                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

REPORTING AND RETURN OF FIREARMS CONFISCATED OR RECOVERED BY LAW-ENFORCEMENT
AGENCIES (§ 52-25.1)

A. 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.

B. 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&#8217;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. Except as provided in &#xA7; 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.

HISTORY: 1993, cc. 475, 834; 1994, cc. 394, 502; 2016, c. 214.