{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-json\/54.1-4200.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-text\/54.1-4200.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-xml\/54.1-4200.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-html\/54.1-4200.html"}],"law_id":68120,"edition_id":1,"section_id":68120,"structure_id":15979,"section_number":"54.1-4200","catch_line":"Definitions","history":"1989, c. 490; 1993, c. 477; 2019, c. 238.","full_text":"For the purpose of this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:\n\t\t“Dealer in firearms” means (i) any person, firm, partnership, or corporation engaged in the business of selling, trading or transferring firearms at wholesale or retail; (ii) any person, firm, partnership, or corporation engaged in the business of making or fitting special barrels, stocks, or trigger mechanisms to firearms; or (iii) any natural person that is a pawnbroker.\n\t\t“Engaged in business” means as applied to a dealer in firearms a person, firm, partnership, or corporation that devotes time, attention, and labor to dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or business with the principal objective of livelihood and profit through repetitive purchase or resale of firearms, but such term shall not involve a person who makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal collection of firearms.\n\t\t“Firearms show” means any gathering or exhibition, open to the public, not occurring on the permanent premises of a dealer in firearms, conducted principally for the purposes of exchanging, selling or trading firearms as defined in \u00a7 18.2-308.2:2.","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":246614,"text":"For the purpose of this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:\n\t\t“Dealer in firearms” means (i) any person, firm, partnership, or corporation engaged in the business of selling, trading or transferring firearms at wholesale or retail; (ii) any person, firm, partnership, or corporation engaged in the business of making or fitting special barrels, stocks, or trigger mechanisms to firearms; or (iii) any natural person that is a pawnbroker.\n\t\t“Engaged in business” means as applied to a dealer in firearms a person, firm, partnership, or corporation that devotes time, attention, and labor to dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or business with the principal objective of livelihood and profit through repetitive purchase or resale of firearms, but such term shall not involve a person who makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal collection of firearms.\n\t\t“Firearms show” means any gathering or exhibition, open to the public, not occurring on the permanent premises of a dealer in firearms, conducted principally for the purposes of exchanging, selling or trading firearms as defined in \u00a7 18.2-308.2:2.","type":"section","prefixes":[""],"prefix":"","entire_prefix":"","prefix_anchor":"","level":1}},"ancestry":[{"id":15979,"edition_id":1,"name":"Dealers in Firearms","identifier":"42","label":"chapter","depth":3,"order_by":1,"parent_id":13011,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 04:03:08","date_modified":"2026-06-26 04:03:08","permalink":{"id":244577,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":15979,"identifier":"42","token":"54.1\/V\/42","url":"\/54.1\/V\/42\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":13011,"edition_id":1,"name":"Occupations Regulated by Local Governing Bodies","identifier":"V","label":"subtitle","depth":2,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12754,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:44:08","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:44:08","permalink":{"id":244463,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":13011,"identifier":"V","token":"54.1\/V","url":"\/54.1\/V\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12754,"edition_id":1,"name":"Professions and Occupations","identifier":"54.1","label":"title","depth":1,"order_by":1,"parent_id":null,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","permalink":{"id":239313,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12754,"identifier":"54.1","token":"54.1","url":"\/54.1\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}}],"structure_contents":[{"id":68120,"structure_id":15979,"section_number":"54.1-4200","catch_line":"Definitions","url":"\/54.1-4200\/","token":"54.1\/V\/42\/54.1-4200","metadata":false},{"id":80515,"structure_id":15979,"section_number":"54.1-4201","catch_line":"Inspection of records","url":"\/54.1-4201\/","token":"54.1\/V\/42\/54.1-4201","metadata":false},{"id":82936,"structure_id":15979,"section_number":"54.1-4201.1","catch_line":"Notification