Virginia Pepper Spray and Stun Gun Laws (2026)

Virginia treats these two devices very differently under its Code. Tear gas and pepper spray are covered by a single narrow criminal statute that only reaches a malicious or unlawful release causing injury, and that statute expressly protects using it in self-defense. A "stun weapon" is a defined statutory term. It is named directly, as one of three enumerated items, in Virginia's school-property statute, so an ordinary adult may own and carry one, openly or concealed, outside that setting without committing Virginia's general concealed-weapons offense. Three other Virginia statutes bar an "other dangerous weapon" from courthouses, air carrier airport terminals, and certain hospitals, and a stun weapon is only one illustration of that broader, undefined term; a fourth, the place-of-worship statute, bars any "gun, pistol, bowie knife, dagger or other dangerous weapon" without naming a stun weapon at all. None of the four says whether a canister of pepper spray is or is not an "other dangerous weapon," so this page cannot tell a reader that carrying pepper spray into a Virginia courthouse falls outside the offense.

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers Virginia state law only, principally Va. Code §§ 18.2-308, 18.2-308.1, 18.2-308.2, 18.2-312, 18.2-283, 18.2-283.1, 18.2-283.3, 18.2-287.01, 18.2-309, 18.2-311, and 15.2-915. It does not cover Virginia's concealed handgun permit statutes in detail or every local ordinance.

Is pepper spray (tear gas) legal in Virginia?

Yes, for an ordinary adult. Chapter 7 of Title 18.2 sets no minimum age, no permit, and no capacity limit for possessing or carrying pepper spray or tear gas. Virginia's only statute directly on point, Va. Code § 18.2-312, does not ban possessing tear gas, mustard gas, phosgene, or "other noxious or nauseating gases"; it bans releasing one. The statute reads: "If any person maliciously release or cause or procure to be released in any private home, place of business or place of public gathering any tear gas, mustard gas, phosgene gas or other noxious or nauseating gases or mixtures of chemicals designed to, and capable of, producing vile or injurious or nauseating odors or gases, and bodily injury results to any person from such gas or odor," the offense is a Class 3 felony; "if such act be done unlawfully, but not maliciously," the same private-home, place-of-business, or place-of-public-gathering setting and the same bodily-injury result carry the offense down to a Class 6 felony. The same section then states plainly that "nothing herein contained shall prevent the use of tear gas or other gases by police officers or other peace officers in the proper performance of their duties, or by any person or persons in the protection of person, life or property," a direct, statutory self-defense carve-out.

Pepper spray does not appear in Virginia's general concealed-weapons statute, § 18.2-308(A), which enumerates specific items (handguns and similar explosive-propelled weapons, dirks, bowie knives, ballistic knives, machetes, razors, sling bows, spring sticks, metal knuckles, blackjacks, nunchaku-type flailing weapons, and throwing stars) and then adds a residual clause covering "any weapon of like kind as those enumerated in this subsection." Pepper spray is not one of the enumerated items and is not of like kind to the enumerated cutting, stabbing, and bludgeoning weapons, so an ordinary canister carried for self-defense falls outside this offense. It is likewise absent from the felon-disability statute, § 18.2-308.2, and from Virginia's minor-specific weapons statutes: § 18.2-309 (furnishing a dirk, switchblade knife, bowie knife, or handgun to a minor) and § 18.2-311 (sale or possession with intent to sell a blackjack, metal knucks, throwing star, ballistic knife, and similar items) name none of those terms for pepper spray, so Chapter 7 sets no age floor or seller restriction on it. Whether pepper spray falls within the broader "other dangerous weapon" language used in four of Virginia's place-based weapons statutes is a separate question, addressed below.

Are stun weapons legal in Virginia?

Yes, for an ordinary adult who is not a felon, with no permit required for possession or carry outside the restricted places covered below. Virginia defines "stun weapon" at Va. Code § 18.2-308.1(G) as "any device that emits a momentary or pulsed output, which is electrical, audible, optical or electromagnetic in nature and which is designed to temporarily incapacitate a person," a broad, technology-neutral definition that covers a Taser-style device as well as other electric self-defense devices. A stun weapon is not one of the enumerated items in § 18.2-308(A), Virginia's general concealed-weapons statute, and is not of like kind to that statute's enumerated cutting, stabbing, and bludgeoning weapons, so carrying one, openly or concealed, is not that offense. Virginia does, however, name and restrict "stun weapon" by statute in a school-property offense, in three other place-based statutes where it appears only as an illustration of a broader term, in a fourth place-based statute (places of worship) that does not mention it at all, and in its felon-disability law, all covered below.

