{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-json\/52-25.1.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-text\/52-25.1.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-xml\/52-25.1.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-html\/52-25.1.html"}],"law_id":76224,"edition_id":1,"section_id":76224,"structure_id":15927,"section_number":"52-25.1","catch_line":"Reporting and return of firearms confiscated or recovered by law-enforcement agencies","history":"1993, cc. 475, 834; 1994, cc. 394, 502; 2016, c. 214.","full_text":"A\n\nWhenever a law-enforcement agency confiscates a firearm in connection with a criminal investigation or otherwise recovers a firearm, such agency shall immediately take all appropriate steps to identify and trace the history of such firearm.B\n\nThe Superintendent shall establish a procedure within the Department of State Police to obtain information regarding all firearms seized, forfeited, found, or otherwise coming into the possession of any state or local law-enforcement agency of the Commonwealth. All law-enforcement agencies of the Commonwealth and of political subdivisions of the Commonwealth shall share with other Virginia law-enforcement agencies all information regarding firearms seized, forfeited, found, or otherwise coming into the agency’s possession that are believed to have been used in the commission of a crime and shall enter such information into a firearms tracing system maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Superintendent shall adopt regulations prescribing the method for reporting this information and the time and manner of submission of the information to a firearms tracing system maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice.C\n\nExcept as provided in § 19.2-386.29, whenever a firearm is identified as stolen, the law-enforcement agency shall return such firearm to the rightful owner thereof, if known, provided the owner is not prohibited from possessing the firearm and the agency does not need to retain the firearm as evidence in a criminal prosecution.","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":273709,"text":"Whenever a law-enforcement agency confiscates a firearm in connection with a criminal investigation or otherwise recovers a firearm, such agency shall immediately take all appropriate steps to identify and trace the history of such firearm.","type":"section","prefixes":["A"],"prefix":"A","entire_prefix":"A","prefix_anchor":"A","level":1,"next_prefix":"B"},"1":{"id":273710,"text":"The Superintendent shall establish a procedure within the Department of State Police to obtain information regarding all firearms seized, forfeited, found, or otherwise coming into the possession of any state or local law-enforcement agency of the Commonwealth. All law-enforcement agencies of the Commonwealth and of political subdivisions of the Commonwealth shall share with other Virginia law-enforcement agencies all information regarding firearms seized, forfeited, found, or otherwise coming into the agency’s possession that are believed to have been used in the commission of a crime and shall enter such information into a firearms tracing system maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Superintendent shall adopt regulations prescribing the method for reporting this information and the time and manner of submission of the information to a firearms tracing system maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice.","type":"section","prefixes":["B"],"prefix":"B","entire_prefix":"B","prefix_anchor":"B","level":1,"prior_prefix":"A","next_prefix":"C"},"2":{"id":273711,"text":"Except as provided in § 19.2-386.29, whenever a firearm is identified as stolen, the law-enforcement agency shall return such firearm to the rightful owner thereof, if known, provided the owner is not prohibited from possessing the firearm and the agency does not need to retain the firearm as evidence in a criminal prosecution.","type":"section","prefixes":["C"],"prefix":"C","entire_prefix":"C","prefix_anchor":"C","level":1,"prior_prefix":"B"}},"ancestry":[{"id":15927,"edition_id":1,"name":"Uniform Crime Reporting Program","identifier":"6","label":"chapter","depth":2,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12841,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 04:02:11","date_modified":"2026-06-26 04:02:11","permalink":{"id":237379,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":15927,"identifier":"6","token":"52\/6","url":"\/52\/6\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12841,"edition_id":1,"name":"Police (State)","identifier":"52","label":"title","depth":1,"order_by":1,"parent_id":null,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:56","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:56","permalink":{"id":237127,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12841,"identifier":"52","token":"52","url":"\/52\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}}],"structure_contents":[{"id":61908,"structure_id":15927,"section_number":"52-25","catch_line":"Uniform crime reporting system established","url":"\/52-25\/","token":"52\/6\/52-25","metadata":false},{"id":76224,"structure_id":15927,"section_number":"52-25.1","catch_line":"Reporting and return of firearms confiscated or recovered by law-enforcement agencies","url":"\/52-25.1\/","token":"52\/6\/52-25.1","metadata":false},{"id":66208,"structure_id":15927,"section_number":"52-26","catch_line":"Cooperation with other law-enforcement agencies","url":"\/52-26\/","token":"52\/6\/52-26","metadata":false},{"id":81754,"structure_id":15927,"section_number":"52-27","catch_line":"Aid to reporting agencies","url":"\/52-27\/","token":"52\/6\/52-27","metadata":false},{"id":62199,"structure_id":15927,"section_number":"52-28","catch_line":"Duty of Commonwealth and local agencies to make reports","url":"\/52-28\/","token":"52\/6\/52-28","metadata":false},{"id":83381,"structure_id":15927,"section_number":"52-28.1","catch_line":"Reporting of gang-related criminal information; inclusion in annual Crime in Virginia report","url":"\/52-28.1\/","token":"52\/6\/52-28.1","metadata":false},{"id":65644,"structure_id":15927,"section_number":"52-28.2","catch_line":"Reporting of officer-involved shootings; inclusion in annual Crime in Virginia report","url":"\/52-28.2\/","token":"52\/6\/52-28.2","metadata":false},{"id":75198,"structure_id":15927,"section_number":"52-29","catch_line":"Rules and regulations for form, etc","url":"\/52-29\/","token":"52\/6\/52-29","metadata":false},{"id":82137,"structure_id":15927,"section_number":"52-30","catch_line":"Reports to Federal Bureau of Investigation","url":"\/52-30\/","token":"52\/6\/52-30","metadata":false}],"previous_section":{"id":61908,"structure_id":15927,"section_number":"52-25","catch_line":"Uniform crime reporting system established","url":"\/52-25\/","token":"52\/6\/52-25","metadata":false},"next_section":{"id":66208,"structure_id":15927,"section_number":"52-26","catch_line":"Cooperation with other law-enforcement agencies","url":"\/52-26\/","token":"52\/6\/52-26","metadata":false},"metadata":false,"official_url":"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/52-25.1\/","history_text":"

