Spanberger signs Virginia gun-control package, toughens proposed firearms ban before sending it back to lawmakers

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a slate of gun-control bills Tuesday and then went further, amending the legislature's proposed assault-firearms ban to broaden its reach before returning it to the General Assembly for a final vote. The move drew sharp Republican opposition and a formal warning from the U.S. Department of Justice that federal litigation will follow if the Commonwealth enacts what the agency calls an unconstitutional restriction on firearms in common use.

Spanberger did not simply accept or reject House Bill 217 and its Senate companion, SB 749. She rewrote a key piece of the definition. Her amendment removes the word "fixed" from the bill's description of an assault firearm's magazine, a change that critics say vastly expands the number of guns the ban would cover. The legislation now goes back to the General Assembly, which must decide whether to accept the governor's version.

As Fox News Digital reported, Spanberger also signed three other gun-control measures without changes: House Bill 21, which requires firearm manufacturers, dealers, and distributors to adopt "reasonable controls" aimed at preventing illegal sales and opens the door for civil lawsuits if a firearms-industry member's actions are alleged to have contributed to public harm; House Bill 110, which bars leaving a firearm in plain view inside an unattended vehicle; and House Bill 40, which bans the manufacture, sale, transfer, and possession of unserialized homemade firearms, commonly called ghost guns.

What the ban would do

The assault-firearms measure, if the General Assembly accepts Spanberger's amendments, would ban the future sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of covered firearms and magazines holding more than 15 rounds. Firearms legally owned before July 1, 2026, would be grandfathered, but the bill imposes limits on how those firearms could later be transferred or sold. Violations would carry a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable, as Newsmax noted, by up to a year in jail.

The governor's single-word deletion, striking "fixed" from the magazine definition, is where the real controversy lies. The version passed by the General Assembly defined an assault weapon, in part, as a semiautomatic centerfire rifle or pistol with a fixed magazine capacity over 15 rounds. Without that qualifier, gun-rights groups argue, the ban sweeps in any firearm that can accept a detachable magazine of more than 15 rounds. That covers the vast majority of modern semiautomatic handguns and rifles on the market today.

House of Delegates Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, put it bluntly in a statement to News WCYB 5:

"If there was any doubt that Gov. Spanberger was coming for our firearms, this substitute removes it. Not only does it keep in place the de facto ban on some of the most common firearms in Virginia, it goes further and appears to create a ban on any firearm that can accept a magazine of more than 15 rounds. That includes the vast majority of firearms in Virginia that are in common use for legal purposes."

NRA calls it a 'dead of night' maneuver

The timing of Spanberger's amendments added fuel to the backlash. The Washington Times reported that the governor amended the assault-weapons legislation late Monday night, broadening the definition and lowering the magazine-capacity limit from 20 rounds under existing law to 15 rounds. In all, Spanberger signed six gun-control bills and amended four others that had reached her desk.

John Commerford of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action called the late-night maneuver what it looked like.

"Gov. Spanberger's last-minute amendments to these gun control bills, slipped in during the dead of night, are nothing more than a desperate ploy..."

Commerford also pointed to what he described as sloppy drafting across the entire 60-day legislative session: "That is the technical minutia that they changed in this bill, and we saw significant drafting errors in differences across proposed bills throughout the entire 60-day session."

Virginia's political landscape has shifted considerably since Republicans lost their House majority. Democrats have used their trifecta to push an aggressive legislative agenda, a pattern familiar to anyone who followed their redistricting ballot measure fight, where House Speaker Mike Johnson raised $500,000 to oppose the effort.

DOJ puts Spanberger on notice

Before the governor acted Tuesday, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon had already sent a letter to Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones warning that the Civil Rights Division would sue if the Commonwealth enacted the ban. The letter was released Friday.

Dhillon did not mince words:

"This letter provides formal notice that the Civil Rights Division will commence litigation in the event the Commonwealth of Virginia enacts certain bills that unconstitutionally limit law-abiding Americans' individual right to bear arms. Specifically, SB 749, as written, would require Virginia law enforcement agencies to engage in a practice of unconstitutionally restricting the making, buying, or selling of AR-15s and many other semi-automatic firearms in common use."

