{"id":384179,"date":"2026-07-02T22:03:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T22:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/384179\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T22:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T22:03:11","slug":"us-justice-department-sues-virginia-california-over-firearm-restrictions-jurist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/384179\/","title":{"rendered":"US Justice Department sues Virginia, California over firearm restrictions – JURIST"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed lawsuits Wednesday against Virginia and California, alleging that newly enacted firearm restrictions in both states violate the Second Amendment<\/a> to the US Constitution.<\/p>\n

The complaint<\/a> filed against Virginia in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia challenges Senate Bill 749<\/a>, which Governor Abigail Spanberger signed in May. The law makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to sell, purchase, import, manufacture, or transfer firearms classified as \u201cassault firearms,\u201d including AR-15-style rifles.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Senate Bill 749 separately restricts magazines holding more than 15 rounds. The DOJ argues that the ban cannot survive the test established in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen<\/a> because the covered rifles are \u201cin common use\u201d by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes. The complaint acknowledges contrary precedent from the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which upheld Maryland\u2019s assault weapons ban in Bianchi v. Brown<\/a>, but it contends that the case was wrongly decided and asks that it be overturned.<\/p>\n

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche emphasized<\/a> the significance of the Virginia lawsuit in protecting the right to bear arms: \u201cThe Constitution is not a suggestion, and the Second Amendment is not a second-class right.\u201d The law was set to take effect Wednesday but is currently blocked<\/a> by state court injunctions won by gun rights groups. A spokesperson for Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones\u2019s office said<\/a> the commonwealth will defend the measure, arguing that it will \u201ckeep[ ] Virginians safe, protect[ ] law enforcement, and safeguard[ ] communities across the Commonwealth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit<\/a> filed against California in the US District Court for the Central District of California targets Assembly Bill 1127<\/a>, which Governor Gavin Newsom signed in October. The law, effective Wednesday, bars licensed dealers from selling \u201csemiautomatic machinegun-convertible pistol[s],\u201d defined to encompass handguns with a cruciform trigger bar, a design feature of Glock and similar pistols that legislators say makes them easy to convert into automatic weapons.<\/p>\n

The suit also seeks to halt enforcement of the state\u2019s handgun \u201cRoster,\u201d which limits retail sales to models with state-mandated safety features. Blanche called<\/a> the restrictions a \u201cblatant trampling of our rights.\u201d A spokesperson for Newsom responded<\/a> that the administration is \u201ctrying to dismantle California\u2019s commonsense gun safety laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both suits were brought under 34 U.S.C. \u00a7 12601<\/a>, which permits the US to seek equitable relief against a \u201cpattern or practice\u201d of conduct by government officers that deprives people of constitutional rights.<\/p>\n

The complaints come one day after the US Supreme Court agreed<\/a> to hear Viramontes v. Cook County<\/a> and Grant v. Higgins<\/a>, challenges to assault weapons bans in Illinois and Connecticut, respectively. It also shortly follows the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling in Wolford v. Lopez<\/a>, which struck down a Hawaii restriction on carrying firearms onto private property open to the public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed lawsuits Wednesday against Virginia and California, alleging that newly enacted firearm…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-384179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}