, any toy gun, pistol, rifle, or other toy firearm, if the same shall, by means of powder or other explosive discharge blank or ball charges, to any person under the age of twelve years. Any firm, corporation, or association violating the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or confined in jail for a period not less than thirty, nor more than ninety days, either or both. 2. Each sale of any of the articles hereinbefore specified to any person under the age mentioned shall constitute a separate offense, and any person over the age of twelve years who shall purchase, accept, or in any manner acquire any of the toy articles of the kind hereinbefore enumerated for any person under the age of twelve years, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than two hundred dollars, or confined in jail for a period not less than thirty days nor more than six months, either or both.

. . . It shall be unlawful for any person to shoot at, kill or capture any wild water fowl or wild turkey at any time during the night in this State. . . or to shoot at any game on land or water in this State with a gun larger than an eight bore. . . The possession of any of said guns, sneak boats, nets, traps, reflectors, or other unlawful appliances shall be prima facie evidence of the guilt of the person in whose possession they are found.

Eighteenth. The aggregate value of all shot-guns, rifles, muskets, and other fire-arms, bowie knives, dirks, and all weapons of a similar kind: provided, that all fire-arms issued by the State to members of volunteer companies, or for purposes of police, shall not be listed for taxation (along with other tangible property taxed at twenty cents per 100.00)

To direct the location of all building for storing gunpowder, fire-crackers, or other fireworks manufactured or prepared therefrom, kerosene oil, nitroglycerine, camphene, burning fluid, or other combustible material; to regulate the exhibition of fireworks, the discharge of fire-arms, the use of candles and lights in barns, stables, or other buildings, and to regulate or restrain the making of bonfires in streets and yards.

The council shall have, subject to the provisions of this act, the control and management of the fiscal and municipal affairs of the town; of all property, real and personal, belonging to said town; and may make such ordinances, orders, and by-laws and regulations as it may deem necessary to carry out the following powers, which are hereby conferred on it . . . to regulate or prevent the storing of gunpowder . . .

[Ordinances of Lynchburg, Public Safety,] Revised Ordinance, § 14. No person shall set off any fireworks or explode any popcrackers within the city limits. No person shall discharge any gun, pistol or other fire-arm within the city limits. No person shall, without the written consent of the Mayor, fire a cannon in the city, nor shall any cannon be fired within one hundred yards of any dwelling-house without the consent of the owner or occupant of such house. For violations of this section, the penalty shall be not less than one dollar nor more than ten dollars for each offence.