With what seems like the inevitable signing of one of the worst gun bans in the country, the firearms community is pushing back against Virginia’s move away from Second Amendment rights.
The Virginia state legislature passed a slew of anti-gun bills this week, which include a ban on common semi-auto firearms, standard-capacity magazines, possession of common firearms on public property, and regulations directly targeting businesses within the gun industry.
In a scathing rebuke against the passage of bills like SB749, which on its own criminalizes the import, sale, manufacture, purchase, and transfer of so-called “assault firearms” and magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds, the Firearms Policy Coalition President Brandon Combs stated:
"Instead of upholding the rights of Virginians, tyrants in Richmond have voted to gut the Constitution and turn peaceable gun owners into felons. FPC has been preparing a federal lawsuit to challenge this immoral ban on constitutionally protected firearms and magazines. We will not hesitate to sue to defend Virginians against their authoritarian government if Governor Abigail Spanberger signs this anti-gun bill into law."
Others in the pro-Second Amendment community similarly championed challenges to the new laws in the state that birthed George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.
The NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action sounded a similar call to action, stating, “It’s critical that NRA members and Second Amendment supporters contact the Governor today and urge her veto of these extreme anti-gun measures!”
Should the state’s governor sign the new measures, which seems to be a certainty, they will go into effect on July 1, 2026 – just in time to darkly ring in the nation’s 250th birthday. It’s a particularly tragicomic move for a state boasting the official motto “Sic Semper Tyrannis” (Latin for “thus always to tyrants”).
You can expect many onerous challenges to the new restrictions, with pro-2A groups like Gun Owners of America stating, “Make no mistake, this bill will trigger lawsuits resulting in years of expensive litigation for Virginia taxpayers, who will be forced to fund the Commonwealth’s legal defense of obviously infringing legislation.”
