Prosecutors in four Virginia counties announced they will not enforce a ban on so-called assault weapons, just days after Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed the law outlawing the sale and transfer of AR-15-style rifles and magazines holding more than 15 rounds.
Prosecutors in Spotsylvania, Smyth, Powhatan and Pulaski counties argued that it violates Second Amendment protections, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings in District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008 and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen in 2022.
The law takes effect July 1, and violators can be punished by 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.
“Gov. Spanberger believes that firearms designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong on Virginia streets,” a Spanberger spokesman told The Washington Times. “The people of Virginia must be able to trust that all the commonwealth’s attorneys will uphold the rule of law and keep Virginians safe.”
While the prosecutors said they would continue pursuing violent offenders and those using firearms in crimes, they would not criminalize otherwise law-abiding gun owners under the new statute.
“After careful review of the legislation and existing Supreme Court precedent, I find the assault weapon ban signed by the Governor on May 15, 2026, unconstitutional — and as a result, unenforceable,” Smyth County Commonwealth’s Attorney Phillip Blevins Jr. said in a statement. “My office will not support criminal charges resulting solely from technical violations of the unconstitutional assault weapon ban.”
Powhatan Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Cerullo said in a letter to county Sheriff Bradford Nunnally: “Please be advised that it is my opinion that significant parts of House Bill 217 — specifically, bans of so-called assault firearms, large capacity ammunition feeding devices and the carrying of these items in public — are facially unconstitutional.”
“I am not going to take law-abiding citizens as of June 30th, 2026, and criminalize that same behavior on July 1st, 2026, solely on the basis of this new law,” said Pulaski County Commonwealth’s Attorney Justin L. Griffith.
“Justice has been and will continue to be sought against those that use guns in the commission of crimes, outside of this new law,” Mr. Griffith added. “As such, my office will not support criminal charges resulting solely from technical violations of the unconstitutional assault weapon ban.”
Commonwealth’s Attorneys Kyle Kilgore of Scott County and Ryan Mehaffey of Spotsylvania County made similar remarks.
Virginia’s new assault weapons ban also faces legal challenges from major gun-rights organizations, including the National Rifle Association, Virginia Citizens Defense League, Gun Owners of America and the Second Amendment Foundation, who have filed suits in state and federal court.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has signaled potential federal involvement.
Some advocates are pushing the prosecutors to go further and file their own lawsuits against the state.
The Virginia Citizens Defense League, led by its president, Philip Van Cleave, called on members to activate the “Second Amendment sanctuary movement 2.0” in January when Ms. Spanberger, a Democrat, was sworn in.
The gun rights activists are rallying their supporters to call county officials to reignite the Second Amendment sanctuary trend that swept the state between 2019 and 2020, when commonwealth Democrats controlled all government branches, as they do now.
After former Gov. Ralph Northam and his Democratic Party proposed several gun control measures in 2019, county leaders from 95% of the state’s almost 200 localities pledged not to enforce an “unconstitutional” gun control measure coming from Richmond.
Virginia’s gun rights crowd now wants to duplicate that success versus Ms. Spanberger and fellow Democrats who adopted a raft of gun control laws.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.