By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Virginia’s new gun control law banning so-called “assault firearms” and “large-capacity magazines” is facing yet another legal challenge, this one funded by the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
The lawsuit was filed Friday in Fauquier County, Virginia Circuit Court. It follows a federal lawsuit filed by the Second Amendment Foundation, National Rifle Association and Firearms Policy Coalition and two private citizens, and a separate state lawsuit filed by NRA, the Virginia Shooting Sports Association, Middletown Firearms, Middletown Training, Virginia Pride Ltd., and VSSA members Joseph Santolla, Reagan Adams, James Rowe, Robert Pride, and Stephen Bokmiller. That case will be heard in the Washington County, Va., Circuit Court.
According to an NSSF release, “The NSSF-funded complaint, filed by Erick Black, Britton Condon, Clark’s Gun Shop, Inc., Optimus Arms, LLC and Hexmag USA, LLC, in Virginia’s Circuit Court of Fauquier County, details that HB 217 / SB 749 criminalizes not just the sale or transfer of commonly-owned Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs) and standard capacity magazines, but also commonly owned handguns and shotguns Virginians regularly use for self-defense and hunting. The overly broad definitions of what is wrongfully defined as an “assault firearm” disenfranchise Virginians of their right to keep and bear arms, which are protected by the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment and Article I of the Virginia Constitution.”
In a statement to the media, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane asserted, “Governor Abigail Spanberger, and the Virginia General Assembly, are grossly violating rights held by the citizens of the Commonwealth. The constitutions of the United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia expressly prohibit the government from infringing on the right to keep and bear arms. Further, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that firearms in common use are protected from radical gun control. Denying law-abiding citizens the ability to protect themselves with the firearms of their choosing does nothing to make Virginia safer. The only thing this unconstitutional law does is surrender the freedoms that the Founding Fathers, including Virginians George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison — who authored the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment — so wisely fought for and sought to protect to ensure freedom from tyranny.”
Even before Spanberger signed HB 217 / SB 749, the Department of Justice advised her that federal legal action would also follow. There are already predictions the cases will be fast tracked and the law will be ultimately struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
According to the NSSF, there are currently more than 32 million modern semi-auto rifles in private ownership, which makes them a commonly-owned firearm. NSSF also offers a “conservative” estimate of more than 1 billion detachable magazines now in circulation capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition. This includes both rifle and pistol magazines.
