Avoiding Illegal Activities

Under Virginia Code Sections 18.2-279, 280, 282, and 286, it is illegal to:

• Discharge a firearm inside a building that is occupied by one or more persons in a way that endangers the life of those persons or…
• Shoot at a residence or other building that is occupied by one or more persons in a way that puts the lives of those persons in peril or…
• Discharge a firearm in public places, including on any street in a city or town; in any place of public business; in any place of public gathering; in the buildings and grounds of any public, private, or religious elementary, middle, or high school; and within 1,000 feet of the buildings and grounds of any public, private, or religious elementary, middle, or high school or…
• Point, hold, or brandish a firearm in way that reasonably induces fear in the mind of another person or…
• Hold a firearm in a public place in a way that reasonably induces in the mind of another person a fear of being shot or injured or…
• Discharge a firearm in or across any road or its right-of-way, or in a street in any city or town or…
• Discharge a firearm from a motor vehicle in a way that creates the risk of injury or death of another person or that causes another person to reasonably fear being injured or killed.