Restricted places: schools, courthouses, airports, hospitals, and houses of worship

Five Virginia statutes restrict weapons in specific places, and they do not all work the same way.

• School property. Va. Code § 18.2-308.1(A) makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to knowingly possess, on the property of a child day center or a public, private, or religious preschool, elementary, middle, or high school (including buildings and grounds), at a school-sponsored function, or on a school bus, any "(i) stun weapon as defined in this section; (ii) knife, except a pocket knife having a folding metal blade of less than three inches; or (iii) weapon, including a weapon of like kind, designated in subsection A of § 18.2-308, other than a firearm." Unlike the four statutes below, this one names "stun weapon" directly as its own enumerated item, not as an illustration of a broader term. Subsection (E) opens by incorporating the exemptions in §§ 18.2-308 and 18.2-308.016 "mutatis mutandis," then lists nine of its own, (i) through (ix), covering school-curriculum use, food-service knives, school-sponsored programs, law enforcement, trade-customary knives, vehicle carry, permit holders, school security officers, and licensed armed security at a child day center or private or religious school. Two of the nine mention a stun weapon: clause (vi) lets any person keep "an unloaded firearm or a stun weapon that is in a closed container" in a vehicle with no permit, where "unloaded" grammatically modifies "firearm" and the only condition the clause puts on a stun weapon is that it be in a closed container (a term the statute defines to include a locked vehicle trunk); clause (vii) additionally lets a person with a valid concealed handgun permit possess a concealed handgun or a stun weapon while in a vehicle in a school parking lot or other means of vehicular ingress or egress. Pepper spray is not named in subsection (A) and is not a "weapon of like kind" to the § 18.2-308(A) list for the reasons given above.
• Courthouses. Va. Code § 18.2-283.1 makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to "possess in or transport into any courthouse" a "(i) gun or other weapon designed or intended to propel a missile or projectile of any kind; (ii) frame, receiver, muffler, silencer, missile, projectile, or ammunition designed for use with a dangerous weapon; or (iii) other dangerous weapon, including explosives, stun weapons as defined in § 18.2-308.1, and those weapons specified in subsection A of § 18.2-308," with exceptions for law enforcement, court officers, judges, and certain other officials acting in their official duties. Clause (iii)'s operative term is "other dangerous weapon"; "stun weapons" appears only as one example after "including." The statute does not say whether a canister of pepper spray is an "other dangerous weapon," so this page cannot tell a reader that carrying it into a Virginia courthouse falls outside the offense.
• Air carrier airport terminals. Va. Code § 18.2-287.01 uses the identical structure: it is a Class 1 misdemeanor to possess or transport into an air carrier airport terminal a firearm, the § 18.2-308(A) list, or "any other dangerous weapon, including explosives, stun weapons as defined in § 18.2-308.1"; a violating weapon is subject to seizure and forfeiture. The same limitation applies: "other dangerous weapon" is not a closed list, and the statute does not exclude pepper spray from it.
• Hospitals providing mental health or developmental services. Va. Code § 18.2-283.3(B) makes it unlawful to "knowingly and intentionally possess a (i) firearm, (ii) location-restricted knife, or (iii) other dangerous weapon, including explosives and stun weapons as defined in § 18.2-308.1," in the building of a hospital that provides mental health or developmental services in Virginia, including an emergency department. A violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor, and the weapon is subject to seizure and forfeiture to the Commonwealth. "Location-restricted knife" is defined in the statute as "a knife with a blade over three and one-half inches"; the statute does not require the blade to be fixed. Subsection (D) is a complete defense: notice of the section must be "posted conspicuously at each public entrance of any hospital," and no person may be convicted "if such notice is not posted at each such public entrance, unless such person had actual notice of the prohibitions of this section." This section is recent law (2026, cc. 1108, 1109).
• Places of worship. Va. Code § 18.2-283, in the same article as the courthouse and hospital statutes, makes it a Class 4 misdemeanor to "carry any gun, pistol, bowie knife, dagger or other dangerous weapon, without good and sufficient reason, to a place of worship while a meeting for religious purposes is being held at such place." As with the courthouse, airport, and hospital statutes, "other dangerous weapon" is not defined as a closed list, and the statute adds an internal limiting clause, "without good and sufficient reason," that the other three place-based statutes do not carry.

