Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill to effectively ban the manufacture, sale and transfer of assault weapons in the commonwealth late Thursday with little fanfare, and lawsuits brought by the National Rifle Association and others immediately followed.
The governor said in a statement that she signed the legislation, after it was sent back to her by the General Assembly without her amendment, because firearms “designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong on our streets.”
“We are taking this step to protect families and support the law enforcement officers who work every day to keep our communities safe,” she said. “While the General Assembly chose not to adopt my amendment that specifically carves out certain firearms frequently used for hunting, I will work with the patrons to clarify this language.”
The legislation prohibits the future sale, manufacture and transfer of assault firearms and the sale of magazines with a capacity of more than 15 rounds. The law does not require gun owners to relinquish assault firearms that they already own. The law is slated to go into effect on July 1.
Spanberger, a former federal law enforcement officer, has long championed this measure as a critical step toward protecting families, communities and the law enforcement officers who serve them, her office said.
State Sen. Saddam Salim, D-Falls Church, and Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax County, patroned the bills in their respective chambers.
Salim called Spanberger’s approval of the bill a “monumental victory for public safety in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” in a statement late Thursday.
“When I ran for State Senate against an incumbent who voted against prior versions of an assault weapons ban, the people who believed in this vision stood with me to make the impossible possible,” he said. “This law saves lives, and together, we prove that people-powered progress prevails.”
The NRA was quick to file a lawsuit against the legislation after it was signed Thursday evening in a federal district court in Alexandria. In the lawsuit, the NRA argued that the “blanket” prohibition of the manufacture, sale or transfer of assault weapons and the sale of magazines with a capacity of 15 or more rounds infringes on the right granted by the U.S. Constitution of law-abiding and “peaceable” Virginians to “keep and bear common arms.”
An injunction that seeks to halt enforcement of the law was filed in Washington County Circuit Court on Friday. The complaint, filed by Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, on behalf of a number of residents and organizations in Virginia, argues that the law also infringes on the right granted by the state constitution that allows law-abiding residents to keep and bear arms. It also argues that the ban is not consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
“To be outside of that historical tradition, those firearms have to be unusual and dangerous,” Stanley said.
“Unusual in the sense that they’re not usual or common use firearms and an AR-15 is the common use rifle, and a semi-automatic hand gun is a common use firearm, and so they’re part of the common use and have been part of the historical tradition and they’re not dangerous. Dangerous means inherently — not just because they’re a firearm but inherently dangerous because of the type of firearm that they are — and these are not inherently dangerous,” he added.
Stanley argued that, while the prohibition of the manufacture, sale or transfer of the firearms is not an immediate ban, it could be considered a “slow ban.”
Attorney General Jay Jones said his team looks forward to defending the new law, and all other gun violence prevention laws, against these and other lawsuits in a statement on Friday.
“Gun violence remains a national epidemic, devastating families, and destabilizing communities across the country, especially here in Virginia. Too many people, especially young people, have grown up with the fear, trauma, and loss that follow in its wake,” he said. “Accountability matters. Every community deserves protection from violence. We will use every tool available to uphold the law fairly, responsibly, and with an unwavering commitment to public safety.”
