Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed legislation banning the sale and manufacture of certain semi-automatic firearms, prompting immediate lawsuits from gun rights groups.
The restrictions on “assault guns” described in the legislation are among two dozen new gun restrictions and regulations the Democratic governor has enacted in his first months in office. It marked a sharp shift in policy from her Republican predecessor, who vetoed many similar measures.
“Guns designed to cause maximum casualties do not belong on our streets,” Spanberger said in a statement 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 also have legislatures and governor’s offices fully controlled by Democrats. They also highlighted ongoing divisions across the country over gun policy, as Republican-led states have taken steps to loosen gun restrictions that they say infringe on Second Amendment rights.
More than a dozen states now target semi-automatic guns
Virginia’s new law, which takes effect July 1, makes the purchase, sale, transfer, import or manufacture of “assault firearms” a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and a $2,500 fine.
The measure defines the term to include semi-automatic rifles or handguns with a magazine capacity of more than 15 rounds. It also includes guns with other features, such as rifles that can accommodate detachable magazines with a second grip or a collapsible stock. The ban also applies to magazines holding more than 15 rounds. For most people, the mere possession of such weapons is not punishable.
Eleven other states and Washington, D.C., already have laws banning the sale and manufacture of certain semiautomatic firearms, but the specifics vary. For example, Hawaii bans certain semi-automatic handguns and high-capacity magazines, but not semi-automatic rifles.
Gun rights groups challenge Virginia law
Legal challenges emerged quickly after Spanberger signed the bill Thursday. The NRA joined other groups in filing lawsuits in federal and state courts claiming the right to bear arms was violated.
“The guns and magazines banned by this law are not strange and unusual outliers, they are among the most common guns and magazines in the country,” said Adam Kraut, executive director of the Second Amendment Foundation, which has joined the NRA in the federal lawsuit. “Peaceful Americans own tens of millions of them, and they overwhelmingly use them legally.”
The U.S. Justice Department has also vowed to sue to block enforcement of the Virginia law.
Virginia’s measure “violates the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens to possess and use AR-15 rifles for lawful purposes by criminalizing the purchase and sale of AR-15 rifles,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division wrote in an April letter to Spanberger.
Court upholds other bans on semiautomatic weapons
So far, laws restricting certain semi-automatic firearms have generally been upheld, including by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Virginia, Maryland and several other states.
The appeals court twice upheld Maryland’s law banning dozens of semiautomatic weapons, describing them in a 2024 ruling as “military-style weapons” unsuitable for self-defense. It concluded that “Maryland law is well consistent with our nation’s gun regulatory tradition.”
The U.S. Supreme Court last year declined to hear the challenge in the Maryland case. But gun rights advocates remain hopeful for a different outcome in future cases, noting that three of the nine conservative justices dissented from the decision and a fourth expressed doubts about the constitutionality of such a gun ban.
Changes in governors can lead to changes in laws
Former Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed legislation in each of the past two years that would have banned the sale of certain semi-automatic firearms.
But Youngkin’s term ended in January and Spanberger succeeded him. The transition presents a huge opportunity for gun-restriction advocates, who already have support within the Democratic-led Legislature.
Spanberger, a former CIA officer and U.S. House member, previously volunteered with Moms Demand Action, an organization founded after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that killed 26 people. The organization lists 20 percent of Virginia House Democrats as past volunteers.
“The fact that a former Moms Demand Action volunteer just signed an assault weapons ban in the NRA’s hometown speaks volumes about how dramatically the political calculus surrounding gun safety has shifted,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, the umbrella group for Moms Demand Action.
Republican states move to expand gun rights
While Virginia is tightening gun controls, many Republican-led states have been expanding gun rights.
The restrictions on semi-automatic guns were signed by Spanberger on the same day that Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature gave final approval to legislation creating a school ranger program that would allow trained volunteers to carry guns in schools.
A law signed by Spanberger last month raised the age to purchase a handgun in Virginia from 18 to 21. By contrast, Republican West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey last month signed a law lowering the age for concealing a firearm without a state permit from 21 to 18.
Another law signed by Spanberger last month opens up new grounds for lawsuits against the gun industry. That comes shortly after Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a law limiting liability lawsuits against the gun industry.
