Federal Firearm License (FFL) holders in Virginia may be excused for being dazed and confused as they deal with the whiplash that is the commonwealth’s new and treacherous gun control landscape.
These gun shops must navigate state law and court injunctions, and in the latest twist, banned AR-15s and similar models are back on display for sale, even as the law against them remains.
One dealer told USA Carry that his business is burning the midnight oil to satisfy customers and avoid anything that could jeopardize his license.
Popular semi-automatic weapons are at least temporarily for sale
Point Blank Gun Shop manager T.J. Smith described the welcome display. “They’re back on the wall now. We have ARs and stuff back on the shelf, high-capacity handguns back in the case. We have to do a lot of research, a lot of nighttime study and stuff like that.”
That’s because anti-Second Amendment Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) in May signed the ban on popular sporting rifles into law. That was short-lived, as Gun Owners Foundation and the Virginia Citizens Defense League won a preliminary injunction the following month against the prohibition.
Enforcement, set to start on July 1, 2026, was moved to the last day of the year.
Clarity, for better or worse, is coming from SCOTUS
Gun rights supporters expect Virginia to appeal, but there’s another and much more important development that may make all the state-level maneuvering moot.
The U.S. Supreme Court finally agreed in June to put the case against semi-automatic weapons on the fall calendar. The sporting community feels both optimism and apprehension as the high court tackles the issue.
The clear precedent Heller established should guarantee that such ubiquitous firearms in “common use,” as these modern sporting rifles certainly are, enjoy Second Amendment protections.
But predicting court rulings is tricky, and expectations are notably tempered as both sides gear up for critical arguments in the fall. However it plays out, FFLs in Virginia and several other outlier states will presumably get clarity on the dilemma by next summer.
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