Reacting with lightning speed Thursday, the Second Amendment Foundation and National Rifle Association filed a federal lawsuit challenging Virginia’s new restrictive gun control law, Senate Bill 749, almost before the ink had dried on Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s signature.
Joining NRA and SAF are the Firearms Policy Coalition and two private citizens, Anthony Groenevelt and Justin McDonald, for whom the lawsuit known as McDonald v. Katz is named. They are represented by a powerhouse legal team consisting of attorneys David H. Thompson, Peter A Patterson and William V. Bergstrom with Cooper & Kirk in Washington, D.C. and P. Thomas DiStanislao and Michael H. Brady at Whiteford, Taylor and Preston in Richmond.
The 24-page federal complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division.
While Spanberger is not named as a defendant, the bill, which bans the sale, purchase, importation, manufacture or transfer of so-called “assault firearms” and “certain ammunition feeding devices” is in the legal crosshairs.
“I am signing this bill into law because firearms designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong on our streets,” Spanberger stated. “We are taking this step to protect families and support the law enforcement officers who work every day to keep our communities safe. While the General Assembly chose not to adopt my amendment that specifically carves out certain firearms frequently used for hunting, I will work with the patrons to clarify this language.”
However, in announcing their lawsuit, SAF and NRA officials returned verbal fire.
“It’s wild that lawmakers who each take an oath to uphold the Constitution insist on passing bills purposefully designed to gut it,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “The firearms and magazines banned in this law aren’t bizarre and unusual outliers, they’re among the most commonly owned guns and magazines in the country. They’re owned in the tens of millions by peaceable Americans who use them overwhelmingly lawfully. Virginia has now joined the minority of radical states to ban these constitutionally protected firearms, and in so doing, joined the club of states we’re suing over it.”
And SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb stated, “Virginia lawmakers lied to their constituents and to themselves when they said these laws weren’t bans. A new sales and transfer ban is a ban that’s just one generation removed. On July 1, anyone turning 18 in Virginia will find out that the rights enjoyed by their predecessors don’t apply to them. These bans are an afront to the Constitution and an insult to the intelligence of Virginians who were fed lies and misrepresentations by their elected officials. We’re excited to fast track this case to the Supreme Court.”
“As promised, we are taking Abigail Spanberger to court,” said John Commerford, NRA-ILA Executive Director. “Throughout the legislative session, the NRA and our members fought Richmond’s radical gun control package tooth and nail. We made it clear that this extreme anti-gun proposal, which bans the new purchase of commonly owned firearms and standard capacity magazines in the Commonwealth, is a blatant violation of Second Amendment rights and an affront to landmark Supreme Court cases. Instead of listening to these factual concerns from their constituents, progressive politicians sided with Michael Bloomberg and his gun-grabbing groups. The NRA will not sit idly by while progressive politicians strip the rights of law-abiding citizens, and our world-class legal team is locked, loaded, and ready to shoot down this outrageous gun-control law.”
WRIC News in Richmond quoted state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim (D-Fairfax)—identified as the “chief patron of the legislation—calling adoption of SB 749 a “monumental victory for public safety.”
Named as defendants, in their official capacities, are Col. Jeffrey Katz, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, Goochland County Commonwealth’s Attorney John L. Lumpkins, Jr., Goochland County Sheriff Steven Creasey, Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth and Prince William County Sheriff Glendell Hill.
SB749, which is identical to HB 217, creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for violators. According to a synopsis, “prohibits a person who has been convicted of such violation from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm for a period of three years from the date of conviction.”
However, the bill specifies that an “assault firearm does not include any firearm that is an antique firearm, has been rendered permanently inoperable, or is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action.”
The SAF/NRA/FPC lawsuit states, “AR-15 rifles are among the most popular firearms in the nation, and they are owned by millions of Americans. The most comprehensive survey of American gun owners indicates that about 24.6 million Americans have owned AR-15 or similar modern semiautomatic rifles, with the “median owner” identified as owning a single rifle.”
Right up front, the lawsuit notes, “The plain text of the Second Amendment protects the conduct the Plaintiffs seek to engage in because it “extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding.” By prohibiting Plaintiffs from acquiring common semiautomatic firearms and ammunition magazines, Virginia has prevented them from “keeping and bearing Arms” within the meaning of the Amendment’s text. As a result, “[t]o justify its regulation, the government . . . must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
No hearing date has been set, but plaintiffs are hoping to fast-track this legal action.
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
