Governor Abigail Spanberger signed SB 749 on May 14, banning the sale, manufacture, and import of AR-15 style rifles and magazines over 15 rounds in Virginia. The law takes effect July 1. Within hours, the NRA and Gun Owners of America filed lawsuits in both state and federal court.
Then prosecutors started saying no.
13 and counting
Thirteen Virginia prosecutors have publicly announced they will not enforce the ban. The top prosecutors from Spotsylvania, Pulaski, Powhatan, Smyth, and Warren counties released statements questioning the law’s constitutionality. More joined in the days that followed.
Spotsylvania Commonwealth’s Attorney Ryan Mehaffey put it directly: “I am not going to take law-abiding citizens as of June 30th, 2026, and criminalize that same behavior on July 1st, 2026, solely on the basis of this new law.”
The governor’s response
Governor Spanberger’s office pushed back: “The people of Virginia must be able to trust that all the commonwealth’s attorneys will uphold the rule of law and keep Virginians safe.”
Attorney General Jay Jones said he expects prosecutors to enforce state law. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has also signaled potential federal involvement.
The legal fight
The lawsuits cite the Supreme Court’s rulings in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), which established an individual right to own firearms, and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), which requires gun regulations to be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
The core argument: AR-15 style rifles are “in common use” for lawful purposes. Americans own an estimated 20 to 30 million of them. Between 1990 and 2021, Americans bought more than 400 million rifle magazines with 30+ round capacity. If those numbers make them “in common use” under Heller, banning them may violate the Second Amendment.
What this means
This is not just a gun story. It is a rule-of-law story. Elected prosecutors choosing which laws to enforce based on their constitutional opinion sets a precedent that cuts in every direction. If conservative prosecutors can decline to enforce gun laws, progressive prosecutors can decline to enforce immigration cooperation mandates.
The ban makes Virginia one of 10 states with assault weapons restrictions. If the courts uphold it, it could become a model. If they strike it down under Bruen, it could close the door on assault weapons bans nationwide.
Update, June 25, 2026: The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Hawaii’s 2023 gun carry law in a 6-3 ruling, with Justice Samuel Alito writing the majority opinion. The law had barred carrying firearms on private property without owner permission and listed more than a dozen locations, including beaches and restaurants serving alcohol, as sensitive places off-limits to firearms. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote the dissent.
The case was brought by three Maui residents and the Hawaii Firearms Coalition, and the Trump administration filed in support of the challengers. Alito’s majority opinion held that the Hawaii law violated the standard set by the 2022 Bruen v. New York decision, which requires gun laws to be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Virginia prosecutors who have refused to enforce the state’s assault weapons ban have cited the same Bruen framework as legal justification for their position.
The ruling extends a line of post-Bruen decisions that have struck down state-level restrictions on public carry and firearm possession. Adam Kraut, executive director of the Second Amendment Foundation, said the decision affirms “the right to carry in public for self-defense” as a core second amendment principle. Legal challenges to Virginia’s ban are expected to draw directly on this ruling as they advance through the courts. (Source: The Guardian, June 25, 2026)