{"id":729,"date":"2026-07-01T21:11:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T21:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729"},"modified":"2026-07-01T21:11:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T21:11:00","slug":"doj-sues-virginia-for-trying-to-ban-most-popular-rifle-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Sues Virginia For Trying To Ban ‘Most Popular Rifle In America’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The U.S. Department of Justice is taking Virginia to court over its so-called \u201cassault firearms\u201d ban, filing a lawsuit just hours after it had been slated to take effect on July 1.<\/p>\n

Read more The Supreme Court Doesn\u2019t Have The Final Word On Birthplace Citizenship<\/a><\/p>\n

Gov. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., signed a law that creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for importing, selling, manufacturing, purchasing, or transferring the firearms, which include standard, semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15-style rifle, the country\u2019s most popular firearm.<\/p>\n

Attorney General Todd Blanche\u2019s office filed a Wednesday morning saying the law violates the Second Amendment. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Constitution is not a suggestion, and the Second Amendment is not a second-class right,\u201d Blanche said in a press release. \u201cThis Justice Department has done more to protect the Second Amendment than any administration in our nation\u2019s history, and we will continue to do so whenever necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit, filed in a Richmond federal court, does not address the standard-capacity magazine ban, limiting magazines to no more than 15 rounds. The normal amount for an AR-15 is 30 rounds.<\/p>\n

The Department of Justice argues that the ban violates U.S. Supreme Court precedent set in , which requires that any firearm regulation meet a two-pronged test to be considered constitutional: If the plain text of the Second Amendment protects the citizen\u2019s conduct, a regulation is presumably unconstitutional; and, a regulation can only be considered constitutional if it is \u201cconsistent with this Nation\u2019s historical tradition of firearm regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the historical record shows that citizens were able to keep firearms commonly in use at the time, and the AR-15s and other similar guns are some of the most commonly used today, they are almost always protected firearms, the lawsuit states.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no historical tradition of banning arms in common use. Therefore, the Second Amendment protects the right of law-abiding Americans to possess and use weapons that are in common use for lawful purposes,\u201d the lawsuit says. \u201cThe statute bans the purchase and sale of AR-15 style rifles. As set forth in this section, Americans own and use for lawful purposes tens of millions of AR-15 style rifles.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DOJ\u2019s suit also makes clear that \u201ccommon sense dictates that the right to bear arms requires a right to acquire arms, just as the right to free press necessarily includes the right to acquire a printing press, or the right to freely practice religion necessarily rests on a right to acquire a sacred text,\u201d citing a 2025 case out of the 10th Circuit.<\/p>\n

Read more The Supreme Court\u2019s Abysmal Birthplace Citizenship Ruling Is Exactly Why We Should Ban Surrogacy<\/a><\/p>\n

The lawsuit notes that even the law, by using the term \u201cassault firearms,\u201d is deploying \u201ca rhetorically charged political term developed by anti-gun publicists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Prior to 1989, the term assault weapon did not exist in the lexicon of firearms. It is a political term, developed by anti-gun publicists to expand the category of assault rifles so as to allow an attack on as many additional firearms as possible on the basis of undefined evil appearance,\u2019\u201d the lawsuit adds, quoting a 1997 law review article. \u201cIn the real world (as opposed to the fevered imaginations of some politicians), the rifles that the statute calls \u2018assault firearms\u2019 include ordinary semiautomatic rifles lawfully possessed and used by millions of law-abiding Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The action comes several weeks after Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon threatened a lawsuit. In the press release, Dhillon said, \u201cI keep my promises,\u201d adding, \u201cLaw-abiding Americans should not have to live under threat of criminal sanction for simply exercising their Second Amendment right to possess arms owned by millions of their fellow citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

As The Federalist reported, there are numerous other lawsuits at the federal and state level that have come in to challenge both the \u201cassault firearms\u201d ban and the magazine capacity ban.<\/p>\n

On Monday, a lawsuit filed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) achieved a statewide preliminary injunction on the gun and magazine bans in a state court in Washington County. <\/p>\n

