Key Takeaways
- A Virginia judge has blocked the state’s new assault firearm ban, issuing a preliminary injunction that prevents enforcement while the case goes on.
- The injunction applies to the entire state, allowing licensed dealers to sell firearms while it remains in effect, but local law enforcement may still enforce laws.
- Plaintiffs, including John Crump and several gun organizations, argue that the ban violates the Virginia Constitution’s right to bear arms.
- The state plans to appeal the ruling, asserting that the ban is necessary for public safety despite the judge’s decision.
- This case is part of a broader legal challenge to SB749, with other cases pending decisions in various jurisdictions.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
LANCASTER, VA — A Virginia judge has blocked the state’s new “assault firearm” ban statewide, six days before it was set to take effect on July 1.
Lancaster County Circuit Court Judge John S. Martin granted a preliminary injunction Thursday in Crump v. Katz, barring the Virginia State Police from enforcing the ban while the case proceeds. He read the ruling from the bench. The injunction runs through December 31, 2026, or until the court issues a final order, according to Courthouse News.
This is the lawsuit I have been following since gun owners filed it one day after Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed SB749 into law. The plaintiffs are Second Amendment journalist John Crump, Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation, the Virginia Citizens Defense League, and the Virginia Citizens Defense Foundation. The defendant is Virginia State Police Superintendent Col. Jeffrey S. Katz, sued in his official capacity.
The case turns on the Virginia Constitution. The plaintiffs argued SB749 violates Article I, Section 13, which protects the right to keep and bear arms. The Commonwealth took the remarkable position that the provision is a collective, militia-tied clause rather than an individual right, which would leave Virginians with less protection under their own constitution than they have under the Second Amendment. Judge Martin was not willing to let the ban take effect while that argument plays out.
There is also a wrinkle on who is carrying the case. According to plaintiff John Crump, who described the ruling on a livestream, the judge found GOA and VCDL lacked standing but that Crump, as a gun owner directly hit by the ban, did. The written order is not public yet, so I am treating that as preliminary until it spells out the court’s reasoning, which Van Cleave expects as soon as tomorrow.
The scope of the ruling matters as much as the result. The Commonwealth asked the judge to limit the injunction to Lancaster County. He refused. The state then asked him to stay his own order. He refused that too. The injunction now applies to the Virginia State Police across the entire Commonwealth, effective immediately.
Read that part carefully, though. The order runs against the State Police, and since dealer sales clear through the State Police background check system, licensed dealers across Virginia can sell these firearms again while the injunction holds. That is why this is being reported as a block on the sales ban. What the order does not do is bind local commonwealth’s attorneys or local police. That gap is real enough that the plaintiffs in a separate Washington County case argued the same day for a broader injunction reaching all law enforcement, not just the State Police. Until a court closes that gap, a local prosecutor who wants to charge someone over a private transfer is not bound by Thursday’s ruling.
More from USA Carry:
VCDL President Philip Van Cleave confirmed the injunction reaches both the assault firearm ban and the law’s prohibition on publicly carrying those firearms. The fate of the magazine restriction, the 15-round cap that was also set to hit July 1, is not yet clear. Van Cleave said he expected to know more soon. I will update readers once the written order spells out the full scope.
Van Cleave was confident about what comes next. “We expect the Commonwealth to appeal and we expect to prevail,” he said.
The Commonwealth is not done. Attorney General Jay Jones, in a statement posted by his office, called the ruling disappointing and said the state will “urgently file a motion to stay this ruling and appeal this temporary injunction.” He repeated the administration’s line that the ban keeps Virginians safe.
Gov. Spanberger’s office stood by the law, saying the governor believes firearms built to inflict maximum casualties do not belong near schools, families, or on Virginia streets.
House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore welcomed the decision, calling it “welcome, but not unexpected” given the constitutional warnings Republicans raised during the session.
Crump v. Katz is one of several state and federal challenges to SB749. A separate Spotsylvania County case, Curtis v. Katz, was denied a preliminary injunction last week, and an NRA-affiliated case in Washington County was argued the same day as the Lancaster ruling with no decision yet from the bench. The Virginia Supreme Court has convened a three-judge panel to decide whether the state cases should be consolidated.
For now, the broadest gun ban Virginia has passed in a generation is on hold. The state will run to the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court of Virginia to try to undo it before July 1. I will track every step of the appeal and report what the higher courts do.
