GOA, VCDL Challenge Virginia’s New Arms Ban for Young Adults

The Department of Justice may not be enforcing the federal ban on commercial handgun sales to adults under the age of 21, but that decision doesn’t have any effect on state-level restrictions that infringe on the Second Amendment rights of young adults. 

Those infringements include a new law in Virginia that prohibits under-21s from purchasing handguns and so-called “assault firearms,” regardless of whether a federally licensed firearms dealer is selling the gun or the transfer is made in a private-party sale. 

Now Gun Owners of America and Virginia Citizens Defense League, along with the foundations supporting those organizations and two individual plaintiffs, are suing the superintendent of the Virginia State Police over enforcement of the new law. 

The lawsuit, filed in the circuit court for the city of Lynchburg (and not federal court, it should be noted), points out that six years ago, that very same court recognized “the right of adults under 21 to purchase a handgun, the ‘quintessential self-defense weapon,’” under Article I, Section 13 of the Virginia Constitution. Four years later the same court affirmed that decision in a case called Wilson v. Settle. 

That case dealt with Virginia’s “universal” background check law, which was ultimately enjoined because the judge found that it effectively barred young adults from purchasing handguns via a private sale, which was legal under Virginia law. The young adults had to go through an FFL to transfer the firearms, which resulted in a NICS check, which in turn resulted in a denial. Virginia came up with a scheme that allowed 18-to-20-year-olds to bypass NICS while still going through a state-conducted background check, but the court held that practice impermissible and a violation of the state constitution since it still imposed a double standard on gun sales depending on the age of the adult.  

So, in order to reimpose “universal” background checks, Virginia’s Democrat-controlled legislature passed a bill earlier this year that they believe addressed the problem: banning under-21s from purchasing handguns at all, even in a private sale. Along with that, the state also imposed another law prohibiting the sale of so-called assault firearms to under-21s, even though a separate bill (now enjoined by several injunctions) prohibited the sale of “assault firearms” to all adults. 

The plaintiffs argue that the legislature and Gov. Abigail Spanberger “did precisely what this Court warned the Commonwealth it could not do – ban 18-to-20-year-olds, who unquestionably ‘have a right to bear arms’ from purchasing various classes of commonly owned firearms available to all other adults.”

That category of young adults includes Melody Boyer and Natasha Rousseau, two Liberty University students (and GOA/VCDL members) who both would like to purchase handguns and AR-15-style rifles from a private citizen, but are unable to do so because of the Virginia law in question.

The same law could also be challenged in federal court, but any plaintiffs would run headlong into two Fourth Circuit decisions that have upheld the federal handgun ban on adults under the age of 21 as well as Maryland’s ban on the sale of so-called assault weapons in general. Filing in circuit court in Lynchburg doesn’t ensure that an injunction will be granted, but there’s a much better chance of that happening than if GOA, VCDL, and the individual plaintiffs had sued in a U.S. district court. 

With the lawsuit filed, now we wait for Virginia Attorney General Jay “Two Bullets” Jones to officially respond. I wouldn’t expect the circuit court judge to rule on the request for an injunction before the end of the year, but within a matter of months the 19-year-old Boyer and 18-year-old Rousseau might actually be able to legally acquire the handguns and rifles they desire, and that the state says they’re not allowed to own.   

Editor’s Note: Groups like GOA and VCDL are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.

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