Though there have been setbacks for gun rights in 2026, momentum is clearly on the side of enhancing protections for the freedom to keep and bear arms. Take Virginia, for example.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s (D) crown jewel of gun control was a sweeping ban on the most popular sporting rifles in the U.S., as well as standard capacity ammunition magazines. The infringement wilted under pressure from lawsuits brought by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and others just before it was to take effect.
Then came preliminary injunctions against the statute, which was to go into effect on July 1. Still, anti-Second Amendment forces claimed that Judge Jeffrey L. Campbell’s ruling in the Washington County Circuit Court applied only locally.
Judge wisely puts speculation to rest over injunction’s scope
In his letter dated July 7, Campbell dispelled speculation about whether the preliminary injunction he put in place on June 25 affected the entire state.
He wrote that the injunction has “statewide application and enjoins all law enforcement agencies of the commonwealth,” including law enforcement officers, from enforcing the “assault weapon” and magazine ban.
Campbell also amended the injunction’s start date to July 21, 2026, to give local officials enough time to prepare for the ruling’s implementation.
Judge eviscerates DA’s belief that the injunction only applied locally
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones (D), a fierce opponent of gun rights, disagreed with the plaintiffs in Santolla v. Katz. He claimed the order did not have statewide implications on what has been a bad week for the state’s anti-gunners.
On Tuesday, the same day Judge Campbell confirmed the preliminary injunction’s reach, Jones reacted angrily to a Virginia Supreme Court’s refusal to consolidate four lawsuits against the AR-15 ban into one.
“Certainly yesterday, we had hoped to get a decision to streamline these cases,” the AG told The Mercury. “They popped up in certain parts of Virginia, but we are going to continue to fight to enforce the bills that were passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Spanberger.”
Stay tuned.
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