                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PURCHASE OF HANDGUNS OR OTHER WEAPONS OF CERTAIN OFFICERS (§ 59.1-148.3)

A. The Department of State Police, the Department of Wildlife Resources, the
Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, the Virginia Lottery, the Marine
Resources Commission, the Capitol Police, the Department of Conservation and
Recreation, the Department of Forestry, any sheriff, any regional jail board or
authority, and any local police department may allow any sworn law-enforcement
officer, deputy, or regional jail officer, a local fire department may allow any
full-time sworn fire marshal, the Department of Motor Vehicles may allow any
law-enforcement officer, any institution of higher education named in &#xA7;
23.1-1100 may allow any campus police officer appointed pursuant to Article 3
(&#xA7; 23.1-809 et seq.) of Chapter 8 of Title 23.1, retiring on or after July
1, 1991, and the Department of Corrections may allow any employee with internal
investigations authority designated by the Department of Corrections pursuant to
subdivision 11 of &#xA7; 53.1-10 who retires (i) after at least 10 years of
service, (ii) at 70 years of age or older, or (iii) as a result of a
service-incurred disability or who is receiving long-term disability payments
for a service-incurred disability with no expectation of returning to the
employment where he incurred the disability to purchase the service handgun
issued or previously issued to him by the agency or institution at a price of
$1. If the previously issued weapon is no longer available, a weapon of like
kind may be substituted for that weapon. This privilege shall also extend to any
former Superintendent of State Police who leaves service after a minimum of five
years. This privilege shall also extend to any person listed in this subsection
who is eligible for retirement with at least 10 years of service who resigns on
or after July 1, 1991, in good standing from one of the agencies listed in this
section to accept a position covered by the Virginia Retirement System. Other
weapons issued by the agencies listed in this subsection for personal duty use
of an officer may, with approval of the agency head, be sold to the officer
subject to the qualifications of this section at a fair market price determined
as in subsection B, so long as the weapon is a type and configuration that can
be purchased at a regular hardware or sporting goods store by a private citizen
without restrictions other than the instant background check.

B. The agencies listed in subsection A may allow any sworn law-enforcement
officer who retires with five or more years of service, but less than 10, to
purchase the service handgun issued to him by the agency at a price equivalent
to the weapon&#8217;s fair market value on the date of the officer&#8217;s
retirement. Any sworn law-enforcement officer employed by any of the agencies
listed in subsection A who is retired for disability as a result of a
nonservice-incurred disability may purchase the service handgun issued to him by
the agency at a price equivalent to the weapon&#8217;s fair market value on the
date of the officer&#8217;s retirement. Determinations of fair market value may
be made by reference to a recognized pricing guide.

C. The agencies listed in subsection A may allow the immediate survivor of any
sworn law-enforcement officer (i) who is killed in the line of duty or (ii) who
dies in service and has at least 10 years of service to purchase the service
handgun issued to the officer by the agency at a price of $1.

D. The governing board of any institution of higher learning named in &#xA7;
23.1-1100 may allow any campus police officer appointed pursuant to Article 3
(&#xA7; 23.1-809 et seq.) of Chapter 8 of Title 23.1 who retires on or after
July 1, 1991, to purchase the service handgun issued to him at a price
equivalent to the weapon&#8217;s fair market value on the date of the
officer&#8217;s retirement. Determinations of fair market value may be made by
reference to a recognized pricing guide.

E. Any officer who at the time of his retirement is a sworn law-enforcement
officer with a state agency listed in subsection A, when the agency allows
purchases of service handguns, and who retires after 10 years of state service,
even if a portion of his service was with another state agency, may purchase the
service handgun issued to him by the agency from which he retires at a price of
$1.

F. The sheriff of Hanover County may allow any auxiliary or volunteer deputy
sheriff with a minimum of 10 years of service, upon leaving office, to purchase
for $1 the service handgun issued to him.

G. Any sheriff or local police department may allow any auxiliary
law-enforcement officer with more than 10 years of service to purchase the
service handgun issued to him by the agency at a price that is equivalent to or
less than the weapon&#8217;s fair market value on the date of purchase by the
officer.

H. The agencies listed in subsection A may allow any full-time sworn
law-enforcement officer currently employed by the agency to purchase his service
handgun, with the approval of the chief law-enforcement officer of the agency,
at a fair market price. This subsection shall only apply when the agency has
purchased new service handguns for its officers, and the handgun subject to the
sale is no longer used by the agency or officer in the course of duty.

I. The Department of State Police may allow any law-enforcement officer formerly
employed by the Department who had at least 10 years of service with the
Department and has been elected to a constitutional office to purchase his
service handgun, with the approval of the Superintendent of State Police, at a
fair market price.

HISTORY: 1989, c. 175; 1990, c. 359; 1991, c. 389; 1992, cc. 63, 83, 195; 1996,
c. 50; 1998, c. 173; 1999, c. 312; 2000, c. 391; 2002, c. 25; 2003, c. 106;
2004, c. 136; 2005, c. 168; 2006, c. 185; 2007, c. 813; 2009, cc. 289, 412;
2010, cc. 590, 864; 2011, c. 628; 2012, c. 218; 2013, c. 62; 2014, c. 225; 2015,
cc. 38, 730; 2016, cc. 196, 210, 215; 2019, c. 608; 2020, c. 958; 2022, cc. 245,
246; 2023, c. 203.