Virginia also imposes a stun-weapon-specific felony enhancement outside these place-based statutes: Va. Code § 18.2-57.02 makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to remove "a chemical irritant weapon or impact weapon" from a law-enforcement or correctional officer performing official duties, without the officer's permission and with intent to impede the officer, but raises the offense to a Class 6 felony "if the weapon removed or deprived in violation of this section is the officer's firearm or stun weapon."

Three federal layers apply on top of Virginia law; see the federal section below.

Felon possession

Va. Code § 18.2-308.2 makes it a Class 6 felony for a convicted felon, and for certain juveniles adjudicated delinquent of specific serious offenses, to "knowingly and intentionally possess or transport any firearm or ammunition for a firearm, any stun weapon as defined by § 18.2-308.1, or any explosive material," or to carry concealed any § 18.2-308(A) weapon. The statute carves out one exception specific to stun weapons: "such person may possess in his residence or the curtilage thereof a stun weapon as defined by § 18.2-308.1." Tear gas and pepper spray are absent from § 18.2-308.2 entirely, so this felon-disability statute does not restrict a convicted felon's possession of either.

Does Virginia preempt local pepper spray or stun weapon ordinances?

Not through the state's general local-government preemption statute, and not consistently. Va. Code § 15.2-915 bars a locality from adopting or enforcing "any ordinance, resolution, or motion ... governing the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying, storage, or transporting of firearms, ammunition, or components or combination thereof other than those expressly authorized by statute," and voids any pre-2004 local ordinance on the same subject. That preemption is scoped entirely to firearms, ammunition, and their components; it does not mention stun weapons or tear gas/pepper spray, so § 15.2-915 by itself does not bar a Virginia locality from adopting its own ordinance addressing either device. But § 18.2-287.01, the airport-terminal statute above, contains its own, separate preemption clause that is not firearms-only: "Any other statute, rule, regulation, or ordinance specifically addressing the possession or transportation of weapons in any airport in the Commonwealth shall be invalid, and this section shall control." At a Virginia airport, that clause displaces a local ordinance addressing either device.

Federal law: what it does and does not reach

No federal statute regulates a civilian's purchase or possession of pepper spray or a stun gun. Federal law matters in three places.

Federal buildings. Under 18 U.S.C. § 930(a), whoever knowingly possesses or causes to be present "a firearm or other dangerous weapon in a Federal facility (other than a Federal court facility)" faces a fine, imprisonment of up to 1 year, or both. Subsection (e) sets up to 2 years for a federal court facility, and subsection (b) up to 5 years where the weapon is intended to be used in a crime. Section 930(g)(2) defines the term:

The term "dangerous weapon" means a weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury, except that such term does not include a pocket knife with a blade of less than 2½ inches in length.

The definition names neither device. Whether a particular spray or stun gun is "readily capable of" causing serious bodily injury is a question of fact the statute does not answer. Subsection (d)(3) exempts "the lawful carrying of firearms or other dangerous weapons in a Federal facility incident to hunting or other lawful purposes," and subsection (h) requires notice of the ban to be posted at each public entrance. A "Federal facility" is "a building or part thereof owned or leased by the Federal Government, where Federal employees are regularly present for the purpose of performing their official duties."

Air travel. The Transportation Security Administration's screening rules, which are agency policy rather than statute, bar both devices from carry-on bags. One 4 fl. oz. (118 ml) container of mace or pepper spray is permitted in checked baggage if it has a safety mechanism to prevent accidental discharge, and sprays containing more than 2 percent by mass of tear gas (CS or CN) are prohibited in checked baggage. Tasers, stun guns and other electro-shock weapons may travel in checked baggage only if transported so the device cannot discharge accidentally. Airlines may set stricter rules.

National parks. National Park Service regulations prohibit possessing, carrying or using a "weapon" in a park area except as the regulations provide (36 CFR 2.4(b)(1)). 36 CFR 1.4 defines "weapon" to include an "irritant gas device" and any "weapon the possession of which is prohibited under the laws of the State in which the park area or portion thereof is located."

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about Virginia's pepper spray and stun weapon laws as of September 2026. It is not legal advice. Consult a lawyer licensed in Virginia for advice about a specific situation.

For a state-by-state comparison, see pepper spray and stun gun laws by state. Virginia's self-defense statutes are covered separately on the Virginia self-defense laws page.

Statutes cited reflect their in-force version as of 2026-09-18. Last updated: 2026-09-18.