This law was first created in 1993. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapters 475 and 834 of that year\u2019s edition of \u201cActs of Assembly,\u201d the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. Unfortunately, the 1993 \u201cActs\u201d aren\u2019t available online. It has been modified 2 times. Those modifications are cataloged by \u201cThe Acts of Assembly,\u201d a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly\u2019s website will be linked accordingly. Those modifications are as follows: in 1994, chapters 394<\/a> and 502<\/a>; in 2016, chapter 214<\/a>.<\/p>","references":false,"refers_to":[{"id":60469,"section_number":"19.2-386.29","catch_line":"Forfeiture of certain weapons used in commission of criminal offense","order_by":null,"url":"\/19.2-386.29\/"}],"permalink":{"id":237385,"object_type":"law","relational_id":76224,"identifier":"52-25.1","token":"52\/6\/52-25.1","url":"\/52-25.1\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/52-25.1\/","token":"52\/6\/52-25.1","dublin_core":{"Title":"Reporting and return of firearms confiscated or recovered by law-enforcement agencies","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 52-25.1","Relation":"Code of Virginia"},"html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

A.<\/span> Whenever a law<\/span>-enforcement agency confiscates a firearm in connection with a criminal investigation or otherwise recovers a firearm, such agency shall immediately take all appropriate steps to identify and trace the history of such firearm. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

B.<\/span> The Superintendent shall establish a procedure within the Department of State Police to obtain information regarding all firearms seized, forfeited, found, or otherwise coming into the possession<\/span> of any state or local law<\/span>-enforcement agency of the Commonwealth. All law<\/span>-enforcement agencies of the Commonwealth and of political subdivisions of the Commonwealth shall share with other Virginia law<\/span>-enforcement agencies all information regarding firearms seized, forfeited, found, or otherwise coming into the agency’s possession<\/span> that are believed to have been used in the commission of a crime<\/span> and shall enter such information into a firearms tracing system maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Superintendent shall adopt regulations prescribing the method for reporting this information and the time and manner of submission of the information to a firearms tracing system maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

C.<\/span> Except as provided in § 19.2-386.29<\/a>, whenever a firearm is identified as stolen, the law<\/span>-enforcement agency shall return such firearm to the rightful owner thereof, if known, provided the owner is not prohibited from possessing the firearm and the agency does not need to retain the firearm as evidence<\/span> in a criminal prosecution<\/span>. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>","plain_text":" CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nREPORTING AND RETURN OF FIREARMS CONFISCATED OR RECOVERED BY LAW-ENFORCEMENT\nAGENCIES (\u00a7 52-25.1)\n\nA. Whenever a law-enforcement agency confiscates a firearm in connection with a\ncriminal investigation or otherwise recovers a firearm, such agency shall\nimmediately take all appropriate steps to identify and trace the history of such\nfirearm.\n\nB. The Superintendent shall establish a procedure within the Department of State\nPolice to obtain information regarding all firearms seized, forfeited, found, or\notherwise coming into the possession of any state or local law-enforcement\nagency of the Commonwealth. All law-enforcement agencies of the Commonwealth and\nof political subdivisions of the Commonwealth shall share with other Virginia\nlaw-enforcement agencies all information regarding firearms seized, forfeited,\nfound, or otherwise coming into the agency’s possession that are believed\nto have been used in the commission of a crime and shall enter such information\ninto a firearms tracing system maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice. The\nSuperintendent shall adopt regulations prescribing the method for reporting this\ninformation and the time and manner of submission of the information to a\nfirearms tracing system maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice.\n\nC. Except as provided in § 19.2-386.29, whenever a firearm is identified as\nstolen, the law-enforcement agency shall return such firearm to the rightful\nowner thereof, if known, provided the owner is not prohibited from possessing\nthe firearm and the agency does not need to retain the firearm as evidence in a\ncriminal prosecution.\n\nHISTORY: 1993, cc. 475, 834; 1994, cc. 394, 502; 2016, c. 214.","edition":{"id":1,"name":"2025","slug":"2025","date_created":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","date_modified":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","current":1,"order_by":1,"last_import":null}}