Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche sued Virginia on July 1 to kill its new assault-weapons ban — filed in federal court the same morning the law was supposed to start turning ordinary AR-15 owners into criminals.
He didn’t have to wait for the courts. A Virginia judge had already blocked it.
Governor Abigail Spanberger’s signature gun law hit two walls at once — one federal, one state — before a single rifle sale was ever stopped.
The law — HB 217 and SB 749 — made it a crime to sell, buy, or transfer an AR-15-style rifle in Virginia. A Class 1 misdemeanor: up to a year in jail.
SB 749 went further, restricting magazines that hold more than 15 rounds. It was set to take effect July 1.
The Justice Department sued that morning. Its Civil Rights Division asked a federal court to stop Virginia from enforcing a law it says “unconstitutionally bans the purchase and sale of ordinary semi-automatic rifles owned by millions of Americans.”
“The Constitution is not a suggestion,” Blanche said, “and the Second Amendment is not a second-class right.”
New: The Department of Justice is suing Virginia over the state's new assault weapons ban that went into effect today. pic.twitter.com/WLxFfyhTyr
— Tyler Englander (@TylerEnglander) July 1, 2026
Virginia wasn’t alone. The Justice Department sued California the same day over its own firearm restrictions — a federal push to knock down blue-state gun bans.
Virginia’s own courts got there first. Lancaster County Circuit Judge John Martin granted a preliminary injunction after Gun Owners of America and the Virginia Citizens Defense League argued the ban violates the Virginia Constitution.
A second injunction, in Crump v. Katz, is also in force. The ban is not being enforced anywhere in Virginia.
BREAKING: Lancaster Judge grants preliminary injunction barring Virginia State Police from enforcing the assault weapons ban that was set to take effect on July 1. The injunction lasts until Dec. 31 or until a final order is released. @CourthouseNews
— Joe Dodson (@joedodson16) June 25, 2026
Democrats will call this Trump politics. But the judge who blocked the ban didn’t rule on federal grounds — he ruled on the Virginia Constitution the General Assembly swore to uphold.
Attorney General Jay Jones (D) called the injunction “disappointing” and said it “puts our communities at risk.” He is moving to appeal.
A law two courts blocked in a single week is not a public-safety measure. It is a legal liability the Commonwealth is now paying lawyers to defend.
If you own an AR-15 in Fairfax County — or wanted to buy one legally — Spanberger and Jones spent the summer trying to make you a misdemeanant.
Spanberger signed the ban. Jones defended it. Two courts stopped it. The rifle is still legal in Virginia.
Jones is on the ballot in November 2029. Spanberger is term-limited — but the Democrat majority that passed HB 217 faces Virginia voters in November 2027.