The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division sued Virginia Wednesday, claiming a ban on modern semiautomatic firearms violated the Second Amendment.
Since Thursday, state judges in Virginia’s Lancaster County and Washington County issued preliminary injunctions preventing enforcement of a ban on modern semiautomatic firearms that Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed into law on May 14. In addition to the ban on the semi-automatic firearms, SB749 also would outlaw standard-capacity magazines, setting an arbitrary limit of 15 rounds that was slated to take effect Wednesday prior to the injunctions.
“SB749 infringes the right of law-abiding Virginians to purchase and sell AR-15 style rifles and therefore violates the Second Amendment,” the lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia says. “Thus, Defendants have acted and will continue to act in blatant disregard of the constitutional rights of the citizens of Virginia.”
VIRGINIA GUN RIGHTS UPDATE!
The @CivilRights divison of the DOJ has officially sued the state of Virginia over their “Assault Weapons” ban. https://t.co/Bb8ZKG4ZfM pic.twitter.com/2uRoEOzqT5
— National Association for Gun Rights (@gunrights) July 1, 2026
In the brief, the Civil Rights Division cited the dissent of Associate Justice Clarence Thomas to the 2000 Supreme Court decision in Stenberg v. Carhart, in which he wrote that the term “assault weapons” is a euphemism that gun-control advocates use to gain support for banning modern semi-automatic firearms.
The Supreme Court granted writs of certiorari in Viramontes v. Cook County, Illinois and Grant v. Higgins, involving bans similar to the one Spanberger signed that were imposed by Cook County, Illinois, (which includes Chicago) and Connecticut, consolidating the cases for hearing in its term starting in October.
“It’s a pleasant change of pace to have a federal administration that at least in part has shown itself to be responsive to the legal needs of gun owners,” Second Amendment Foundation Senior Director of Legal Operations William Sack told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We fully support the DOJ getting in the fight and pulling in the direction of liberty.”
Under the Supreme Court’s rulings in Heller and Bruen, firearms in common use for lawful purposes fall under the Second Amendment’s protection. The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimated in January that over 32 million “modern sporting rifles” were in circulation, and that 2.8 million such rifles were sold in 2000.
In an article published May 13, The New York Times noted that both the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle (which bears a resemblance to the M16 and M4 select-fire weapons used by the U.S. military) and semiautomatic rifles with cosmetic features or accessories that make them look like fully-automatic AK-47s are popular firearms owned by millions of civilians.
“The OAG will review the complaint and defend Virginia’s assault weapons ban against the Trump DOJ’s misuse of the Civil Rights Division,” Rae Pickett, a spokeswoman for Democratic Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones told the DCNF. “This commonsense law keeps Virginians safe, protects law enforcement, and safeguards communities across the Commonwealth.”
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with comment from the office of Democratic Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones.
(DCNF)
