Legal/Law/Criminal Justice and Reform

Hearing On Hold In Case Challenging Spanberger Semi-Auto Gun Ban

(Adnan Masri, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

A planned Friday hearing to discuss a potential injunction to block a ban on modern semiautomatic firearms is on hold, a Virginia court ruled Tuesday.

The Circuit Court of Lancaster County, Virginia, issued the order Tuesday, prompting Gun Owners of America and the Virginia Citizens Defense League to file an emergency motion to reinstate the hearing. GOA blasted the order in a Tuesday post on X.

“GOA, GOF, & @VCDL_ORG‘s VA Assault Weapons Ban case has been unjustly stayed & our Friday hearing canceled,” GOA said. “This is a disappointing action by the court & we are exploring avenues to continue to protect gun owners from this law’s implementation in just a few weeks.”

🚨BREAKING🚨

GOA, GOF, & @VCDL_ORG‘s VA Assault Weapons Ban case has been unjustly stayed & our Friday hearing canceled.

This is a disappointing action by the court & we are exploring avenues to continue to protect gun owners from this law’s implementation in just a few weeks. https://t.co/rnKudqWtAw pic.twitter.com/4yoHLWsAkQ

— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) June 10, 2026

In the filing, GOA criticized attorneys from the office of Democratic Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones for delaying their response to the initial motion.

“On May 18, 2026, Plaintiffs filed their Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction (the ‘Motion’), seeking temporary injunctive relief to protect countless Virginians from the irreparable harm that the Challenged Statutes will immediately inflict beginning on July 1,” GOA’s brief said, later adding, “Despite having had Plaintiffs’ Motion for nearly a month, Defendant waited until June 8 to file a lengthy brief and voluminous exhibits in response to the Motion.”

Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed the ban on so-called “assault weapons,” SB 749, into law on May 14, drawing immediate lawsuits from multiple pro-Second Amendment organizations. The National Rifle Association (NRA), Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) filed their case in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Virginia suffered a legal defeat on June 4 when a judge reaffirmed an injunction blocking the state from implementing its “universal background check” law. Virginia had attempted to enforce the law after Spanberger signed emergency legislation.