Gun-Rights Groups Launch 11th Hour Bid To Block Virginia’s One-Gun-A-Month Law

A coalition of gun-rights groups has filed a last-minute bid to prevent Virginia from implementing monthly limits on gun purchases.

On July 1, Virginia will prohibit residents from buying more than one gun per month unless they are law enforcement or hold a valid gun-carry license. The measure serves as a key part of the gun-control package that Democrats passed after taking control of the Virginia legislature, but Second Amendment advocates say it violates the state constitution, as well as federal gun rights. The Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL), Gun Owners of America, and Gun Owners Foundation filed suit in the Virginia circuit court for the county of Goochland to prevent the law from taking effect.

"We don't ration any other constitutional rights," Philip Van Cleave, president of the VCDL, told the Washington Free Beacon. "We don't say, ‘Well, you can only go to church once a week. You can only read one newspaper a month.' We don't do any of that. We don't ration our rights."

Democrats won both houses of the state legislature in 2019 with major backing from Michael Bloomberg and gun-control groups. The new majority's push for major gun-control legislation, however, sparked major pushback from local governments. All but 4 of Virginia's 95 counties declared themselves "Second Amendment Sanctuaries," pledging not to enforce certain gun bans they believe to be unconstitutional. The opposition movement culminated in a massive January protest in Richmond organized by the VCDL.