RICHMOND, Va. — With less than a month until Virginia's new assault weapons restrictions take effect, a Richmond gun store owner says he is seeing a rush of customers buying firearms before the July 1 deadline.
Inside Town Gun Shop of Richmond, owner Mark Tosh says sales are through the roof. He says AR-style rifles and firearms that use higher-capacity magazines are the most popular items.
The surge in sales comes after Virginia lawmakers passed legislation restricting the sale and purchase of certain semiautomatic firearms and magazines holding more than 15 rounds. Governor Spanberger signed the bill into law last month, and the restrictions will go into effect July 1.
"Since January, I'd say we're up by 80%," Tosh said.
Several customers declined to speak on camera with CBS 6, but many said they don't believe the assault weapons ban will reduce crime or improve public safety.
Town Gun Shop leaders say another trend they're seeing is customers buying firearms they never planned to own.
"Some of our clients have actually ... said that if this law had not been enacted, they would have probably never purchased an AR style weapon at all," Tosh said.
Distributors and manufacturers are also responding to the demand, working to get firearms into Virginia stores before the deadline.
"Here is going to become a shortage of firearms that people are looking for, because a lot of your local base dealers are going to actually be, in that we're limited on time of July 1 that's coming around, you don't want to carry that inventory over," Tosh said.
Lawmakers behind the legislation say they worked toward this moment for years, having had it vetoed by former Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin in March 2024 and again in March 2025, and argue the law is designed to reduce access to weapons frequently used in mass shootings.
Del. Dan Helmer (D-Fairfax), who authored the assault weapons ban, says the law will ultimately make Virginia safer.
"As a gun owner myself, as someone who served in the military, I know that these military-style weapons don't make our communities safe," Helmer said. "I think that come July 1, there's no longer going to be assault weapons sold in Virginia. I think this is a great step forward. I've heard from so many Virginians who are so glad that our communities are going to be a little bit safer."
While Virginia gun shops will not be able to sell certain firearms in their stores come July 1, they will still be able to sell them online to out-of-state customers.
Although the ban is set to take effect July 1, several lawsuits have been filed across the state challenging it. The plaintiffs have asked for an emergency injunction to pause the law while they make their arguments in court.
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