Virginia Joins the Assault Weapons Ban Club — And Gets Sued Immediately

Governor Abigail Spanberger signed SB 749 into law on May 14, 2026. The law takes effect July 1. That's a six-week window — and gun-rights groups are already in court trying to stop it.

The new law makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to buy, sell, transfer, import, or manufacture an "assault firearm." Penalty: up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine, according to the Associated Press via NBC4 Washington. A second offense strips you of the right to possess ANY firearm for three years.

The law covers semi-automatic rifles and pistols with magazines over 15 rounds, plus rifles that accept detachable magazines AND have a second handgrip or collapsible stock. The magazine ban is standalone — the hardware and the feeding device are both prohibited.

What Spanberger Said — And What She Left Out

"Firearms designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong on our streets," Spanberger said in a statement Friday.

When signing the bill, Spanberger acknowledged she had asked for an amendment that would carve out firearms "frequently used for hunting" — and the legislature refused to include it, according to Reason/Volokh Conspiracy.

The Virginia Constitution explicitly protects the right to hunt. By admitting that commonly hunted firearms are swept up in the ban, Spanberger handed litigants an argument grounded in state constitutional protections.

The same firearms are also widely used for training, target shooting, and home defense. The Supreme Court has stated those uses are protected.

The Supreme Court Already Weighed In

Justice Elena Kagan — writing for an 8-1 Supreme Court in Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos (Justice Gorsuch dissenting) — stated that "the AR-15 is the most popular rifle in the country" and that such rifles are "both widely legal and bought by many ordinary consumers," according to Reason.

That's the liberal wing of the Court — and nearly all of it.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh also issued a statement when the Court declined to take up Snope v. Brown — the Maryland AR-15 ban case — saying the Fourth Circuit "erred" in upholding Maryland's ban and predicting the Court "should and presumably will address the AR-15 issue soon, in the next Term or two."

The Supreme Court appears poised to review assault weapons bans across the country. Virginia just volunteered to be next in line.

Two Lawsuits. Two Courts. One Strategy.

Gun Owners of America, the Gun Owners Foundation, the Virginia Citizens Defense League, the Virginia Citizens Defense Foundation, and firearms journalist John Crump filed a 59-page complaint in the Circuit Court for Lancaster County within hours of the signing, according to the Cato Institute's Patrick G. Eddington.

The state lawsuit relies exclusively on Article I, Section 13 of the Virginia Constitution — which says the right of the people to keep and bear arms "shall not be infringed." The plaintiffs make no federal Second Amendment claims, keeping the case in Virginia state court rather than federal jurisdiction.

A parallel federal lawsuit is also moving on Second Amendment grounds. Both cases are on emergency footing ahead of the July 1 deadline.

What the Mainstream Coverage Is Missing

The AP wire story — picked up by NBC4 Washington and KSL — frames this as Virginia "moving closer" to California, Illinois, and New York.

What it doesn't report: twelve states plus D.C. now have these bans. That's still a minority of states. The majority of the country lives under laws where these firearms are completely legal to buy.

The AP story also leads with Spanberger's political biography — first woman governor of Virginia, Democratic response to Trump's State of the Union — rather than the constitutional questions at the center of this fight.

The Reason/Volokh Conspiracy piece digs into the actual legal architecture — the Virginia Constitution's 1776 origins, the hunting rights argument, the Supreme Court's trajectory — but doesn't name the specific lawsuits filed. Cato provides the most detailed legal breakdown but without the broader policy context.

Understanding this case requires piecing together multiple sources.

What This Means for Regular Virginians

If you own one of these firearms right now, you can keep it — possession isn't criminalized under this law. But after July 1, you cannot buy, sell, transfer, or import one. That includes handing it down to a family member.

Magazines over 15 rounds are treated the same way.

If the lawsuits fail to get an injunction before July 1, Virginians will be living under a law that the Supreme Court has strongly signaled is unconstitutional — until the Court issues a final ruling.

Spanberger signed two dozen new gun restrictions in her first few months in office, according to the AP. This is the most aggressive one and the one most likely to get struck down.