59.1-148.3 - Purchase of handguns of certain officers.

§ 59.1-148.3. Purchase of handguns of certain officers.

A. The Department of State Police, the Department of Game and InlandFisheries, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the State LotteryDepartment, the Marine Resources Commission, the Capitol Police, theDepartment of Conservation and Recreation, the Department of Forestry, anysheriff, any regional jail board or authority and any local police departmentmay allow any full-time sworn law-enforcement officer, deputy, or regionaljail officer, a local fire department may allow any full-time sworn firemarshal, the Department of Motor Vehicles may allow any law-enforcementofficer, and any institution of higher learning named in § 23-14 may allowany campus police officer appointed pursuant to Chapter 17 (§ 23-232 et seq.)of Title 23, retiring on or after July 1, 1991, who retires (i) after atleast 20 years of service, (ii) at 70 years of age or older after at least 10years of service, or (iii) as a result of a service-incurred disability orwho is receiving long-term disability payments for a service-incurreddisability with no expectation of returning to the employment where heincurred the disability to purchase the service handgun issued to him by theagency or institution at a price of $1. This privilege shall also extend toany former Superintendent of the Department of State Police who leavesservice after a minimum of five years. This privilege shall also extend toany person listed above who is eligible for retirement with at least 20 yearsof service who resigns on or after July 1, 1991, in good standing from one ofthe agencies listed above to accept a position covered by the VirginiaRetirement System. Other weapons issued by the Department of State Police forpersonal duty use of an officer, may, with approval of the Superintendent, besold to the officer subject to the qualifications of this section at a fairmarket price determined as in subsection B, so long as the weapon is a typeand configuration that can be purchased at a regular hardware or sportinggoods store by a private citizen without restrictions other than the instantbackground check.

B. The agencies listed above may allow any full-time sworn law-enforcementofficer who retires with 10 or more years of service, but less than 20, topurchase the service handgun issued to him by the agency at a priceequivalent to the weapon's fair market value on the date of the officer'sretirement. Any full-time sworn law-enforcement officer employed by any ofthe agencies listed above who is retired for disability as a result of anonservice-incurred disability may purchase the service handgun issued to himby the agency at a price equivalent to the weapon's fair market value on thedate of the officer's retirement. Determinations of fair market value may bemade by reference to a recognized pricing guide.

C. The agencies listed above may allow the immediate survivor of anyfull-time sworn law-enforcement officer (i) who is killed in the line of dutyor (ii) who dies in service and has at least 20 years of service to purchasethe service handgun issued to the officer by the agency at a price of $1.

D. The governing board of any institution of higher learning named in § 23-14may allow any campus police officer appointed pursuant to Chapter 17 (§23-232 et seq.) of Title 23 who retires on or after July 1, 1991, to purchasethe service handgun issued to him at a price equivalent to the weapon's fairmarket value on the date of the officer's retirement. Determinations of fairmarket value may be made by reference to a recognized pricing guide.

E. The Department of State Police may allow any full-time sworn state policelaw-enforcement officer who retires as a result of a service-incurreddisability and who was on disability leave at the time the Department issued10-mm semiautomatic handguns to its officers to purchase one of the 10-mmsemiautomatic handguns used by the Department of State Police at a price of$1.

F. Any officer who at the time of his retirement is a full-time swornlaw-enforcement officer with a state agency listed in subsection A and whoretires after 20 years of state service, even if a portion of his service waswith another state agency, may purchase the service handgun issued to him bythe agency from which he retires at a price of $1.

G. The sheriff of Hanover County may allow any auxiliary or volunteer deputysheriff with a minimum of 15 years of service, upon leaving office, topurchase for $1 the service handgun issued to him.

H. Any sheriff or local police department, in accordance with writtenauthorization or approval from the local governing body, may allow anyauxiliary law-enforcement officer with more than 20 years of service topurchase the service handgun issued to him by the agency at a price that isequivalent to or less than the weapon's fair market value on the date ofpurchase by the officer.

I. The agencies listed in subsection A may allow any full-time swornlaw-enforcement officer currently employed by the agency to purchase hisservice handgun, with the approval of the chief law-enforcement officer ofthe agency, at a fair market price. This subsection shall only apply when theagency has purchased new service handguns for its officers, and the handgunsubject to the sale is no longer used by the agency or officer in the courseof duty.

(1989, c. 175; 1990, c. 359; 1991, c. 389; 1992, cc. 63, 83, 195; 1996, c.50; 1998, c. 173; 1999, c. 312; 2000, c. 391; 2002, c. 25; 2003, c. 106;2004, c. 136; 2005, c. 168; 2006, c. 185; 2007, c. 813; 2009, cc. 289, 412;2010, cc. 590, 864.)