Key Takeaways
- Thirteen Virginia prosecutors will not enforce the new gun ban effective July 1, with more expected to join.
- The law, signed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger, bans assault firearms and magazines over 15 rounds, with violations classified as Class 1 misdemeanors.
- Prosecutors argue the law is unconstitutional, citing Supreme Court rulings and emphasizing they won’t criminalize law-abiding gun owners.
- State officials, including Attorney General Jay Jones, express discontent, while challenges to the law already move through state and federal courts.
- Virginia’s resistance mirrors the 2019 Second Amendment sanctuary movement, indicating growing opposition to gun control efforts.
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RICHMOND, VA — The number of Virginia prosecutors who say they will not enforce the state’s new gun ban has climbed to 13, and more are expected before the law takes effect July 1.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed SB749/HB217 into law in mid-May. The measure, carried by Sen. Saddam Salim and Del. Dan Helmer, bans the future import, sale, manufacture, purchase or transfer of so-called assault firearms and magazines holding more than 15 rounds. People who already own these guns and magazines are grandfathered in.
Violations are a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine. A conviction also strips the right to possess a firearm for three years.
I have watched this revolt grow week by week. It started with four prosecutors. Now commonwealth’s attorneys in 13 counties have gone on record refusing to bring charges against law-abiding gun owners under the new statute.
The counties are Spotsylvania, Smyth, Powhatan, Pulaski, Scott, Warren, Goochland, Clarke, Appomattox, Patrick, Page, Shenandoah and Buckingham.
Powhatan Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Cerullo wrote to his sheriff that key parts of the law are “facially unconstitutional.” Smyth County’s Phillip Blevins Jr. called the ban “unconstitutional, and as a result, unenforceable.”
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Spotsylvania’s G. Ryan Mehaffey, among the first to speak out, put it plainly. “I can’t enforce a law that’s unconstitutional,” he said. Several of these prosecutors pointed to the Supreme Court’s rulings in Heller and Bruen.
In Scott County, Commonwealth’s Attorney Kyle Kilgore and Sheriff Jeff Edds issued a joint statement. In Clarke County, Commonwealth’s Attorney Matthew Bass and Sheriff Travis Sumption did the same, saying the law will not be enforced against nonviolent offenders. Page County’s Chapman Good Sr. and Shenandoah’s Elizabeth Cooper joined the list in recent days.
Every one of these prosecutors made the same distinction. They will keep going after criminals who misuse firearms. They will not turn a peaceable gun owner into a criminal overnight for owning a rifle that was legal the day before.
State officials are not pleased. Attorney General Jay Jones says commonwealth’s attorneys are “elected to enforce our laws.” Salim, who wrote the bill, insists it is constitutional and that challenges belong in court.
Those challenges are already moving. The NRA, Gun Owners of America and the Second Amendment Foundation have filed in both state and federal court. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has signaled it may join the fight.
Virginia has been here before. The Second Amendment sanctuary movement that swept the commonwealth in 2019 stopped an earlier gun-control push cold. The same energy is back, and the map of resistance is getting larger by the day.
I will keep tracking this one closely. With the count at 13 and rising, and lawsuits stacking up, the question is no longer whether this ban faces resistance. It is how much of Virginia will simply refuse to go along.
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