Lawsuits Challenging Spanberger’s Virginia ‘Assault Firearms’ Gun Grab Pour In:
With semi-automatic gun bans and magazine caps popping up in more states, it will likely fall to the high court to stop the assault on Second Amendment rights.
Multiple Second Amendment rights advocates are suing Virginia’s police superintendent after Gov. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., signed into law legislation banning many semi-automatic firearms and standard-capacity magazines.
The new law, effective July 1, “criminalizes the purchase, sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of a wide range of commonly owned semiautomatic handguns, shotguns, and rifles — including the AR-15, the most popular rifle in America,” said the National Rifle Association (NRA), one of the plaintiffs suing Virginia. It also “prohibits the purchase, barter, transfer, and importation” of any magazine that holds more than 15 rounds, the organization noted.
Democrat state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim, a politician from Bangladesh who is a driving force behind efforts to strip constitutional rights away from Americans, authored the bill.
The NRA, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), and two NRA members filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the law; the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) and Gun Owners of America (GOA) filed a lawsuit in a Virginia county court; multiple firearm retailers, gun ranges, and other organizations filed a lawsuit in state court, and U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon promised the Department of Justice would file one as well.
All lawsuits name Jeffrey S. Katz, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, as the defendant. The NRA lawsuit also names Goochland County Commonwealth Attorney John L. Lumpkins Jr. and Sheriff Steven Creasey, along with Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney Amy Ashworth and Sheriff Glendell Hill. Justin McDonald and Anthony Groeneveld, plaintiffs in the NRA suit, are residents of Goochland and Prince William, respectively, and are also members of the NRA, FPC, and SAF.
The NRA lawsuit appeals to U.S. Supreme Court precedent in both New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen and District of Columbia v. Heller (as applied to the states through McDonald v. City of Chicago) to argue the gun and magazine bans are unconstitutional. “By prohibiting Plaintiffs from acquiring common semiautomatic firearms and ammunition magazines,” the suit argues, “Virginia has prevented them from ‘keeping and bearing Arms’ within the meaning of the Amendment’s text. As a result, ‘[t]o justify its regulation, the government … must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.’”
Because ownership of the kinds of firearms and magazines banned by the new bill is widespread in Virginia, the new legislation necessarily cannot meet the standards set by historical practice, which, Justice Samuel Alito wrote, requires that the banned weapon be “both dangerous and unusual,” according to the lawsuit (emphasis original). --->READ MORE HERE
New Virginia law banning `assault firearms’ prompts quick lawsuits from gun-rights groups:
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has signed legislation banning the sale and manufacture of certain semi-automatic firearms, prompting immediate lawsuits from gun-rights groups.
The limits on “ assault firearms,” as they are described by the legislation, are among two dozen new restrictions and regulations on guns enacted by the Democratic governor in her first few months in office. That marks a sharp policy reversal from her Republican predecessor, who had vetoed many similar measures.
“Firearms designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong on our streets,” Spanberger said in a statement Friday. “We are taking this step to protect families and support the law enforcement officers who work every day to keep our communities safe.”
The new gun restrictions move Virginia closer to the likes of California, Illinois and New York, which similarly have full Democratic control of their legislatures and governors’ offices. They also highlight a continued national divide on gun policy, as various Republican-led states have taken steps to relax firearm restrictions that they describe as an infringement on Second Amendment rights.
A dozen states now target semi-automatic firearms
The new Virginia law, which takes effect July 1, will make it a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine, for people to buy, sell, transfer, import or manufacture an “assault firearm.”
The measure defines that term to include semi-automatic rifles or pistols with a magazine capacity of more than 15 rounds. It also includes firearms with other characteristics, such as rifles capable of accepting a detachable magazine that have a second handgrip or a collapsible stock. The prohibition also applies to magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds. For most people, there’s no penalty for merely possessing such weapons.
Eleven other states and Washington, D.C., already have laws prohibiting the sale an manufacture of certain semi-automatic firearms, though the details vary. Hawaii, for example, prohibits certain semi-automatic pistols and high-capacity magazines, but not semi-automatic rifles.
Gun-rights groups challenge the Virginia law
Legal challenges came swiftly after Spanberger signed the legislation Thursday. The National Rifle Association, joined by other groups, sued in both federal and state court, asserting violations of the right to bear arms.
“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,” said Adam Kraut, executive director of the Second Amendment Foundation, which joined the NRA in the federal lawsuit. “They’re owned in the tens of millions by peaceable Americans who use them overwhelmingly lawfully.” --->READ MORE HERE
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