Gun-rights organizations wasted no time filing legal challenges after Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger put her signature on a bill restricting the sale and manufacture of certain semi-automatic firearms, according to The Associated Press.
Under the legislation, purchasing, selling, transferring, importing, or manufacturing an "assault firearm" becomes a misdemeanor on July 1, carrying a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $2,500 fine, according to abc News. Covered weapons include semi-automatic rifles or pistols that hold more than 15 rounds, along with rifles that accept detachable magazines and feature either a second handgrip or a collapsible stock. Magazines with a capacity exceeding 15 rounds fall under the ban as well. People who simply own such weapons face no legal jeopardy under the law.
Lawsuits arrived quickly, with the National Rifle Association and several allied organizations, including the Second Amendment Foundation, taking the state to court on both federal and state fronts following Spanberger's signing, according to abc News. Adam Kraut, who leads the Second Amendment Foundation, argued that the weapons targeted by the law are far from fringe items: "The firearms and magazines banned in this law aren't bizarre and unusual outliers, they're among the most commonly owned guns and magazines in the country."
The Trump administration also moved to oppose the law. In an April letter addressed to Spanberger, Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department's assistant attorney general for civil rights, contended that the legislation would "infringe on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens to enjoy and use AR-15 rifles for lawful purposes," according to abc News. The administration had separately sued Denver over its longstanding local assault weapons ban.
Virginia now joins eleven states and Washington, D.C., that have enacted some form of prohibition on selling and manufacturing certain semi-automatic firearms, with each state's law differing in its particulars. Courts have generally sided with such restrictions, with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, whose jurisdiction includes Virginia and Maryland, among those that have sustained similar laws. When the U.S. Supreme Court last year declined to hear a challenge to Maryland's comparable ban, it did so over the objections of three conservative justices, while a fourth signaled doubts about whether such prohibitions can withstand constitutional scrutiny.
Spanberger's action stands in stark contrast to the record of her predecessor, Republican Glenn Youngkin, who twice turned back comparable semi-automatic firearms bills during his time as governor. Before entering elected office, Spanberger, who previously served as a CIA officer and in the U.S. House of Representatives, volunteered with the gun-safety advocacy organization Moms Demand Action, according to abc News.