Democrat-run Virginia goes big on gun control

Virginia’s Democratic leaders are moving full steam ahead with their first batch of gun control laws now that the party controls every lever of power in Richmond.

The House of Delegates quickly passed a half dozen measures, including prohibitions on popular firearms deemed “assault weapons,” a limit on magazine capacities to 10 rounds, requirements for gun storage in households and expanded civil liability for the gun industry.

Those bills are now in the state Senate, which has its own gun-control legislation that it passed on Monday.

Democrats control both chambers of the General Assembly and the Executive Mansion now that Gov. Abigail Spanberger has taken office. Lawmakers introduced about 40 gun control measures for this legislative session.

At the top of the list is House Bill 217, which would ban certain semiautomatic firearms that are deemed “assault firearms.” These include many semiautomatic rifles and pistols.

The legislation defines an “assault firearm” as any semiautomatic center-fire rifle or pistol that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material and is equipped at the time of the offense with a magazine that will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition or is designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer or equipped with a folding stock.

The bill’s lead sponsor, Delegate Dan Helmer of Fairfax County, cited his military service for hailing its passage. “Weapons similar to those I carried in Iraq and Afghanistan have no place in our schools, our churches or our streets,” he said.

It passed in the House of Delegates on a 58-34 vote along party lines.

House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, a Republican from Scott County, warned of legal challenges ahead. He called the legislation “a lawyer’s dream.”

The bill also would ban magazines holding more than 10 rounds manufactured after July 1, 2026, while allowing possession of pre-July 1 firearms but prohibiting most future transfers.

It would make the import, sale, manufacture, purchase or transfer of an “assault firearm” a Class 1 misdemeanor, the most serious class of misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine, or both.

The bill also makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to sell or purchase an “assault firearm” and to import, sell, trade or transfer a “large capacity” magazine.

It “prohibits a person who has been convicted of such violation from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm for a period of three years from the date of conviction.”

Under the legislation, the definition of “assault firearm” would not include an antique firearm that has been rendered permanently inoperable or “is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action, or was manufactured before July 1, 2026.”

How these laws would be policed is open to debate.

Virginia Citizens Defense League President Philip Van Cleave said that looking for prohibited firearms and magazines that were once legal is the last thing law enforcement wants to do.

“You’re harassing law-abiding people who have done nothing wrong, just by the stroke of a pen,” he told The Washington Times. “Something they own legally suddenly becomes contraband, and that’s BS.”

He said he would be shocked if the House version becomes law.

“I’ll bet you the Senate version of the bill is what ends up coming out because the Senate kept in grandfathering and all that.”

The limit on magazine capacity also differs between the two chambers. The House version limits gun magazine capacity to 10 rounds, while the Senate limits capacity to 15 rounds.

HB 21, also sent to the Senate, would establish a comprehensive set of standards for “responsible conduct” for members of the firearm industry, including manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

The bill mandates these businesses to set up and implement “reasonable controls” over the manufacture, sale, distribution, use and marketing of firearm-related products.

It also creates a broad civil cause of action, allowing the state attorney general, local prosecutors or individuals to sue firearm businesses for injunctions, damages and costs.

Critics describe the language as “vague and subjective” and say it is intended to financially ruin the firearms industry through litigation.

If approved, Virginia will join roughly 10 other states that have enacted laws since 2021 challenging the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, the primary federal law shielding gun manufacturers, distributors and dealers from civil liability when their products are used in crimes.

Virginia Democrats also approved HB 40, which makes it a Class 5 felony for anyone to build, import, sell, transfer or possess unserialized or plastic firearms.

A Class 5 felony is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $2,500.

Other bills being sent to the Senate would restrict keeping a firearm in a vehicle for self-defense (HB 110), ban the possession of any weapons in a hospital that provides mental health services (HB 229) and establish a mandatory storage requirement for residences where minors or prohibited people are present (HB 871).

Second Amendment activist groups have a legal strategy planned to challenge these measures if they become law.

“The gun organizations are more unified now than they’ve ever been,” said Mr. Van Cleave. “We’re going to sue over this stuff if it passes. The [Justice Department] is watching Virginia. They’re watching this stuff.”

The legislative action in Virginia is popular with gun control activists.

“Today is an exciting day for every Virginian who has ever knocked on a door or called their legislator demanding a safer commonwealth,” said Gayatri Manoharan, a volunteer with the Virginia chapter of Moms Demand Action.

“Our gun sense champions in the House listened to voters and delivered for safer communities. This is a comprehensive commitment to protecting our children from gun violence in every form. We are thrilled to see this progress and look forward to getting these bills across the finish line in the Senate and onto Governor Spanberger’s desk,” she said.