10Glocks - can't use a .38 even for small game hunting? That sucks
Not legally.
That's what the law seems to say.
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title29.1/chapter5/section29.1-519/Code of Virginia
§ 29.1-519. Guns, pistols, revolvers, etc., which may be used; penalty.
C. In the counties west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and counties east of the Blue Ridge where rifles of a caliber larger than .22 caliber may be used for hunting wild birds and animals,
game birds and animals may be hunted with pistols or revolvers firing cartridges rated in manufacturers' tables at 350 foot pounds of energy or greater and under the same restrictions and conditions as apply to rifles, provided that no cartridge shall be used with a bullet of less than .23 caliber. In no event shall pistols or revolvers firing cartridges rated in manufacturers' tables at 350 foot pounds of energy or greater be used if rifles of a caliber larger than .22 caliber are not authorized for hunting purposes.G. The hunting of wild birds or wild animals with (i) weapons other than those authorized by this section or (ii) weapons that have been prohibited by this section is punishable as a Class 3 misdemeanor.
The above law makes no distiction between small and large game. It only states game birds and animals. According to the law, you may hunt with .22 caliber pistols for small game. If you step up above .22, it must be .23 caliber or larger AND generate at least 350 ft/lbs of enery. That leaves a gap in the legal use of pistols and revolvers. According to the law, a .38 special round generating 200 ft/bs of energy is an illegal pistol for any type of hunting except nusiance species.
And any pistol or revolver over .22 is illegal unless rifles over .22 are legal. There is no provision in the law for any pistols between .22 caliber, and pistols of .23 caliber or larger AND generating 350 ft/lbs.
It's dumb, but that's the law. And I confirmed it with a friend who is a hunter and a criminal defense attorney in northern Virginia. He's the one that pointed me to this law when I asked him if it would be legal to use a .44 magnum revolver for deer in a county that had an ordnance that says "No rifles for deer hunting." I also specifically asked if hunting with a pistol or revolver using a cartrtidge greater than .23 caliber and generating less that 350 ft/lbs is legal for small game and he told me the law isn't that ambiguous, and that paragraph G is the reason I probably don't want to chance it and argue my point in court.
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