Lawsuit challenges expanded background checks as Virginia defends handgun purchase cap

Gun rights groups filed a lawsuit challenging a law scheduled to go into effect next week that will expand background checks for purchasing firearms.

The Virginia Citizens Defense League, other gun rights groups and gun owners are asking that the new law be halted from going into effect while the lawsuit is ongoing.

The new law, which would expand background checks to all gun sales, is slated to go into effect July 1 along with several other new gun control laws. The original proposal called for background checks to be applied to transfers, but that didn’t make it into the final legislation.

According to the lawsuit, two people in Lynchburg who want to purchase firearms from a third person in a private sale after July 1 claim they will be unable to do so under the new law. They say they are eligible to purchase firearms in a private sale, but they do not want to undergo a background check and don’t want to pay the fee to have one done. The lawsuit claims the new law violates the Virginia Constitution.