A Lynchburg Circuit Court judge has ruled that an injunction blocking background checks for private gun sales in Virginia will be dissolved next week, ending a legal fight of on-again, off-again background checks.
The judge ruled from the bench on Wednesday that he agreed with the attorney’s general argument and the injunction will be dissolved on July 1.
The permanent injunction was put into place last year by the judge in a lawsuit against the 2020 law that required Virginia State Police to conduct background checks for private gun sales.
The General Assembly passed new legislation earlier this year that accomplished the same goal by requiring anyone who purchases a gun to be 21-years-old. Previously, it was legal to purchase a handgun privately at 18-years-old. Federal law prohibited licensed dealers from selling handguns to anyone under 21.
The new legislation also included language directing VSP to conduct background checks to ensure this law is enforced.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger put an “emergency” tag on the bill with an amendment, which, in theory, would allow it to take effect as soon as the governor signs it.
Under Virginia law, an emergency clause requires approval from four-fifths of each chamber of the General Assembly. The original bill was passed out of the General Assembly on a party-line vote.
Legislators accepted Spanberger’s amendment, with the emergency clause included, on a party-line vote — far below the four-fifths requirement.
The Constitution does not specify that a governor’s proposed amendments with an emergency clause need a four-fifths vote. It just says a majority of members present need to approve.
The bill was signed into law by Gov. Abigail Spanberger, with the emergency tag attached.
At first, months passed with still no background checks taking place for private gun sales.
Cardinal News then published a story on the lack of checks at events on May 26. Two days later, the VSP website was updated to say that background checks for private sales are available. They cited the new law, HB 1525, sponsored by Del. Garrett McGuire, D-Fairfax, that the General Assembly passed with an emergency clause attached, as the reasoning.
“These universal background checks are now required under state law and Virginia State Police is implementing the law to make Virginians and their families safer,” said Spanberger spokesperson Jack Bledsoe at the time.
Attorney General Jay Jones’s office also filed a motion to dismiss the original injunction, finding it moot with the new law in effect.
The plaintiffs in the original Lynchburg case went into an uproar, with some even implying they would support the imprisonment of Jones and the VSP Superintendent Jeffrey Katz for violating the injunction.
About a week after the checks resumed, the judge shut them down again, keeping the original injunction in place, while giving both sides time to make their argument.
VSP updated its website shortly after.
“After a hearing in Lynchburg Circuit Court on June 3, 2026, and in compliance with the injunction and final order entered by the Circuit Court for the City of Lynchburg…VSP currently cannot provide criminal history background checks for the private sale of firearms.”
Agreeing with the attorney general’s position, the judge ruled from the bench on Wednesday that he is dissolving the injunction on July 1, the day most new legislation without an emergency clause goes into effect.
Sources tell Virginia Scope that while the judge appeared to show discomfort with the emergency clause, he did not rule on it. It is unclear why he chose July 1 instead of allowing the injunction to be dissolved immediately, in accordance with the new law’s emergency clause.
VSP will be cleared to begin background checks on private gun sales next week.
“The intent of [this legislation] was always to resolve the conflict that [the judge] identified last October that created this loophole,” said McGuire in an interview with Virginia Scope on Wednesday.
McGuire thanked Jones for defending the law in court, and Jones applauded the judge’s decision in a statement on Wednesday.
“For too long, communities across the Commonwealth have lived in fear and been tormented by grief and loss as the result of preventable gun violence. This is especially true for Black and Brown communities who experience gun violence at a disproportionate rate. Background checks keep guns out of dangerous hands and save lives,” Jones said in a statement.
Jones also attacked former Attorney General Jason Miyares, who did not challenge the injunction when it was originally imposed last October.
“My predecessor’s refusal to defend Virginia’s life-saving law was shameful and it put the safety of our communities at risk,” Jones said. “The Court’s decision today rights that wrong and puts the Commonwealth back on a path of protecting Virginians and stemming the tide of gun violence in our communities.”
Spanberger also applauded the ruling in a statement to Virginia Scope.
“Today’s ruling is a step forward to protect law enforcement officers, kids, and families across the Commonwealth from the threat of gun violence in their communities,” she said. “Virginians across the political spectrum — including a majority of gun owners — broadly recognize that individuals who are prohibited by law from owning a firearm should not be able to purchase a firearm. Restoring universal background checks in Virginia helps achieve that goal by making sure those individuals cannot evade the law through loopholes or private sales.”
Philip Van Cleave, a plaintiff in the case and president of the gun-rights advocacy group Virginia Citizens Defense League, said the decision was “bad news” and that “this issue is not over for VCDL, but it is a setback for the time being.”
Van Cleave also appears to be shifting his attention from using the courts to stop new gun laws to using elections instead.
“Next year the entire Virginia House and Senate are up for grabs,” he wrote on social media. “Courts are the last resort. Better to have good lawmakers, which we don’t have currently. Too many gun owners didn’t vote. Let’s not make that mistake again.”