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 prohibiting popular firearms they deem “assault weapons,” limiting magazine capacities to 10 rounds, imposing requirements about how guns are stored in households, and expanding civil liability for the gun industry.

Those bills are now in the hands of the state Senate, which has some gun-control laws of its own in the hopper.

Democratic lawmakers, who control both chambers and the governor’s mansion now that Gov. Abigail Spanberger has taken office, introduced about 40 gun control measures for this legislative session.

At the top of the list is House Bill 217, which would ban certain semi-automatic firearms that are deemed “assault firearms,” including many semi-automatic rifles and pistols.

The legislation defines an “assault firearm” as any semi-automatic center-fire rifle or pistol which 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 which will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition or designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer or equipped with a folding stock.

The lead sponsor of the bill, Del. Dan Helmer of Fairfax County, cited his military service in Iraq and Afghanistan to hail the bill’s passage: “Weapons similar to those I carried in Iraq and Afghanistan have no place in our schools, our churches or our streets.”

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

House Republican leader Terry Kilgore of Scott County warned of legal challenges ahead. He called the proposed laws “a lawyer’s dream.”

The legislation would also ban magazines holding more than 10 rounds manufactured after July 1, 2026, while allowing possession of pre-July 1, 2026, 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 both sell and purchase an “assault firearm,” and to import, sell, trade or transfer a “large capacity” magazine.

It also “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 still open to debate.

Virginia Citizens Defense League President Philip Van Cleave said that looking for illegal firearms and magazines that were previously 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.

Another bill the House sent to the Senate is HB 21, which 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.

Additionally, it 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 intended to financially ruin the firearms industry through litigation.

If approved, Virginia would join roughly 10 other states that have passed 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 House Bill 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 $2,500 fine.

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 persons are present (HB 871).

Second Amendment activist groups have a legal strategy planned if these measures 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 DOJ is watching Virginia. They’re watching this stuff.”

On the other side of the gun debate, Virginia is increasingly 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.