A new assault weapons ban set to take effect at the beginning of July never went through due to last-minute intervention from a Virginia circuit court judge.

The legislation, which was introduced by two Fairfax County lawmakers, Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim and Del. Dan Helmer, was signed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger. The blocked law, Senate Bill 749 and House Bill 217, made it a Class 1 misdemeanor to import, sell, manufacture, purchase, or transfer certain semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines holding more than 15 rounds.

Lancaster County Circuit Judge John Martin issued the preliminary injunction in favor of Gun Owners of America, the Virginia Citizens Defense League and resident John Crump. Martin ruled that characteristics listed in the bill, including firearms with folding stocks and threaded barrels, lacked any rational basis for a ban.

“Article I, Section 13 is the Commonwealth’s recognition of a pre-existing right with which Virginians were endowed by their creator, and it operates as a fixed limitation on the power of government to enact legislation affecting firearms,” the plaintiffs said in a motion.

Martin rejected the Commonwealth's argument that the state court's analysis should be separated from the framework the Supreme Court requires federal courts to apply after its 2022 ruling in N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen. Martin found that framework instructive: it requires the government to show that a challenged gun regulation is rooted in the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation, rather than relying on interest-balancing or policy-based justifications.

The plaintiffs also rebutted the Commonwealth's claim that the weapons at issue are not in common use and therefore fall outside the "bearable arms" protected by the Second Amendment.

"They are not just common, they are ubiquitous," David Browne, an attorney with Spiro & Browne representing the plaintiffs, told the judge. "The challenged statutes in this case concern some of the most commonly used arms and magazines in the nation."

The Commonwealth signaled it would appeal Martin's ruling. Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones called the decision "disappointing" and said it "puts our communities at risk," according to Courthouse News Service.

On July 1, the same day the ban was originally set to take effect, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit in the Eastern District of Virginia challenging the law as unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. That filing came one day after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear challenges to AR-15 bans from Illinois and Connecticut in its next term.

Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, said the group expects the Commonwealth to appeal but also "expects to prevail."

What's next

No appellate hearing date has been publicly set. The injunction remains in place through December 31, 2026. The Supreme Court's decision to take up the Illinois and Connecticut AR-15 cases could directly affect Virginia's law when the justices rule.