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Virginia gun house owners simply acquired some dangerous information.
Based on a late-night replace from Washington Gun Legislation’s William Kirk, Virginia lawmakers have handed Senate Invoice 749, sending a sweeping new gun management measure to the governor’s desk, the place it’s broadly anticipated to be signed into regulation.
And as soon as that occurs, the countdown begins.
Underneath the laws, the regulation will take impact July 1, 2026, giving gun house owners only a quick window earlier than main restrictions hit the state’s firearm market.
The invoice targets what the state defines as “assault firearms,” banning the business sale, switch, or providing on the market of these firearms as soon as the regulation takes impact. In sensible phrases, which means many widespread semi-automatic rifles would not be accessible by means of authorized gross sales in Virginia after the deadline.
The laws additionally features a journal capability restrict, banning the acquisition of magazines holding greater than 15 rounds beginning July 1.
Whereas that cap is greater than the 10-round limits seen in states like California or Washington, it nonetheless places Virginia on the rising record of states imposing restrictions on standard-capacity magazines.
Kirk didn’t mince phrases about what he expects subsequent.
He stated the invoice’s passage means gun house owners within the state are about to expertise the identical cycle that unfolded in locations like Washington, Illinois, and New York: the place bans took impact first and lawsuits adopted later.
In different phrases, the authorized struggle is probably going coming… nevertheless it most likely gained’t occur rapidly.
“The wheels of justice flip sluggish,” Kirk defined, noting that courtroom battles over comparable bans in different states have taken years to work their method by means of the system.
For now, consideration is shifting to the courts. A number of main 2A circumstances are already sitting within the pipeline, together with challenges to so-called assault weapon bans and journal restrictions.
Amongst them are circumstances like Duncan v. Bonta, which targets California’s journal ban, and several other platform-ban challenges making their method by means of federal appeals courts.
One case to look at carefully, in accordance with Kirk, is Cheeseman v. Platkin, which challenges New Jersey’s assault weapon ban. If that courtroom strikes down the regulation, it may create the form of federal circuit cut up that usually forces the Supreme Court docket of america to step in.
And if the Supreme Court docket ultimately takes a case on so-called “platform bans,” the result may have an effect on way over simply Virginia.
For now, although, the fact is straightforward: SB 749 is headed to the governor, and as soon as signed, the clock towards July 1 begins ticking.
Kirk provided one piece of recommendation to gun house owners watching the scenario unfold: help native gun retailers whereas they nonetheless have time.
He warned that laws like this doesn’t simply restrict merchandise; it might squeeze smaller firearm sellers by decreasing stock choices whereas elevating regulatory prices. That mixture, he stated, has already pushed some small FFL companies to the brink in different states.
Whether or not the courts in the end reverse Virginia’s new restrictions stays to be seen. However for now, the state seems poised to hitch the rising record of jurisdictions proscribing the sale of many semi-automatic rifles and standard-capacity magazines.
And if historical past is any information, the following chapter of this story will doubtless play out in federal courtroom.
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