Legal gun owners’ Second Amendment rights are under threat in Virginia after the Democrat-controlled government workshopped a bill that would effectively criminalize anyone who possesses a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds.
Newly elected Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger claims to “respect the Second Amendment and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” In the first days of the new gubernatorial administration, however, the Democrat trifecta and triplex under Spanberger committed the state to infringe on Virginians’ right to bear arms. Under SB749, countless “responsible” Virginia gun owners could be classified as criminals for possessing guns and magazines that they legally acquired.
A previous version of legislation grandfathered current gun owners with larger magazine capacity in so they wouldn’t face repercussions. The new prohibition, if passed, would effectively criminalize the possession of any magazine that holds more than 10 rounds, regardless of when or how it was purchased.
The bill also seeks to outlaw the sale or purchase of any “assault weapon,” which the Virginia code deems any semiautomatic center-fire rifle.
Violators of either provision could face misdemeanor charges that, if turned into convictions, could come with up to 12 months in prison and a legal restriction that keeps them from owning or possessing any and all firearms for three years.
It is unclear how the state plans to conduct a mass confiscation of commonly-owned magazines come the bill’s July 1st enforcement date. What is clear is that, if this legislation becomes law, Virginia will be embroiled in one of the biggest Second Amendment legal battles of 2026.
Already, gun rights groups such as the National Rifle Association have threatened court challenges if Democrats proceed with their radical bill.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice Harmeet Dhillon called the proposed legislation a “blatant violation of Supreme Court precedent” and noted it “will not stand” if passed.
Former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares also classified the legislation as “blatantly unconstitutional.”
“Seems some want to lower criminal penalties on everyone but the law abiding citizens of Virginia,” Miyares wrote on X.
Other states such as Washington, Oregon, California have tried to implement so-called “large capacity magazine” bans like Virginia’s proposal, but have faced hurdles in lower and state supreme courts. Attorneys general across several more than two dozen states have called on the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the ammo restrictions but have yet to receive a response.
SCOTUS held in its 2022 New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen decision that Americans’ constitutional right to keep and bear arms for self-defense requires no demonstration of a “special need” like the one New York tried to impose on unrestricted concealed-carry licenses. Before that, the highest court in the land determined in District of Columbia v. Heller that Washington D.C.’s attempt to ban handgun possession in the home did not square with Americans’ Second Amendment rights to own firearms and use them for lawful self-defense.
Read the full article here