by sponsor of firearms show to State Police and local law-enforcement authorities required; records; penalty","url":"\/54.1-4201.1\/","token":"54.1\/V\/42\/54.1-4201.1","metadata":false},{"id":62857,"structure_id":15979,"section_number":"54.1-4201.2","catch_line":"Firearm transactions by persons other than dealers; mandatory background checks","url":"\/54.1-4201.2\/","token":"54.1\/V\/42\/54.1-4201.2","metadata":false},{"id":62327,"structure_id":15979,"section_number":"54.1-4202","catch_line":"Penalties for violation of the provisions of this chapter","url":"\/54.1-4202\/","token":"54.1\/V\/42\/54.1-4202","metadata":false}],"next_section":{"id":80515,"structure_id":15979,"section_number":"54.1-4201","catch_line":"Inspection of records","url":"\/54.1-4201\/","token":"54.1\/V\/42\/54.1-4201","metadata":false},"metadata":false,"official_url":"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/54.1-4200\/","history_text":"

This law was first created in 1989. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 490 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 1989 \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 1993, chapter 477; in 2019, chapter 238<\/a>.<\/p>","references":[{"id":56633,"section_number":"18.2-308.2:5","catch_line":"Criminal history record information check required to sell firearm; penalty","order_by":null,"url":"\/18.2-308.2_5\/"}],"refers_to":[{"id":80010,"section_number":"18.2-308.2:2","catch_line":"Criminal history record information check required for the transfer of certain firearms","order_by":null,"url":"\/18.2-308.2_2\/"}],"permalink":{"id":244579,"object_type":"law","relational_id":68120,"identifier":"54.1-4200","token":"54.1\/V\/42\/54.1-4200","url":"\/54.1-4200\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/54.1-4200\/","token":"54.1\/V\/42\/54.1-4200","dublin_core":{"Title":"Definitions","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 54.1-4200","Relation":"Code of Virginia"},"html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

For the purpose of this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:\n\t\t“Dealer in firearms<\/span>” means (i) any person, firm, partnership, or corporation engaged in the business of selling, trading or transferring firearms at wholesale or retail; (ii) any person, firm, partnership, or corporation engaged in the business of making or fitting special barrels, stocks, or trigger mechanisms to firearms; or (iii) any natural person that is a pawnbroker.\n\t\t“Engaged in business<\/span>” means as applied to a dealer in firearms<\/span> a person, firm, partnership, or corporation that devotes time, attention, and labor to dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or business with the principal objective of livelihood and profit through repetitive purchase or resale of firearms, but such term shall not involve a person who makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal collection of firearms.\n\t\t“Firearms show<\/span>” means any gathering or exhibition, open to the public, not occurring on the permanent premises of a dealer in firearms<\/span>, conducted principally for the purposes of exchanging, selling or trading firearms as defined in \u00a7 18.2-308.2:2<\/a>.<\/p><\/section>","plain_text":" CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nDEFINITIONS (\u00a7 54.1-4200)\n\nFor the purpose of this chapter, unless the context requires a different\nmeaning:\n\t\t“Dealer in firearms” means (i) any person, firm, partnership, or\ncorporation engaged in the business of selling, trading or transferring firearms\nat wholesale or retail; (ii) any person, firm, partnership, or corporation\nengaged in the business of making or fitting special barrels, stocks, or trigger\nmechanisms to firearms; or (iii) any natural person that is a pawnbroker.\n\t\t“Engaged in business” means as applied to a dealer in firearms a\nperson, firm, partnership, or corporation that devotes time, attention, and\nlabor to dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or business with the\nprincipal objective of livelihood and profit through repetitive purchase or\nresale of firearms, but such term shall not involve a person who makes\noccasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a\npersonal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal\ncollection of firearms.\n\t\t“Firearms show” means any gathering or exhibition, open to the\npublic, not occurring on the permanent premises of a dealer in firearms,\nconducted principally for the purposes of exchanging, selling or trading\nfirearms as defined in \u00a7 18.2-308.2:2.\n\nHISTORY: 1989, c. 490; 1993, c. 477; 2019, c. 238.","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}}