GOA and VCDL Win Block on Virginia 'Assault Weapons' Ban Days Before July 1

The announcement landed hours before Richmond's July 1 deadline, when SB 749 and HB 217 were set to outlaw future sales, transfers, imports, and manufacture of firearms Virginia labels "assault firearms," plus magazines holding more than 15 rounds. SB 727 adds new public-carry restrictions on covered guns.

Plaintiffs John Crump, Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation, VCDL, and the Virginia Citizens Defense Foundation sued May 15 in Lancaster County Circuit Court — one day after Spanberger signed the ban. They argue Article I, Section 13 of the Virginia Constitution protects the same arms millions of Americans already own, and that Richmond cannot turn AR-15-pattern rifles and standard-capacity magazines into contraband through feature tests and political labels.

The case sat in procedural limbo for weeks. Judge John S. Martin stayed proceedings while a three-judge Virginia Supreme Court panel weighed consolidating five parallel challenges. GOA petitioned the high court for mandamus after a June 12 injunction hearing was pulled from the calendar. Plaintiffs then pushed to reinstate emergency briefing before the ban clock ran out.

On June 25, Gun Owners of America announced that the court granted a preliminary injunction preventing VSP from enforcing the ban during litigation. If the order holds, dealers and gun owners get breathing room on acquisition and transfer — at least until a merits ruling or appeal.

Virginia's fight is now split-screen. The same week, Attorney General Jay Jones won dissolution of a separate Lynchburg injunction that had blocked universal background checks on private sales — restoring those checks July 1 in Wilson v. Katz. Gun-rights groups called that a setback on the UBC front even as GOA and VCDL celebrated the assault-ban block.

Five lawsuits still target Spanberger's package: federal McDonald v. Katz, NRA-backed Santolla v. Katz, industry-backed Black v. Hook, and Ken Cuccinelli's militia-clause Curtis v. Katz — where a Spotsylvania judge already denied emergency relief June 18.

For Virginia gun owners: watch for a written order, confirm whether the injunction covers only VSP or sweeps local enforcement, and assume Richmond will appeal. July 1 is still a hard date for other provisions unless courts widen the block.