Subcommittee tables bill to repeal one-handgun-per-month purchase limit

A House public-safety subcommittee heard testimony for and against HB1427, which would delete a statutory limit that currently restricts handgun purchases to one per month. Sponsor Delegate Griffin described the proposal as removing an unnecessary restriction on law-abiding citizens.

Supporters including Philip Van Cleve of the Virginia Citizens Defense League called the limit an ineffective “rationing scheme,” and John Weber of the NRA described the measure as restoring rights the organization considers unjustifiably constrained. Opponents including Christine Payne and Laurie Haas said the limit helps disrupt trafficking channels into nearby jurisdictions and urged the committee to keep the restriction.

After testimony from in-room and online witnesses and committee discussion about empirical evidence of any link between the limit and crime flows, Delegate McClure moved to lay the bill on the table and the motion was seconded. The clerk announced, “HB4201427 has been tabled on a bullet of 63,” a phrasing that appears in the hearing record; committee minutes should be consulted for the official tally and bill identifier.

What’s next: The committee tabled the bill during the hearing. The transcript contains ambiguous bill-number and tally wording in the clerk’s announcement; the clerk’s official minutes will confirm the final procedural status.