The letter described AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles as "both widely legal and bought by many ordinary consumers." Dhillon stated that the Justice Department "will seek to enjoin any attempt to infringe the right of law-abiding Virginians to acquire constitutionally protected arms." She noted that the General Assembly had forwarded more than 20 bills restricting Second Amendment rights and urged the governor to reconsider allowing any of them to become law.

In a bid to head off a collision, the letter offered an off-ramp: "In an effort to avoid unnecessary litigation, the Second Amendment Section stands ready to meet and confer with attorneys in the Virginia Attorney General's Office." The closing line left no ambiguity: "The Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens shall not be infringed."

Dhillon reinforced the message on X the same day: "@SpanbergerForVA is on notice: 2A rights SHALL NOT BE infringed. We are closely watching, in the event any unlawful legislation is enacted, we will sue. @CivilRights will protect the 2A rights of law-abiding citizens in Virginia."

The DOJ's posture here mirrors its willingness to hold state-level Democratic officials accountable elsewhere, a dynamic also visible in the FHFA's second referral of New York Attorney General Letitia James to the Justice Department over alleged insurance fraud.

Spanberger's defense

The governor framed her actions as a balance between gun rights and public safety. In a statement released alongside the amendments, Spanberger leaned on her background as a former federal agent:

"I grew up in a family where responsible gun ownership was expected, and I carried a firearm every day as a former federal agent. I support the Second Amendment. But gun violence is the leading cause of death for children and teenagers in America, and that should motivate all of us to ask ourselves what we can do to mitigate this harm."

She added: "This is why I've made amendments to provide clarity for both responsible gun owners and law enforcement, making clear what these changes mean in practice, as Virginians safely purchase and store their firearms. These commonsense steps will help keep our families, our communities, and our law enforcement officers safe."

The claim of "clarity" sits uneasily with the substance of the change. Removing one word from a statutory definition does not clarify, it expands. Gun-rights organizations have made exactly that point. As Breitbart reported, the National Association for Gun Rights noted that the original version "defined an 'assault weapon' as a semi automatic centerfire rifle or pistol with a fixed magazine capacity over 15 rounds." Without "fixed," the definition potentially reaches any semiautomatic pistol or rifle that can accept a standard detachable magazine, which is to say, most of them.

A broader package

The Washington Examiner reported that Spanberger's broader gun-control push also includes raising the minimum age to buy a handgun or assault firearm from 18 to 21, requiring safe firearm storage in homes where minors are present, and creating a gun buyback program. Spanberger called the full package "commonsense gun safety laws."

That phrase, "commonsense", does a lot of heavy lifting. The bills open manufacturers and dealers to civil liability, restrict how law-abiding owners store and transport their property, and redefine common firearms as contraband. Whether any of that survives contact with the Second Amendment, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Bruen and reinforced by the Justice Department's letter, is the question that will likely end up in federal court.

The pattern is not unique to Virginia. Across the country, Democratic officials have prioritized ideological goals over the practical interests of the people they govern, then described the results as moderate and reasonable.

What happens next

The amended assault-firearms ban now returns to the General Assembly. Lawmakers will decide whether to accept Spanberger's changes, reject them, or let the original version stand. Under Virginia procedure, bills that are not vetoed by the deadline automatically become law, a detail that gives the governor significant leverage.

If the ban takes effect in any form, the Justice Department has made clear it will sue. Dhillon's letter was written before Spanberger broadened the definition. The governor's amendment, if anything, strengthens the federal government's case by sweeping in even more firearms that are plainly in common lawful use.

Virginia's gun owners, and the Republican candidates fighting to represent them in an increasingly competitive state, are watching closely. The General Assembly's next move will determine whether this becomes a landmark Second Amendment court battle or a cautionary tale about executive overreach.

Spanberger says she supports the Second Amendment. Her pen says otherwise.