Can a Virginia volunteer fire department ban a member from carrying a firearm at the firehouse, even if the member is a retired cop with a statutory exception to the concealed-carry ban?

Plain-English summary

Senator Richard Black asked about a specific scenario. A volunteer fire department's bylaws restricted members from carrying firearms on the department's property. One of the members was a qualified retired law enforcement officer, who under Va. Code § 18.2-308(B)(7) is "excepted" from the state's general concealed-handgun prohibition. Did the statutory exception override the volunteer department's internal rule?

The AG said no. The statutory exception and the volunteer bylaw operate on different planes.

Section 18.2-308(A) generally makes it a misdemeanor to carry a concealed handgun without a permit. Subsection (B)(7) is one of several carve-outs from that prohibition; it exempts qualified retired law-enforcement officers. The carve-out's only function is to exempt them from prosecution under § 18.2-308(A). It does not create a generalized right to carry firearms in any location.

A volunteer fire department, the AG explained, is a separate voluntary organization. Its bylaws are private rules governing the conduct of its members on its property. The rule against firearms doesn't criminalize anything; it just makes firearm-carry inconsistent with membership. The only sanction the department can impose is expulsion. That's the same kind of restriction any private workplace, private club, or other voluntary organization could impose.

The AG cited two parallel legal points to bolster the conclusion:

1. Localities can't restrict otherwise-lawful firearm possession by ordinance. Va. Code § 15.2-915 broadly preempts local firearms regulation. But § 15.2-915(A) preserves the locality's authority to restrict firearms "as a term and condition of employment." That's relevant by analogy: even when state law preempts most local regulation, employer-style restrictions survive.

2. Volunteer firefighters can be treated as employees for some purposes. Va. Code § 65.2-101's definition of "Employee" includes volunteer firefighters for workers' compensation purposes. The AG noted that this status, in some contexts, would itself authorize an employer (or employer-like organization) to restrict firearms as a term of service. But the AG didn't need to reach that question because the volunteer department's restriction was adopted by the volunteer association itself, not by the locality acting as employer.

3. Volunteer fire departments are corporations with bylaw authority. Va. Code § 27-7 allows the locality to empower fire/EMS departments to enact by-laws. The Fairfax Volunteer Fire Department, mentioned in a footnote, was incorporated in 1928 and operated as a separate corporate entity. Its internal rules are corporate rules.

The opinion is careful about its limits. It does not address whether the restriction is wise policy. It does not address whether a volunteer firefighter classified as a locality "employee" under § 65.2-101 could be subject to local government workplace rules on firearms. It does not address constitutional Second Amendment claims against the restriction. The narrow holding is statutory: § 18.2-308(B)(7) doesn't override the voluntary organization's bylaws.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2013. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Virginia firearms law has been substantially amended since 2013, including changes to § 18.2-308 and the addition of Va. Code § 18.2-308.01 through § 18.2-308.014 for concealed handgun permits. Anyone facing a real concealed-carry question should look at current statutes.

Common questions

What does § 18.2-308(B)(7) do?
It exempts qualified retired law-enforcement officers from the prohibition on carrying a concealed handgun without a permit. Other subsections of § 18.2-308(B) exempt active law enforcement, judges, certain prosecutors, military personnel performing official duties, and several other categories. None of these exceptions creates an affirmative right to carry; they only protect against criminal prosecution under the same statute.

What's the difference between "exception" and "right"?
A "right" is an affirmative entitlement that constrains others (the government, employers, private actors) from interfering. An "exception" to a criminal statute is just an exemption from prosecution. A retired officer's § 18.2-308(B)(7) exception means the Commonwealth can't charge him with concealed carry; it doesn't mean private actors can't ask him to disarm or leave.

Can a private restaurant ask a permit holder to leave if they're armed?
The AG opinion doesn't directly address that, but the logic extends: private property owners can set their own rules on their property. Refusing to leave when asked could turn into trespass.

What about Virginia's preemption statute?
Va. Code § 15.2-915 preempts most local government regulation of firearms but expressly carves out employment-related restrictions. The 2013 opinion didn't need to reach the question of whether the volunteer department's bylaws qualified as "employment" restrictions because the department itself, as a private corporation, adopted the rules under its own corporate authority.

What if the locality is the entity adopting the rule?
That's a harder question the AG flagged but didn't decide. Volunteer firefighters are classified as "employees" of localities for workers' compensation under § 65.2-101. If they're treated as employees for general purposes, then § 15.2-915(A)'s carve-out for employment-related firearm restrictions would apply, and the locality could impose a restriction directly. The AG said this would require additional facts.

Are bylaw violations enforceable in court?
Generally no, beyond the expulsion remedy the bylaws themselves authorize. The AG's analysis turns precisely on this point: the volunteer department can expel a member who violates the firearms restriction, but it can't criminally prosecute the member, and the member's continued possession isn't itself illegal. The bylaw is enforceable as a membership rule, not as a public-law restriction.

Background and statutory framework

The statutes in play:

• Va. Code § 18.2-308(A): prohibits carrying a concealed handgun without a permit (misdemeanor).
• Va. Code § 18.2-308(B)(7): exempts qualified retired law-enforcement officers.
• Va. Code § 15.2-915: state firearms preemption, with carve-out for terms and conditions of employment.
• Va. Code § 65.2-101: defines "employee" for workers' compensation purposes, includes volunteer firefighters under part (1) of the definition.
• Va. Code § 27-7: allows locality to empower fire/EMS departments to enact bylaws.
• Va. Code § 27-23.6(B): localities may use a combination of paid and volunteer firefighters.

The interpretive principle: when a statute creates an exception to a prohibition, the exception is read narrowly to do only what the statute says. The exception in § 18.2-308(B)(7) does just one thing (insulate from prosecution under § 18.2-308); it doesn't sprout into a broader carry right against private parties or employers.

