Yesterday, Governor Spanberger signed several bills after the General Assembly approved her changes. Those bills were HB1525 and two companion bills - HB1524 and SB727. HB1525 prohibits individuals under the age of 21 from purchasing and possessing certain firearms, including those who already own those particular firearms. Making matters worse, this bill includes an "emergency clause" that makes the law effective immediately instead of July 1 which is usually t he case. This means that thousands of previously legal gun owners are now in violation of Virginia law with no notice.
The other two bills (SB727/HB1524) out law the carrying and transportation of many common firearms on public property. This includes any semiautomatic centerfire rifle or handgun with a fixed magazine capacity over 15 rounds. This law does not take effect until July 1, 2026.
The Assembly rejected Spanberger's changes to HB217 and SB749, the bills banning the purchase of certain semi-automatomatic handguns and rifles, as well as banning the purchase of magazines that hold more than 15 rounds of ammunition. We are waiting on her signature on the original bills. There is no reason to believe that she is going to veto those bills.
Other Bills that remain to be determined:
HB229 and SB143 - The other bills the Assembly “passed by” during the special session to consider the governor’s changes was HB229/SB143, which bans people from carrying guns at facilities that provide mental health treatment. Spanberger wanted to expand the restricion and remove an exception that allowed staff or security to carry firearms if administrators gave the ok.
By “passing by,” deciding not to offer a final vote on the changes rather than out right voting down the changes, the House and Senate effectively rejected her recommendation. The bill still has the exceptions for anyone who gets written permission from the hospital. It heads back to Spanberger’s desk, too.
The same questions about what the governor will do with HB217 and SB749 apply here. She made the same boilerplate statement about approving the bill’s “general purpose” in her recommendation statement. Will she veto it because the legislature didn’t add what she wanted?
She has 30 days to decide.
As soon as she signs the bills, VSSA is ready to challenge them in court. We have been working with the NRA since the bills passed before the end of the Session to find plantiffs and to draft the documents to challenge them in court. Be assured that VSSA and NRA will not let these infringments on your rights stand.
Additionally we are watching several cases that have been waiting at the U.S. Supreme Court related to gun and magazine bans. The challenges to semiautomatic firearm bans (Viramontes and National Association for Gun Rights) and standard capacity magazine bans (Duncan and Gator’s Custom Guns) were discussed at conference on Friday, April 17. None of those have been listed on the Order’s List, so the Court may reschedule the cases for discussion at a future conference. We’ll keep an eye on their respective dockets.
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