Virginia Democrats are still playing their gun control cards close to the vest, with just two firearm-related bills pre-filed for the 2026 session. We know that many more are coming, though. State Sen. Creigh Deeds has told reporters that he and colleagues are meeting to hash out language in a bill to ban modern sporting rifles, while State Sen. Scott Surovell has indicated that a permit-to-purchase bill is being drafted as well.
Today, State Sen. Jennifer Boysko announced her plans to introduce a bill mandating gun storage measures for Virginia gun owners, though her op-ed co-authored with Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions Director of Clinical Programs and Practice Dr. Katherine Hoops is awfully light on specifics and heavy on emotional rhetoric.
We know easy access to firearms by children is a problem. More than 15% of surveyed Virginia high school students said they could access and use a loaded firearm without parental permission in less than 10 minutes, and more than 30% said it would take them less than a day. But we also know policy can help change behaviors. Comprehensive safe gun storage laws provide adequate safety guidelines to lower the risk of harm. They are based on a core tenet of injury prevention: separating at-risk individuals — like children and teenagers — from potential sources of harm can prevent injury.
Today, Virginia’s law is ambivalent and incomplete. It provides a penalty for recklessly leaving a loaded, unsecured gun in a way that endangers a child under 14, but does not require that firearms be locked up when children are present and says nothing about unloaded guns with ammunition nearby for teens ages 14-18, a vulnerable population at risk of impulsive behaviors that can lead to suicide. If this is the state’s first defense, Virginia is in trouble. The state can and must strengthen the policy to save lives.
Virginia law is hardly ambivalent. Deja Taylor, who allowed her six-year-old to access her handgun and bring it to school, where he shot his teacher, was sentenced to two years in state prison after pleading guilty to felony charges of child neglect. That’s more than the 21 months in federal prison she received after pleading guilty to possessing a firearm as an “unlawful” user of marijuana.
It’s true that Virginia law is silent about leaving guns locked up when children are present, but that’s because Virginia law strikes a common sense balance between demanding parents act responsibly with firearms and micromanaging how they do so. If Boysko follows the recommendations of the Bloomberg-funded Center for Gun Violence Solutions, her bill will likely require all firearms to be stored unloaded and under lock and key unless they’re under the direct control of their owner. That mandate not only makes it incredibly difficult to access a firearm for self-defense in many circumstances (most of us don’t sleep or shower with a gun on our hip, for instance), but it deprives parents of the choice to let their children have access to a firearm if the parent believes they are responsible enough to use one if absolutely necessary.
Defensive gun uses involving juveniles are fairly uncommon, but they’re not unheard of. In fact, eight years ago a Spotsylvania County, Virginia teen was able to defend his mother from a violent assault by her boyfriend because he was able to access her firearm.
There is no one-size-fits-all policy or practice when it comes to firearm storage, and parents should have the ability to decide for themselves how best to do so. Young kids certainly don’t need to be able to access a loaded handgun, but there are plenty of teens across the state, particularly in rural areas, who’ve been brought up to be safe and responsible with firearms. If their parents believe that they should be able to access a gun for self-defense or defense of their family, that should be their decision.
As for the survey results Bosyko and Hoops use as evidence the state needs more restrictions on gun storage, it should be noted that the question posed to high school students didn’t ask where those teens could get access to a firearm. In fact, the questions specifically states “the gun could be yours or someone else’s and it could be located in your home or car or someone else’s home or car.”
The same survey, incidentally, found that 33% of high school students who were surveyed have used alcohol. Would Boyko and Hoops suggest a law requiring parents keep their liquor and beer locked up? Another 19% say they’ve used marijuana, a product that is explicitly off-limits to juveniles under Virginia law.
As a gun-owning parent, I’m a firm believer in responsible gun storage. But that’s not what Boyko and Hoops are calling for, and that’s not what her legislation is going to look like. Instead it will be a heavy-handed mandate that leaves parents with no room to make informed judgements of their own, and threatens them with criminal penalties if they allow any of their minor children access to a firearm, no matter how responsible and well-trained they might be.
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