Citations

• Va. Code § 18.2-308
• Va. Code § 15.2-915
• Va. Code § 65.2-101
• Va. Code § 27-7
• City of Va. Beach v. Bd. of Supvrs., 246 Va. 233, 435 S.E.2d 382 (1993)
• Grant v. Commonwealth, 223 Va. 680, 292 S.E.2d 348 (1982)
• 1998 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 55
• 2002 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 140
• 2010 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 56

Source

• Landing page: https://www.oag.state.va.us/annual-reports-opinions/official-opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.oag.state.va.us/files/Opinions/2013/13-005_Black.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA
Office of the Attorney General
Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II
Attorney General

900 East Main Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
804-786-2071
FAX 804-786-1991
Virginia Relay Services
800-828-1120
7-1-1

October 11, 2013

The Honorable Richard H. Black
Member, Senate of Virginia
Post Office Box 3026
Leesburg, Virginia 20177

Dear Senator Black:

I am responding to your request for an official advisory opinion in accordance with § 2.2-505 of the Code of Virginia.

Issue Presented

You inquire regarding the authority of a volunteer fire department to enforce a restriction on the ability of its members to carry or possess a firearm on its property when the individual is excepted from the general prohibition on carrying a concealed handgun under the terms of § 18.2-308 of the Code of Virginia.

Response

It is my opinion that an individual excepted from the concealed handgun prohibition found in § 18.2-308 may be restricted from carrying a weapon through voluntary membership in an organization that restricts the carrying of firearms by members while on the organization's property.

Applicable Law and Discussion

Pursuant to § 18.2-308(B)(7), qualified retired law enforcement officers are excepted from the prohibition found in § 18.2-308(A) with respect to carrying a concealed handgun.[1] Carrying certain weapons while concealed is a misdemeanor and those excepted from the prohibition are merely exempt from prosecution for what would otherwise be an illegal act under § 18.2-308(A). "An important principle of statutory construction is that 'words in a statute are to be construed according to their ordinary meaning, given the context in which they are used.'"[2] Subsection 18.2-308(B)(7) does not operate to provide a retired law enforcement officer the right to carry a firearm in all circumstances; the plain reading of the statute merely operates as an exception to the general prohibition against concealed carry of a handgun contained in § 18.2-308(A).

Localities generally are restricted from adopting local ordinances, resolutions or motions that restrict the otherwise lawful possession of firearms.[3] With that broad prohibition in mind, localities retain the authority to restrict carrying and possession of firearms as a term and condition of employment.[4] Your inquiry, however, does not relate to the adoption of a restriction on a paid career firefighter as a term or condition of employment, but is limited to the enforcement of the restriction of volunteer firefighters in a volunteer association by the by-laws of the organization.[5] It applies to members only while on the organization's property. In the instance you describe, the workplace rule was not adopted by the locality. It was adopted as a by-law by a volunteer firefighting corporation, and is consistent with lawful restrictions that may be imposed on career firefighters.[6][7]

The restriction imposed under the by-law you have provided is limited in scope and does not implicate the ability to possess a concealed firearm pursuant to § 18.2-308(A) or the exceptions and exemptions thereto. The prescribed sanction is restricted to expulsion from the volunteer entity and does not criminalize otherwise lawful behavior.[8] Thus, I necessarily conclude that it comports with Virginia law.

Conclusion

Accordingly, it is my opinion that an individual excepted from the concealed handgun prohibition found in § 18.2-308 may be restricted from carrying a weapon through voluntary membership in an organization that restricts the carrying of firearms by members while on the organization's property.

With kindest regards, I am

Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II
Attorney General

[1] Prior opinions of this Office have addressed various aspects of § 18.2-308 of the Code of Virginia, including the operation of subsection (B)(7), but they have not addressed the scope of authority for the retired law enforcement officer to carry a concealed firearm pursuant to the exception from a permit. See generally 1998 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 55 (discussing the requirements for the proof of consultation provision found in § 18.2-308(B)(8) (1998), subsequently renumbered as subsection (B)(7)). See also 2002 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 140 (discussing the status of a sheriff as the chief law-enforcement officer for retired deputies).

[2] City of Va. Beach v. Bd. of Supvrs., 246 Va. 233, 435 S.E.2d 382, 384 (1993) (quoting Grant v. Commonwealth, 223 Va. 680, 684, 292 S.E.2d 348, 350 (1982)).

[3] See Va. Code Ann. § 15.2-915(A) (2012).

[4] Id. In certain instances, the Code of Virginia classifies volunteer firefighters as employees of a locality. See Va. Code Ann. § 65.2-101 (2012) (addressing, in subpart (1) of the definition of "Employee," the classification of volunteer firefighters for purposes of workers' compensation). Classification of a volunteer firefighter as an employee would be dispositive of the concerns addressed in your inquiry, as the restriction of carrying a firearm as a term or condition of employment by an employee is clearly permissible by the locality or local government entity. See Va. Code Ann. § 15.2-915(A) (2012). This opinion need not reach such a conclusion to address the inquiry fully and such a determination would require additional facts. The Attorney General "refrain[s] from commenting on matters that require additional facts[.]" 2010 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 56, 58.

[5] Va. Code Ann. § 27-23.6(B) (2011) provides for a locality to use a combination of paid government-employed personnel and volunteer firefighters.

[6] The Virginia State Corporation Commission reports that Fairfax Volunteer Fire Department was originally certified in 1928 and currently maintains an active registration as a Virginia corporation.

[7] Va. Code Ann. § 27-7 (2011) allows the locality to empower fire/EMS departments to enact by-laws.

[8] This opinion does not address the wisdom of adoption of such a policy by a volunteer membership organization.