1,900 Virginians take advantage of tax credit to encourage safe firearm storage

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – New data from the Virginia Department of Taxation shows that, during tax year 2023, 1,905 Virginians took advantage of a new tax credit designed to help offset the cost of life-saving gun storage devices like gun safes, gun locks and more.

“Easy access to firearms facilitates injury and death in those impulsive moments. In those moments of reaction without thought,” Lori Haas with the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions told 8News.

Back in 2023, the General Assembly passed a law allowing people to receive up to $300 off their taxes when purchasing a firearm safety device. Haas says gun safes and locks can help deter people looking to hurt themselves or others.

“It can help put time and distance in between perhaps a person who is acting impulsively, so many acts of violence and self-harm are impulsive acts,” said Haas.

Haas said it can help prevent tragic situations caused by kids accessing their parents’ firearms, like when a teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News was shot after a six-year-old boy brought his mother’s gun to school.

“Children don’t understand deadly consequences,” Haas said. “They just don’t understand consequences generally and certainly, they don’t have the developmental ability to grasp unjust and death as a result of using a firearm. It is imperative that parents lock up their firearms.”

The tax credit runs through 2027.

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