New Virginia law banning `assault firearms’ prompts quick lawsuits from gun-rights groups
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed a law banning the sale and manufacture of certain semi-automatic firearms, prompting immediate lawsuits from gun rights groups.
The limits on “assault firearms,” as described by the legislation, are among two dozen new gun restrictions and regulations enacted by the Democratic governor in his first months in office. This marks a radical policy reversal from his Republican predecessor, who vetoed many similar measures.
“Guns designed to inflict maximum casualties have no place on our streets,” Spanberger said in a statement Friday. “We are taking this action to protect families and support law enforcement officers who work every day to keep our communities safe.”
The new gun restrictions bring Virginia closer to places like California, Illinois and New York, which also have full Democratic control of their legislatures and governors’ offices. They also highlight a lingering national divide over gun policy, as various Republican-led states have taken steps to ease gun restrictions, which they describe as a violation of Second Amendment rights.
Virginia’s new law, which takes effect July 1, will make it a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison and a $2,500 fine, to buy, sell, transfer, import or manufacture an “assault firearm.”
The measure defines this term to include semi-automatic rifles or pistols having a magazine capacity greater than 15 rounds. It also includes firearms with other features, such as rifles capable of accepting a detachable magazine that has a second grip or a collapsible stock. The ban also applies to magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds. For most people, simple possession of such weapons is not punishable.
Eleven other states and Washington DC already have laws banning the sale and manufacture of certain semi-automatic firearms, although details vary. Hawaii, for example, bans certain semi-automatic pistols and high-capacity magazines, but not semi-automatic rifles.
The legal challenges came quickly after Spanberger signed the bill Thursday. The National Rifle Association, joined by other groups, filed a lawsuit in federal and state courts, claiming violations of the right to bear arms.
“The firearms and magazines banned by this law are not unusual outliers, they are among the most common firearms and magazines in the country,” said Adam Kraut, executive director of the Second Amendment Foundation, which joined the NRA in the federal lawsuit. “They are owned by tens of millions of peaceful Americans who use them largely legally.”
The U.S. Department of Justice also vowed to take legal action to prevent Virginia’s law from being enforced.
Virginia’s measure “would infringe on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens to enjoy and use AR-15 rifles for lawful purposes by making their purchase and sale a felony,” Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general in the department’s civil rights division, wrote in an April letter to Spanberger.
So far, laws restricting certain semiautomatic firearms have generally been upheld, including by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Virginia, Maryland and several other states.
This appeals court has twice upheld a Maryland law banning dozens of types of semiautomatic weapons, calling them in a 2024 ruling “military-style weapons” ill-suited for self-defense. It concluded that “Maryland’s law fits well into the nation’s tradition of gun regulation.”
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge in that Maryland case. But gun rights advocates remain hopeful for a different outcome in future cases, noting that three conservative justices on the nine-member court disagreed with the ruling and a fourth expressed skepticism about the constitutionality of such gun bans.
For the past two years, former Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed legislation that would have banned the sale of certain semi-automatic firearms.
But Youngkin’s term ended in January and Spanberger succeeded him. The transition presented a huge opportunity for supporters of gun restrictions, who already had support in the Democratic-led Legislature.
Spanberger, a former CIA officer and member of the U.S. House of Representatives, previously volunteered with Moms Demand Action, a group founded after a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut left 26 people dead in 2012. The group cites 20 percent of Virginia House Democrats as its former volunteers.
“The fact that a former Moms Demand Action volunteer just signed an assault weapons ban in the NRA’s home state speaks volumes about the sea change in the political calculus around gun safety,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, the umbrella organization for Moms Demand Action.
As Virginia tightens gun regulations, many Republican-led states have expanded gun rights.
On the same day that Spanberger signed the restrictions on semiautomatic firearms, the Missouri Republican Legislature gave final approval to legislation creating a school guard program that could allow trained volunteers to carry firearms in schools.
A law signed by Spanberger last month raised the age to purchase a handgun in Virginia from 18 to 21. In contrast, West Virginia Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed a law last month lowering the age for carrying concealed weapons without a state permit from 21 to 18.
Another law Spanberger signed last month opens new ground for lawsuits against the gun industry. This happened shortly after Utah’s Republican governor, Spencer Cox, signed a law limiting liability lawsuits against the gun industry.
