Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger recently signed a package of “commonsense” bills that she and supporters maintain will reduce gun violence and save lives, but
some of them may not be enforced if local prosecutors get their way.
The new laws include controversial prohibitions on the sale or transfer of assault style firearms including the popular AR-15 and large capacity ammunition feeding devices and the public carrying of such weapons.
According to the Virginia Citizens Defense League as many as 10 local prosecutors who b
elieve these measures violate gun rights have vowed not to enforce them. Among those prosecutors expressing opposition to the new laws are prosecutors from Powhatan and Smyth counties.
According to Virginia Scope, Powhatan Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Cerullo wrote: “Please be advised that it is my opinion that significant parts of Hous
e 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.”
Smyth County Commonwealth’s Attorney Phillip Blevins Jr. told Virginia Scope he finds the assault weapons ban unconstitutional and thus unenforceable. “My of
fice will not support criminal charges resulting solely from technical violations of the unconstitutional assault weapon ban,” Blevins wrote.
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones said he expects elected prosecutors to enforce the state laws. He said the laws seek to reduce violent crime and hold the firearms industry accountable for harmful practices. At a press
conference on Monday Jones said the package of new laws targets a “small number of bad actors” and not the majority of responsible gun owners or sellers. “This is not anti-guns; this is pro-safety,” Jones said.
“We expect accountability from our government and we should expect accountability from industries,” Jay commented.
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The legislation is also facing legal challenges. The National Rifle Association’s Institute for Le
gislative Action has already filed lawsuits in both state and federal courts challenging the laws as violating the Virginia and U.S. Constitutions.
“The NRA will not sit idly by while progressive politicians strip the rights of law-abiding citizens,
and our world-class legal team is locked, loaded, and ready to shoot down this outrageous gun-control law,” commented John Commerford, NRA-ILA executive director.
On June 19, a judge with the Spotsylvania Circuit Court declined to issue a preliminary injunction to block the assault weapons ban.
The laws are slated to go into effect on July 1.
In addition to the assault rifle prohibition, the package of laws includes provisions cracking down on untraceable ghost guns, requiring the safe storage
of firearms, restoring universal background checks, and banning individuals convicted of a hate crime from owning a firearm.
One of the new laws seeks to hold firearm industry members responsible for the sale or di
stribution of a firearm to a straw purchaser, a firearm trafficker, someone prohibited from possessing a firearm, or a person who the firearm industry member has “cause to believe is at substantial risk of using a firearm” to harm themselves or another person.
The bill also creates a civil cause of action for the attorney general or a local county, city, or town attorney to enforce the provisions of the bill or for any person wh
o has been injured as a result of a firearm industry member’s violation to seek an injunction and to recover costs and damages.
