A Lynchburg judge cleared the way for the reinstatement of background checks for the private sale of firearms on Wednesday after a legal back and forth that had halted the checks off and on since October.
Background checks for the private sale of firearms will resume on July 1.
Lynchburg Circuit Judge Patrick Yeatts on Wednesday granted a motion requested by the Attorney General’s office to dissolve an October injunction, dubbed the “Lynchburg Loophole,” that had ceased background checks for private firearm sales.
The Wednesday ruling came after Yeatts had ordered in early June for state police to once again follow his October injunction. The early June order had again halted background checks for the private sale of firearms a week after state police had resumed the checks to comply with a new state law.
Yeatts read his opinion, which agreed with the Attorney General Jay Jones’ request to dissolve the injunction, into the record from the bench on Wednesday. The ruling has effectively allowed the enactment of HB 1525, which directs the state police to conduct background checks for the sale or transfer of all firearms.
“HB1525 is meaningful legislation that will save lives and make our Commonwealth safer,” said Del. Garrett McGuire, D-Fairfax County and the bill’s patron, via text message. “Passing legislation to prevent gun violence has never been easy, and the path to implement this law has been no different.”
Both Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Attorney General Jay Jones issued statements praising the ruling.
“Today’s ruling is a step forward to protect law enforcement officers, kids, and families across the Commonwealth from the threat of gun violence in their communities,” Spanberger said. Virginians across the political spectrum — including a majority of gun owners — broadly recognize that individuals who are prohibited by law from owning a firearm should not be able to purchase a firearm. Restoring universal background checks in Virginia helps achieve that goal by making sure those individuals cannot evade the law through loopholes or private sales.”
Jones said: “For too long, communities across the Commonwealth have lived in fear and been tormented by grief and loss as the result of preventable gun violence. This is especially true for Black and Brown communities who experience gun violence at a disproportionate rate. Background checks keep guns out of dangerous hands and save lives. My predecessor’s refusal to defend Virginia’s life-saving law was shameful and it put the safety of our communities at risk. The Court’s decision today rights that wrong and puts the Commonwealth back on a path of protecting Virginians and stemming the tide of gun violence in our communities.”
Philip Van Cleave, head of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, which is a pro-gun organization, was a plaintiff in the case. He called the ruling a setback and said he was confused as to why the judge seemingly reversed his injunction.
“We’re not done, that much I’ll say. This isn’t over for us,” he said. “It was a totally unexpected ruling.”
Van Cleave added that he did not plan to appeal the ruling, but he might examine other ways to challenge the legislation.
The history behind the Lynchburg loophole
The General Assembly passed a law in 2020 that required background checks for the sale of all firearms in the commonwealth.
Under the 2020 law, in order to obtain a background check, the purchaser needed to pass through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. That system automatically rejects purchasers under 21 years old — the federal age requirement to purchase a handgun.
The legal age to purchase a handgun in Virginia was 18 at the time.
That difference in age requirements led to a number of legal challenges after the 2020 bill was enacted. To settle those challenges, the state created a mechanism that required state police to attend gun shows to conduct background checks for buyers under the age of 21. State police used a different system, bypassing the NICS, that allowed purchasers between 18 and 20 years old to legally buy handguns through private sales at gun shows.
But in October, Yeatts struck the 2020 statute and issued a permanent injunction to halt all background checks for the private sale of firearms in Virginia, including sales that take place at gun shows. In an action dubbed the “Lynchburg loophole,” the court issued its injunction based on its finding that 18- to 20-year-olds were being discriminated against on an equal protection theory, rather than a Second Amendment basis. Former Attorney General Jason Miyares did not file an appeal within the required 21 days to challenge the ruling.
In April, the General Assembly passed HB 1525, which increased the legal age to buy handguns and assault firearms in Virginia to 21 to align with the federal requirement — and effectively restore universal background checks in the commonwealth. It was signed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger with an emergency clause to immediately enact the legislation on April 22.
But a month after that emergency enactment, background checks for the private sale of firearms were not happening. State police announced they would be resuming the process immediately to comply with a new state law on May 27, about eight months after the October injunction.
Jones issued a request in early May to the Lynchburg court that sought to dissolve the injunction. He argued that the passage of HB 1525 had aligned the legal age to purchase certain firearms in Virginia with the federal standard and had effectively rendered the case moot.
Yeatts had denied Jones’ request on June 3 but continued the case.
Wednesday’s ruling effectively closed the so-called “Lynchburg Loophole,” which had existed since the October injunction.
The winning argument
In his June 3 ruling, Yeatts requested briefs from the parties on two issues.
The first issue asked if there could be a fix through a separate statute if an initial statute had been found unconstitutional by the court.
The attorney general’s office argued in the affirmative.
“The court’s final ruling did not remove the 2020 law from ‘the books.’ And even if it did, this Motion requests the Court to apply a change in circumstances (here a new statutory scheme amending the constitutionally infirm application of the 2020 Law) and it does not require the court to revisit its prior legal conclusions,” the attorney general’s office wrote in its brief.
The 2026 law, HB 1525, rendered the injunction inapplicable and inappropriate by explicitly amending and reenacting Virginia code, and, therefore, the constitutional infirmity is fixed, the attorney general’s office wrote.
The second issue asked if the court has the authority, after 21 days when the case is considered settled, to revisit a ruling on the constitutionality of the statute in its entirety.
Again, the attorney general’s office argued in the affirmative, citing a Virginia code section that governs the dissolution of injunctions. That code section, the attorney general’s office argued, “expressly provides the Court with jurisdiction to revisit ongoing equitable relief.”