Another injunction against the enforcement of the bans was granted last week in Lancaster County as well.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, numerous Commonwealth Attorneys and county sheriffs have come out in defiance of the Spanberger government, saying they will not enforce or prosecute anyone under the new law.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am of the opinion that these laws are unconstitutional and cannot be enforced,\u201d Page County Commonwealth\u2019s Attorney Chapman L. Good Sr. wrote in a letter to Sheriff Chadwick Cubbage, explaining he will not be prosecuting under the bans. \u201cThe Second Amendment guarantees our [G]od given right to self-defense by ensuring that the right \u2018to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.\u2019 That Amendment also makes clear that a militia is \u2018necessary to the security of a free State.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more House Of The Dragon\u00a0Swung For The Patriarchy And Ruined Its Female Leads Instead<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The DOJ is taking Virginia to court over its so-called ‘assault firearms’ ban, arguing that the law violates the Second Amendment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2300],"tags":[203,2443,345,2463,794,114,2464,799,689,771],"class_list":["post-729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-second-amendment","tag-abigail-spanberger","tag-ar-15","tag-department-of-justice","tag-gun-ban","tag-gun-control","tag-guns","tag-harmeet-dhillon","tag-second-amendment","tag-todd-blanche","tag-virginia"],"yoast_head":"\nDOJ Sues Virginia For Trying To Ban ‘Most Popular Rifle In America’ - Property Transition Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DOJ Sues Virginia For Trying To Ban ‘Most Popular Rifle In America’ - Property Transition Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The DOJ is taking Virginia to court over its so-called 'assault firearms' ban, arguing that the law violates the Second Amendment.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Property Transition Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-01T21:11:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=729#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=729\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/318e38080556664c79a2d76a6b0894b2\"},\"headline\":\"DOJ Sues Virginia For Trying To Ban ‘Most Popular Rifle In America’\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T21:11:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=729\"},\"wordCount\":828,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=729#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4a86dd71157e50d94941fe734481c36b.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Abigail Spanberger\",\"AR-15\",\"Department of Justice\",\"gun ban\",\"gun control\",\"guns\",\"Harmeet Dhillon\",\"Second Amendment\",\"Todd Blanche\",\"Virginia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Second Amendment\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=729#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=729\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=729\",\"name\":\"DOJ Sues Virginia For Trying To Ban ‘Most Popular Rifle In America’ - Property Transition Media\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=729#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=729#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4a86dd71157e50d94941fe734481c36b.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T21:11:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/318e38080556664c79a2d76a6b0894b2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=729#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=729\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=729#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4a86dd71157e50d94941fe734481c36b.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4a86dd71157e50d94941fe734481c36b.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":803},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=729#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"DOJ Sues Virginia For Trying To Ban ‘Most Popular Rifle In America’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Property Transition Media\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/318e38080556664c79a2d76a6b0894b2\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"DOJ Sues Virginia For Trying To Ban ‘Most Popular Rifle In America’ - Property Transition Media","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"DOJ Sues Virginia For Trying To Ban ‘Most Popular Rifle In America’ - Property Transition Media","og_description":"The DOJ is taking Virginia to court over its so-called 'assault firearms' ban, arguing that the law violates the Second Amendment.","og_url":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729","og_site_name":"Property Transition Media","article_published_time":"2026-07-01T21:11:00+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/318e38080556664c79a2d76a6b0894b2"},"headline":"DOJ Sues Virginia For Trying To Ban ‘Most Popular Rifle In America’","datePublished":"2026-07-01T21:11:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729"},"wordCount":828,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a86dd71157e50d94941fe734481c36b.jpg","keywords":["Abigail Spanberger","AR-15","Department of Justice","gun ban","gun control","guns","Harmeet Dhillon","Second Amendment","Todd Blanche","Virginia"],"articleSection":["Second Amendment"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729","url":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729","name":"DOJ Sues Virginia For Trying To Ban ‘Most Popular Rifle In America’ - Property Transition Media","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a86dd71157e50d94941fe734481c36b.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-01T21:11:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/318e38080556664c79a2d76a6b0894b2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a86dd71157e50d94941fe734481c36b.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a86dd71157e50d94941fe734481c36b.jpg","width":1200,"height":803},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=729#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"DOJ Sues Virginia For Trying To Ban ‘Most Popular Rifle In America’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/","name":"Property Transition Media","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/318e38080556664c79a2d76a6b0894b2","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com"],"url":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}