                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

RECKLESS HANDLING OF FIREARMS; RECKLESS HANDLING WHILE HUNTING (§ 18.2-56.1)

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to handle recklessly any firearm so as to
endanger the life, limb or property of any person. Any person violating this
section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

A1. Any person who handles any firearm in a manner so gross, wanton, and
culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life and causes the serious
bodily injury of another person resulting in permanent and significant physical
impairment is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

B. If this section is violated while the person is engaged in hunting, trapping
or pursuing game, the trial judge may, in addition to the penalty imposed by the
jury or the court trying the case without a jury, revoke such person&#8217;s
hunting or trapping license and privileges to hunt or trap while possessing a
firearm for a period of one to five years.

C. Upon a revocation pursuant to subsection B hereof, the clerk of the court in
which the case is tried pursuant to this section shall forthwith send to the
Department of Wildlife Resources (i) such person&#8217;s revoked hunting or
trapping license or notice that such person&#8217;s privilege to hunt or trap
while in possession of a firearm has been revoked and (ii) a notice of the
length of revocation imposed. The Department shall keep a list which shall be
furnished upon request to any law-enforcement officer, the attorney for the
Commonwealth or court in this Commonwealth, and such list shall contain the
names and addresses of all persons whose license or privilege to hunt or trap
while in possession of a firearm has been revoked and the court which took such
action.

D. If any person whose license to hunt and trap, or whose privilege to hunt and
trap while in possession of a firearm, has been revoked pursuant to this
section, thereafter hunts or traps while in possession of a firearm, he shall be
guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, and, in addition to any penalty imposed by the
jury or the court trying the case without a jury, the trial judge may revoke
such person&#8217;s hunting or trapping license and privileges to hunt or trap
while in possession of a firearm for a period of one year to life. The clerk of
the court shall notify the Department of Wildlife Resources as is provided in
subsection C herein.

HISTORY: 1977, c. 194; 1985, c. 182; 1991, c. 384; 2010, c. 183; 2011, c. 684;
2014, cc. 444, 579; 2020, c. 958.