Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger has signed legislation banning the sale and manufacture of certain semi-automatic firearms, prompting immediate lawsuits from gun rights groups.
border on ” Assault firearms“,” as the legislation described it, is among two dozen new gun restrictions and regulations enacted by the Democratic governor in her first few months in office. It represents a sharp policy reversal from her Republican predecessor, who vetoed several similar measures.
“Firearms designed to cause maximum casualties do not belong on our streets,” Spanberger said in a statement on Friday. “We are taking this step 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 states like California, Illinois and New York, which similarly have full Democratic control of their legislatures and governors’ offices. It also highlights the ongoing national divide over gun policy, as several Republican-led states have taken steps to ease restrictions on firearms that they call a violation of Second Amendment rights.
Virginia’s new law, which takes effect July 1, will make buying, selling, transferring, importing or manufacturing an “assault firearm” a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine.
This measure defines that term to include semi-automatic rifles or handguns with a magazine capacity of more than 15 rounds. It also includes firearms with other features, such as rifles capable of accepting a detachable magazine with a second handle or a folding stock. The ban also applies to magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds. For most people, there is no penalty for merely possessing such weapons.
Eleven other states and Washington, D.C., have already done so Laws prohibiting the sale of manufacture For some semi-automatic firearms, although details vary. Hawaii, for example, bans some semi-automatic handguns and high-capacity magazines, but not semi-automatic rifles.
Legal challenges came quickly after Spanberger signed the legislation Thursday. The National Rifle Association, joined by other groups, filed a lawsuit in federal and state courts, asserting that the right to bear arms had been violated.
“The firearms and magazines prohibited under this law are not exotic or extreme; they are among the most common weapons and magazines in the country,” said Adam Kraut, executive director of the Second Amendment Foundation, which joined the NRA in the federal lawsuit. “It is owned by tens of millions of peaceful Americans who overwhelmingly use it legally.”
Also the US Department of Justice He vowed to sue To prevent the application of Virginia law.
Virginia’s measure “violates the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens to enjoy and use AR-15 rifles for lawful purposes by making it a crime to buy and sell them,” Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the department’s Civil Rights Division, wrote in an April letter to Spanberger.
To date, laws restricting certain semi-automatic firearms have generally been upheld, including by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, covering Virginia, Maryland and several additional states.
The appeals court twice upheld a Maryland law banning dozens of types of semi-automatic weapons, describing them in a 2024 ruling as “military-style weapons” unsuitable for self-defense. “Maryland’s law fits comfortably within our country’s tradition of regulating firearms,” it concluded.
the Last year, the US Supreme Court refused to listen Challenge in that Maryland case. But gun rights advocates still hope for a different outcome in future cases, noting that three conservative justices on the nine-member court disagreed with the decision, and a fourth expressed doubt that such a firearms ban is constitutional.
Former Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin The objectionable legislation All of The last two years It would have banned the sale of certain semi-automatic firearms.
But Yongqin’s term ended in January and Spanberger succeeded him. This transition period has presented a tremendous opportunity for gun control advocates, who already have support within the Democratic-led Legislature.
Spanberger, a former CIA officer and member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was a former volunteer with Moms Demand Action, a group founded after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that killed 26 people in 2012. The group lists 20% of Democrats in the Virginia House of Representatives 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 how dramatically the political calculus around gun safety has shifted,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, the umbrella organization for Moms Demand Action.
While Virginia is tightening gun restrictions, several Republican-led states are expanding gun rights.
On the same day that Spanberger signed the semi-automatic firearms restrictions, Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature gave final approval to legislation creating a school marshal 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 years. By contrast, Republican West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey signed a law last month lowering the age to purchase handguns from 21 to 18 for carrying concealed weapons without a state permit.
Another law signed by Spanberger last month opens new grounds for lawsuits against the firearms industry. This came shortly after Utah Republican Governor Spencer Cox signed a law limiting liability claims against the firearms industry.