RICHMOND, Va. — Two Virginia judges have issued preliminary injunctions blocking enforcement of the state's new assault weapons sales ban, which was set to take effect July 1.
A Washington County judge granted the most recent injunction Monday. A Lancaster County judge issued a similar order last week. The Lancaster County injunction applied only to Virginia State Police, while the Washington County order also applies to several Commonwealth's attorneys.
The law would restrict the sale and purchase of certain semiautomatic weapons and magazines holding more than 15 rounds. Guns and magazines already owned by Virginians would not be impacted.
Before the rulings were issued, gun store owners reported a surge in customer demand for soon-to-be-affected items. Mark Tosh, who manages Town Gun Shop of Richmond, said first-time buyers flooded the store in recent weeks. An employee said the store made $108,000 in sales Tuesday.
Watch Related Coverage: Richmond-area gun shop employee navigating uncertainty after judge blocks Virginia assault weapons ban
"In fact, we've seen today more first time buyers, I mean, of course, over the past three to four weeks, but even today we've had a number of people who have come in for first time buying, they're like, this is my first time, can you show me how you know about ARs, and what can I get, and what do you have available," Tosh said.
Tosh said the demand overwhelmed Virginia's background check system.
"Even tonight we have over 30 delays of backgrounds right now that these individuals have already filled out the paperwork and they're ready to purchase, but until the state grants them their approval number, and we're running into a real paradox, where we're going to shut down at 9 o'clock and these people may not get their weapons," Tosh said.
Mark said the legal back and forth makes it difficult for businesses to plan. Even with the injunction in place, Town Gun Shop leaders said they do not want to risk anything and will stop selling the affected items Tuesday night.
"We're waiting to hear from our legal team of can we operate, can we not?" Tosh said.
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones said his office is appealing both injunctions.
"The Commonwealth will appeal entry of this preliminary injunction. We will continue fulfilling our responsibility to defend Virginia's magazine capacity restrictions, the assault weapons ban, and uphold laws designed to keep Virginians safe," Jones said in a statement.
A separate assault weapons-related law is also being delayed, but for a different reason. The budget approved by lawmakers Monday includes language that postpones Virginia's new statewide ban on the open carry of certain assault-style weapons in public places until July 1, 2027.
Lawmakers said the bill's wording would have created unintended consequences — possibly allowing the open carry of firearms equipped with large-capacity detachable magazines in places where they are currently not allowed.
Del. Garrett McGuire (D-Fairfax), who helped author the legislation, said the delay gives lawmakers time to fix the language.
"We really just want to make sure we're not doing anything we didn't mean to do, which I think Virginians would appreciate. We're not trying to put laws on the books that don't make sense and that create loopholes," McGuire said. "We wanted to make sure we were aligning that with the assault weapon ban bill, so there was no confusion, and so we decided we could just do a cleanup bill in January of 2027."
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Tuesday it will take up challenges to similar assault weapons bans in Illinois and Connecticut. Those arguments will be heard in October.
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