The Second Amendment community and the Justice Department are closely watching Virginia, where a highly anticipated “assault weapons” ban (AWB) measure has been sitting on Governor Spanberger’s desk with the options to sign it, veto it, amend it, or do nothing, in which case it would become law automatically on April 14.
Just a few days earlier, on April 10, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, representing the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, put the Virginia governor on notice, stating that the federal government is prepared to sue the state if it signs bills that “unconstitutionally limit law-abiding Americans’ individual right to bear arms.”
On April 14, Governor Spanberger amended the AWB bills (HB 217 and SB 749), “to strengthen commonsense gun safety laws,” according to a press statement.
The proposed amendments include changes to the definition of “assault firearm,” in which the bill removes the “thumbhole-stock / pistol-grip feature,” removing some semi-automatic shotguns from the classification as “assault firearms”; and removing the word “fixed” as it describes magazine capacities for a semi-automatic center-fire rifle or pistol with a folding stock. This change broadens the category of firearms that would be defined as “assault firearms.”
All other rifle, pistol, revolving-cylinder shotgun, and belt-fed definitions remain identical.
While the textual changes are identifiable, there is still ambiguity about application and enforcement. In a post on X, the Second Amendment Foundation observed, “The newly proposed language has also created confusion as to its intent in the context of semi-automatic handguns and their magazine capacity. We are reviewing the new language in depth and will be following closely for developments from the Virginia Legislature.”
The General Assembly is scheduled to reconvene on April 22, 2026, to specifically consider the governor’s amendments to these and other bills.
