Spanberger's new gun ban, championed by Bangladesh native, sparks immediate lawsuits

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) provided state Democrats with a big win on Thursday in their ongoing war on the Second Amendment. Despite polls showing earlier this year that Virginians were overwhelmingly opposed, the former CIA officer ratified a ban on so-called "assault firearms."

As of July 1, law-abiding Americans in the Old Dominion will be barred from importing, buying, selling, transferring, or manufacturing:

• semiautomatic center-fire rifle or pistols with fixed magazine capacities in excess of 15 rounds;
• semiautomatic center-fire rifles chambered in calibers larger than .22 that have folding, telescoping, or collapsible stocks; thumb-hold stocks or pistol grips that protrude "conspicuously beneath the action of the rifle"; second hand grips that can be held by the non-trigger hand; grenade launchers; and/or threaded barrels capable of accepting a muzzle brake, muzzle compensator, sound suppressor, or a flash suppressor;
• semiautomatic shotguns that can accept detachable magazines, have a fixed magazine capacity of over 15 rounds, or have collapsible stocks;
• shotguns with revolving cylinders; and
• firearms with the capacity to accept a belt ammunition feeding device.

A violation of the ban will be a Class 1 misdemeanor, the most serious misdemeanor level, and someone convicted of such a violation could face up to a year in jail, a $2,500 fine, and be barred from possessing or transporting such firearms for a period of three years.

'Virginia has now joined the minority of radical states to ban these constitutionally protected firearms.'

Democrat state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim, a Bangladeshi native who came to America in 2000 and served as the gun ban's chief patron, said that "Spanberger's signing of SB749 marks a monumental victory for public safety in the Commonwealth of Virginia."

Salim added that "this law saves lives, and together, we prove that people-powered progress prevails."

The National Rifle Association took legal action just moments after Spanberger ratified the gun ban.

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John Commerford, executive director of the NRA-Institute for Legislative Action, announced on Thursday the filing of "two critical lawsuits in Virginia — one in federal court, with our friends at the Second Amendment Foundation and Firearms Policy Coalition along with two NRA members, and one in state court, in Washington County, Virginia, along with our state association of Virginia Shooting Sports Association and Middleton Firearms and Training and two NRA members."

"The NRA will not sit idly by while progressive politicians strip the rights of law-abiding citizens, and our world-class legal team is locked, loaded, and ready to shoot down this outrageous gun-control law," said Commerford.

Second Amendment Foundation Executive Director Adam Kraut stated, "It’s wild that lawmakers who each take an oath to uphold the Constitution insist on passing bills purposefully designed to gut it."

"The firearms and magazines banned in this law aren’t bizarre and unusual outliers; they’re among the most commonly owned guns and magazines in the country. They’re owned in the tens of millions by peaceable Americans who use them overwhelmingly lawfully," continued Kraut. "Virginia has now joined the minority of radical states to ban these constitutionally protected firearms and, in so doing, joined the club of states we’re suing over it."

The federal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia by the SAF, FPC, and NRA asserts that the gun ban will infringe upon the Second and 14th Amendment rights of NRA members and other plaintiffs and asks the court to declare that the ban and all related laws, regulations, policies, and procedures violate the right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed under the Constitution.

The Justice Department has also signaled that it will be challenging the gun ban in court.

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