Warner and Kaine Introduce Legislation to Safeguard Americans from the Scourge of Gun Violence

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, on the 19th anniversary of the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) introduced the Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence Act, legislation to enact at the federal level a series of commonsense gun violence prevention measures approved by Virginia's elected officials. The bill includes provisions to mandate reporting of lost and stolen firearms, prevent children from accessing firearms, prohibit the sale of assault weapons, prohibit ghost guns, and implement a one-handgun-a-month policy.

"Nineteen years ago today, 32 people were tragically killed at Virginia Tech in a senseless act of violence. I was Governor of Virginia at the time, and my memories of the grieving families, friends, and Hokie community will stay with me forever. I'm proud of the Commonwealth's leadership in taking steps to keep Virginians safe and prevent future tragedies in the years since," said Kaine. "Far too many communities throughout the United States have been shattered by gun violence just as Blacksburg was. That's why I'm introducing legislation to build on our progress and implement our strategies on the national level. We must build a world where everyone can go to school, work, their place of worship, a grocery store, or a festival without the fear of gun violence."

"On the 19^th anniversary of Virginia's deadliest mass shooting, I'm joining my friend Sen. Kaine in introducing the Virginia Plan," said Warner. "Too many families across the country have experienced gun violence. I am proud of the Commonwealth for leading the way in implementing commonsense gun reforms, and it's time for the country to follow."

The Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence Act of 2026 would build on Virginia's commonsense framework to reduce gun violence through the following provisions:

1. One-Handgun-a-Month: Limits purchases of handguns to one per month to curtail the stockpiling and trafficking of firearms, promoting domestic and international security.
2. Reporting of Lost or Stolen Firearms: Requires gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms to the appropriate state or local law enforcement agency within 48 hours. State and local law enforcement agencies would be directed to report the collected data to the FBI's National Crime Information Center.
3. Preventing Firearm Access to Minors: Promotes responsible gun ownership and safe storage practices by holding individuals liable for leaving a loaded, unsecured gun in a place a minor could access it. This will prevent the most common cause of accidental shooting deaths among children.
4. Protection Order Prohibitions: Strengthens safeguards for victims of domestic violence by closing the "boyfriend loophole," which currently allows abusive non-spousal partners to possess firearms, and expands firearm laws to prohibit persons convicted of stalking or subject to a domestic violence restraining order from possessing firearms.
5. Extreme Risk Protection Orders: Establishes a federal extreme risk protection order process to temporarily remove firearms from individuals who pose a high risk of harming themselves or others and incentivizes states to implement their own extreme risk protection laws and court protocols.
6. Lucia's Law: Establishes criminal liability for a caregiver who gives a child in their care access to a firearm when they are aware that the child is a danger to themselves or others.
7. Assault Weapons Sale Prohibition: Prohibits the sale, manufacture, and importation of assault weapons.
8. Assault Weapons Age Restriction: Prohibits the possession of assault weapons by someone under the age of 18, with exceptions if the child is under the supervision of a parent, grandparent, or legal guardian, or participating in an educational or training program.
9. Prohibition of Ghost Guns: Bans the purchase, sale, importation, or possession of complete or incomplete firearms without a serial number and anyone enabling someone to create such a firearm. Updates the definition of an "Undetectable Firearm" so the definition covers firearms that are not detected by machines commonly used at airports, government buildings, schools, correctional facilities, and other locations for security screening.
10. Secure Storage of Firearms in Unattended Vehicles: Requires gun owners to securely store a handgun if it is left in an unattended vehicle. Every nine minutes, a firearm is stolen from an unattended vehicle.
11. Domestic Violence Firearms Relinquishment: Creates a grant program incentivizing states to establish a process to confirm that any firearms possessed by someone newly prohibited from possessing a firearms because they were convicted of a misdemeanor of domestic violence or they are subject to a domestic violence restraining order is no longer in that individual's possession, because it was transferred to someone who can legally possess the firearm, or it was removed by law enforcement.
12. Prohibition on Firearms in or near Hospital and Mental Health Services Facilities: Creates a "Mental Healthcare Facility Zone" similar to current gun-free school zones, prohibiting the possession of a firearm within 1000 feet of a hospital or mental health facility that provides mental health services or developmental services.
13. Enhances Safety at Public Higher Education Institutions: Prohibits the possession of firearms in public college & university buildings unless the firearm is being used for an approved educational purpose or in support of public safety.

Warner and Kaine have long supported gun safety measures to diminish gun violence. In 2025, the senators reintroduced the Assault Weapons Ban of 2025, legislation that would revive the 1994 nationwide ban on assault weapons two decades after the original ban expired in 2004. In 2022, Warner and Kaine helped pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, legislation that contains many provisions of the Virginia Plan, including improving background checks, strengthening safeguards for victims of domestic violence, and incentivizing states to implement their own Extreme Risk Protection Orders to remove firearms from individuals who pose a high risk of harming themselves or others.

Full bill text is available here.

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