Virginia return to universal background checks for private gun sales challenged

LYNCHBURG, Va. (CN) —A collection of gun rights organizations filed a show cause motion Thursday, hoping a Lynchburg judge will find Virginia State Police in contempt for resuming universal background checks for private firearms sales.

The motion from Virginia Citizens Defense League, Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation and Virginia residents Raul Wilson and Wyatt Lowman, follows a Wednesday announcement that the state would resume the checks. The plaintiffs argue the move violates a permanent injunction and final order from Lynchburg-based Judge Patrick Yeatts, issued in October, that struck the 2020 Virginia law requiring checks between nonlicensed firearm dealers in its entirety.

The law effectively prohibited those between 18 and 21 from purchasing handguns by requiring prospective firearm purchasers to undergo a background check using the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which automatically rejects handgun transfers to those under 21. Yeatts ruled the law unconstitutional as applied to those under 21 and found the law could not be severed to remedy the portion deemed unconstitutional, striking the entire law. Yeatts reasoned that if he removed the provision for those under 21, it would unfairly require only those 21 and over to undergo a background check.

The Virginia State Police resumed requiring the checks after a 2026 law aimed at nullifying the injunction took effect. Governor Abigail Spanberger signed the law with an emergency clause, which ostensibly took effect before the usual July 1 effective date for most legislation.

“While preparing for the implementation of this legislation, VSP sought guidance from the Office of the Attorney General to reconcile HB 1525 with an existing injunction issued by the Circuit Court for the City of Lynchburg. The Virginia State Police has been advised that the new law supersedes the prior court order,” Virginia State Police spokesperson Robin Lawson said in a statement. “As a result, background checks for private firearm sales are once again available.”

The plaintiffs argue the state cannot resume checks until Yeatts agrees that the 2026 law nullifies his ruling and dissolves the injunction.

“It appears that the commonwealth’s executive branch of government no longer has any respect for the rule of law,” the plaintiffs wrote in their motion. “The General Assembly, the governor, defendant and now the attorney general all believe they are free to enforce Section 18.2-308.2:5 irrespective of this court’s permanent injunction, simply because they passed a new law saying they could.  Beyond the immediate and irreparable harm to countless Virginians caused by these actions, the commonwealth ceases to have a functional system of government if defendant and those directing him from above are permitted to simply ignore a court’s clear directive.”

The plaintiffs claim the emergency clause is ineffective without a four-fifths majority in the legislature. The Democratic-controlled General Assembly passed the law on party lines.

“Because this court has not dissolved its previously entered injunction, the only conclusion that can be drawn from these new facts is that defendant stands in deliberate and willful violation of this court’s order,” the plaintiffs said. “Not only does defendant stand in open violation of this court’s order, but also plaintiffs are irreparably harmed by defendant’s actions.”

Attorney General Jay Jones did not directly address how the decision to resume checks squares with a potential contempt of a court order.

“Following enactment of HB 1525, which was passed by the General Assembly and signed by the governor, the commonwealth filed a motion in Lynchburg Circuit Court to dissolve the injunction,” the office of the attorney general said in a statement. “The Office of the Attorney General will continue to represent the Virginia State Police as this case proceeds”.

The 2026 law’s patron in the House of Delegates is Democrat Garrett McGuire, a classmate of Seung-Hui Cho, whose killing of 32 people at Virginia Tech in 2007 remains the country’s deadliest school shooting. McGuire said the background checks are a commonsense measure.

“This is a commonsense law that passed because Virginians in every corner of the commonwealth understand a simple truth that background checks save lives and keep guns out of the hands of criminals,” McGuire said in a statement. “When the courts struck down that requirement, they opened a dangerous gap, and Virginians paid the price for it. A convicted criminal was able to get his hands on a gun and take an innocent life at Old Dominion University. That is the cost of leaving this law unenforced. I carried HB 1525 to close that gap, and I am glad the commonwealth will finally do what this law requires. We owe it to every Virginia family to make sure these checks happen consistently and without exception.”

Cardinal News, a publication covering Southwest and Southside Virginia, reported state police waited almost a month after Spanberger signed the law before resuming the checks.

Democrats passed sweeping gun control measures during the 2026 session, most notably banning the sale of high-capacity semiautomatic firearms, sometimes called assault weapons. Spanberger signed into law bills creating a state cause of action against members of the firearm industry for consumer protection violations, outlawing firearms in hospitals and on college campuses, and creating a Class 5 felony for anyone who sells or purchases ghost guns.

Democrats also passed laws hoping to curb the theft and misuse of firearms with a bill that makes it a Class 4 misdemeanor for failing to store firearms in locked boxes in homes with minors and a civil penalty for leaving firearms unattended in vehicles.

“VSP is violating a court order, and that can’t stand,” Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, said in a statement.