For the second time in the past week, a court has pushed the effective date of the state's looming ban on popular semi-auto firearms and their magazines.
Washington County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Campbell on Monday handed down a one-year preliminary injunction on SB749, a pending law that would have banned the sale, purchase, manufacturing and transfer of many semi-automatic firearms and magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds.
The case, Santolla v. Katz, pushes the effective date of the ban from July 1, 2026 to July 1, 2027, or until the court issues a final order.
Campbell, who was appointed to the 28th Judicial District by the Virginia General Assembly in 2023, was unpersuaded by the state's argument that the ban has a historical analogy for gun prohibition in the National Firearms Act of 1934, as none of the items the state is attempting to ban are NFA items, and therefore likely violate the guarantee of the right to keep and bear arms.
"Because the newly enacted Firearms Ban and Magazine Ban would likely run afoul of the protections of the Second Amendment with respect to the types of firearms and components the Plaintiffs possess as enunciated in both Heller and Bruen, I find that the Plaintiffs are likely to prevail on the merits of their claims," said Campbell.
A series of gun retailers backed Santolla, the Virginia Shooting Sports Foundation, and the NRA.
"This is a major victory, but our mission is not complete. We will not rest until this unconstitutional measure is struck down in its entirety and added to the long list of gun control laws the NRA has removed from the books for good," said John Commerford, NRA-ILA executive director.
The one-year injunction comes just four days after Lancaster County Circuit Judge John Martin issued a one-month injunction on the ban in the case of Crump v. Katz.
Meanwhile, the NRA, Second Amendment Foundation, and Firearms Policy Coalition have also filed a federal lawsuit, McDonald v. Katz, in the Eastern District of Virginia over SB749.
Banner image: The Patriot's Ride seen at Patriot Ordnance Factory. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
