BELLEVUE, Wash. — Might 14, 2026 — Following carefully on the heels of Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signing new gun management laws into regulation, the Second Modification Basis and its companions have filed a lawsuit difficult the commonwealth’s new bans on “assault firearms” and large-capacity magazines.
Gov. Spanberger signed into regulation a ban on so-called “assault firearms” declaring that “…any one who imports, sells, manufactures, purchases, or transfers an assault firearm is responsible of a Class 1 misdemeanor.” The regulation additional defines an “assault firearm” as a semiautomatic rifle chambered in any caliber in addition to .22 rimfire or one which comprises a litany of frequent options resembling a collapsing inventory, pistol grip, threaded barrel or extra. The regulation additionally bans magazines able to holding greater than 15 rounds of ammunition. The brand new legal guidelines go into impact on July 1.
“It’s wild that lawmakers who every take an oath to uphold the Structure insist on passing payments purposefully designed to intestine it,” stated SAF Government Director Adam Kraut. “The firearms and magazines banned on this regulation aren’t weird and strange outliers, they’re among the many mostly owned weapons and magazines within the nation. They’re owned within the tens of hundreds of thousands by peaceful Individuals who use them overwhelmingly lawfully. Virginia has now joined the minority of radical states to ban these constitutionally protected firearms, and in so doing, joined the membership of states we’re suing over it.”
As famous within the grievance, “The firearms that Virginia bans as ‘assault firearms’ are, in all respects, atypical semiautomatic firearms. To the extent they’re totally different from different semiautomatic firearms, their distinguishing options make them safer and simpler to make use of. No matter any new class of arms created by state lawmakers, they can’t be banned as a result of they aren’t harmful and strange.” SAF is joined in McDonald v. Katz by the Nationwide Rifle Affiliation, Firearms Coverage Coalition and two non-public residents.
“Virginia lawmakers lied to their constituents and to themselves once they stated these legal guidelines weren’t bans,” stated SAF founder and Government Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “A brand new gross sales and switch ban is a ban that’s only one era eliminated. On July 1, anybody turning 18 in Virginia will discover out that the rights loved by their predecessors don’t apply to them. These bans are an afront to the Structure and an insult to the intelligence of Virginians who had been fed lies and misrepresentations by their elected officers. We’re excited to quick observe this case to the Supreme Court docket.”
For extra info go to SAF.org.
The Second Modification Basis (saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt training, analysis, publishing and authorized motion group devoted to safeguarding and selling the elemental rights of people enshrined within the Second Modification of the US Structure. SAF engages in aggressive authorized motion to make sure the rules of armed self-defense, private liberty, and the possession of arms are defended, secured, and restored. Via public training initiatives, SAF teaches the significance of the Second Modification to advertise a society that values and workout routines the proper to maintain and bear arms.
