The National Rifle Association (NRA) has filed a lawsuit against Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger after she signed legislation targeting so-called “assault weapons.”
In the complaint, the NRA stated that the law—banishing the purchase, sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of commonly owned semiautomatic handguns, shotguns, and rifles—including the AR-15—and large capacity magazines (defined as those holding more than 15 rounds)—constitutes a violation of Virginia’s constitutional arms guarantee.
The lawsuit argues that the law violates Article 1, Section 13 of the Virginia Constitution, which the state Supreme Court has interpreted as coextensive with the Second Amendment. The plaintiffs in the case, Santolla v. Katz, include the Virginia Shooting Sports Association, Middletown Firearms, Middletown Training, Virginia Pride Ltd., and VSSA members Joseph Santolla, Reagan Adams, James Rowe, Robert Pride, and Stephen Bokmiller.
NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford stated: “We’re not going to stand idly by and let this new governor ban America’s rifle in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
Governor Spanberger defended the legislation, saying: “I am signing this bill into law because firearms designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong on our streets. We are taking this step to protect families and support the law enforcement officers who work every day to keep our communities safe.”
Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott added: “Unfortunately, our Commonwealth has been the victim of far too many mass shootings. Today, we took the first step to ban these weapons of war and stop this violence once and for all.”
The new law makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to import, sell, manufacture, purchase or transfer an assault firearm, and prohibits individuals convicted of such violations from purchasing, possessing or transporting firearms for three years. The ban does not apply to antique firearms, those rendered permanently inoperable, or manually operated weapons.