This issue has come up several times in the past few years, and thus far, I've resisted the urge to do the research necessary to form an opinion. I finally broke down and actually thought about it and the following is my opinion; I'd be willing to argue it in court, but don't think of it as anything more than my opinion until some appellate court rules on the issue.
I've come to the conclusion that, under the Property Owner's Association Act, an HOA lacks the power to control ownership or possession of firearms, period. The reason has to do with the definition of "locality" contained within the statute. There is a clear exception for state-controlled and incarceration facilities. By the principle, "expressio unius alterius exclusio est" (the expression of one thing is the exclusion of any other), that specific reference to those facilities means that they were intended to be excluded from the operation of the statute, but no other "authority" created by law was so excluded. Since a homeowners' association is created by authority of a state statute as a local self-regulating body, it falls within the definition of an "authority" as to which the statute applies, which is clearly distinguished from "local government" by the word, "or" in the statute. (There are "authorities" that are excluded as state-controlled facilities, having to do mainly with how they're funded; e.g., the Virginia Tourism Authority.)
Moreover, as to the specific question before the body presently, the 2013 statute quoted below governing the power of a homeowners' association to regulate home-based businesses would seem to be dispositive. (However, keep in mind that the "declaration" which is the original charter for the HOA, can be amended by a process more elaborate than rule-making, requiring the recordation of documents in the Circuit Court.)
User,
Would the same logic apply to the BB Gun preemption? Shooting BB guns in plain view of others (because the damn HOA won't let you put up a privacy fence) would really upset some of those controlling B@$+@rd$!!!