Esteban v. Commonwealth

SENIOR JUSTICE COMPTON

delivered the opinion of the Court.

The dispositive question in this criminal appeal is whether the statute proscribing possession of a firearm on school property is one of strict criminal liability, or whether proof of mens rea or scienter is required to support a conviction for its violation.

Code § 18.2-308.1(B), as pertinent here, provides that “[i]f any person possesses any firearm designed or intended to expel a projectile . . . while such person is upon . . . any public . . . elementary . . . school, including buildings and grounds, ... he shall be guilty of a Class…