Virginia House Delegate Jason Ballard (R-Pearisburg) introduced legislation last Wednesday that could allow state law enforcement to apply an existing law against those who engage in “swatting,” a slang term for making a false police report to compel an intense police response, typically involving a SWAT team, to a specific address.
House Bill 1583 would amend and reenact the portion of Virginia code specifying bomb threats are a Class 5 felony to include threats, whether real or false, to “discharge a firearm within or at” any location where it is already illegal to call a bomb threat. It also would change the law to make such threats a Class 1 misdemeanor for offenders under 18.
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