Virginia’s push to ban new assault‑style weapon sales and penalize unsafe gun storage prompts backlash from gun‑rights groups.
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Virginia legislators consider new gun control measures
As the Virginia legislative session nears a close, Democrats in both chambers are advancing sweeping gun control legislation, including banning new sales of assault-style weapons and creating a civil fine for leaving a weapon in a vehicle that is not properly stowed.
The Virginia House of Delegates passed HB217, which would ban new sales of assault-style weapons, plus magazines that hold more than 15 rounds.
Democratic Del. Dan Helmer of Fairfax County is a lead sponsor of the bill and told the House Firearms Subcommittee: “This bill is based on a simple premise that weapons similar to those I carried in Iraq and Afghanistan should not be trafficked in our commonwealth. That our neighbors, our children, are not our enemies.”
But critics of the legislation believe it targets thousands of legal gun owners in Virginia.
Chris Stone with the Virginia-based Gun Owners of America said, “semiautomatic weapons, as they would like to call them, ‘assault weapons’, have been owned by the public for years, and rifles of any kind are very rarely used in the commission of a crime. We don’t even like to use the term ‘assault weapon’, because it’s just made up. These are simply semiautomatic firearms that law abiding citizens own.”
The bill would also limit magazine capacity to 15 rounds. Guns and magazines already owned by Virginians before July 1, 2026, would be grandfathered in.
The bill passed through the House along party lines, though many Republicans said recent Supreme Court decisions would make the law vulnerable to litigation.
Stone echoed that sentiment, saying: ”I know our organization, our legal foundation, Gun Owners Foundation, is already preparing to sue the state, along with our friends at Virginia Citizens Defense League. We believe that we can have success defending gun owners and saying these laws are unconstitutional.”
Still, many political activists and religious groups voiced their support for the bill throughout committee hearings.
“We view this as a lifesaving measure, and we hope you will view it in that light as well,” Jeff Caruso with the Virginia Catholic Conference told the House Firearms Subcommittee in January.
Another proposed law would create a civil penalty of up to $500 for anyone who leaves a weapon not locked away in their vehicle. That vehicle could also be towed.
Del. Amy Laufer sponsored the bill, which has passed the House and is now up for debate in the Senate.
“Two years ago, a 16-year-old from Harrisonburg stole a gun from a car and ended up killing a man. Our police departments are struggling to send the message to the public, ‘Don’t leave weapons unattended in your car’,” Laufer said.
However, Stone said other laws on the books drive gun owners to storing weapons in their car.
“Because of the litany of ‘gun free zone’ laws that we have in this state, if you go to somewhere where you can’t legally bring your firearm in, law-abiding citizens who have a concealed handgun permit are going to leave that firearm in their car,“ Stone said.
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