Update: 3/14/2026
SB115 has been passed by both the House and the Senate and is now on it way to the Governor. There are a couple of things that could still happen, but I’d say its a very high likelihood that that the Governor will sign it and it will become law July 1st, 2026.
What could still happen..
Option #1. Well, the governor could veto it, but I would say this is very unlikely. Coming from a Moms Demand Action supporter/volunteer and saying during her campaign that she would sign all the common sense gun laws the past Governor has veto’d that last couple of years a veto seems unlikely.
Option #2. The Govenor could not sign it and just let it sit. Well, sure.. but it would then become law July 1st, 2026 still anyway.
Option #3. The Govenor could make some suggested changes and send it back to the General Assembly for their approval before signing it and its becomes law.
So, unfortunately, you need to prepare for some major changes to the reciprocity status of a Virgina CHP over the next 6 months to a year as things play our with the Attorney Generals review of all the reciprocial state permits that Virginia residnets currently have.
Update: 3/4/2026
SB115 cleared the House Appropriatation Committee and is now headed to the House floor for a vote. The House is made up of 64 Demacrats and 36 Republican members. SB115 passed the Seante before crossover, so there is only one more step once it has been passed by the house, that being signed by Govenor Spanburger before it becomes law.
The bill removes the State Police from evauluating which states qualify for reciprocity and gives it to the Attorny General’s office.
The bill requires the Attorny General to reveiwe every state’s concealed carry permit system and determine if their laws are “substantially similar” to Virginia’s. IF they are not then Virginia would revoke reciprocity with that state.
The bill also requires states to have a system to allow instant verification of the staus of permits 24/7/365. This will affect several states without needed to review their laws for similarity.
Will this bill pass? There is a very high possibility! Having a Utah Non-Resident Concealed Firearm Permit is easiest way to bipass the effects SB115 will have on Virginia’s reciprocity as there are 27 States that overlap reciprocity with a Virginia CHP, PLUS adds 3 states that do no have reciprocity with Virginia.
1/14/2026
Why do you want or even need a Utah Non-Resident Permit? You don’t care about going to Utah…. Well, it’s not about going to Utah.
The first reason is to add additional states that it is legal to carry a firearm for self-defense. A Utah Non-Resident permit would add Delaware, Wisconsin, & Washington. More is better!
The second reason is the VA Legislature is trying to restrict reciprocity again. It’s like a flash back to 10 years ago when Mark Herring the VA Attorney General at the time tried doing this same thing. Re-examine the reciprocity agreements that Virginia had with other States to recognize each other’s permits. Mark Herring announced that there would only be 5 states that would still be recognized. States like North Carolina, out! Kentucky, out! Tennessee, out! 25 states Virginia had reciprocity with would no longer be recognized.
Thankfully, ten years ago the democrats that were attempting this didn’t have full control of both sides of the legislature, and they agreed to a compromise for other things they wanted and the Attorney General was removed from the process and Virginia started recognizing any permit issued by any state. Due to this change in the law and recognizing other states permit that we didn’t recognize previously Virginia added 5 states via reciprocity agreement to where we are now.
Unfortunately, due to the November 2025 Virginia election the side that doesn’t like firearms has control of the Senate, House, AG, Lt.Gov, & the Gov. So, they will control all the committees the bills have to pass though and enough votes to pass them. The new Governor Angela Spanburger said during her campaign that she would of signed all the “common sense gun control” that has been passed the last two years here in Virginia.
Recently, two new proposed bills have been filed for this years General Assembly. House Bill 24 & Senate Bill 115. The two proposed bills require the Superintendent of State Police, in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, to review any agreements for reciprocal recognition that are in place with any other states as of July 1, 2026, to determine whether the requirements and qualifications of those states’ laws are adequate to prevent possession of a permit or license by persons who would be denied a permit in the Commonwealth and revoke any reciprocity agreement or recognition of any states that do not meet such requirements or qualifications by December 1, 2026.
So, there will be reciprocity changes coming. Now is the time to get a Utah permit so that when these changes are made they wont affect you as much due to the overlap with Utah’s reciprocity agreements that wouldn’t be affected by Virginia making changes to their reciprocity agreements.
These 30 states recognize Utah Non-Resident permits: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
To summarize, even if Virginia no longer recognizes any other states permits you would still have 31 states that you could legally still carry in (VA + Utah’s 30 States). I would assume like 10 years ago there will be some states Virginia will still honor, the question will be how many of those states will be overlapping with Utah.