COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA SANTOLLA v. KATZ · NO. CL26-1139 WASHINGTON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT · HON. JEFFREY L. CAMPBELL STATEWIDE EXTENSION ANNOUNCED 07/08/26

Plat of coverage · Announced July 8, 2026

Statewide.

Every agency. Every locality. July 21.

Judge Jeffrey L. Campbell is extending his Santolla v. Katz injunction to cover every law enforcement agency in the Commonwealth, per this morning’s VCDL announcement. The gun ban Richmond insisted was still in effect across most of the state loses its last enforcers on July 21.

Announced July 8 Written order not yet entered Start date: July 21

The Commonwealth, fully covered

PLATE 01 The coverage today △

Right now, the injunction covers six localities and one agency.

The June 29 order named Colonel Jeffrey S. Katz of the Virginia State Police, plus the Commonwealth’s Attorneys of Washington, Chesterfield, Frederick, York, and Giles Counties and the City of Chesapeake. That list is not a strategy. It is just the plaintiffs’ home turf, mapped. Everyone else stayed loose.

Sheet 1 of 2 · Coverage as entered June 29, 2026 Schematic · 133 localities
Bound: the six named localities’ prosecutors VSP benched statewide (state police only) Free to enforce: everyone else
6
localities whose prosecutors are bound by the order today
Washington, Chesterfield, Frederick, York, and Giles Counties, and the City of Chesapeake. The plaintiffs, mapped.
127
localities where nothing stops local enforcement today
Every other Commonwealth’s Attorney, police department, and sheriff in Virginia is not a party and not enjoined.
1
statewide agency already benched: the Virginia State Police
Colonel Katz is the named defendant, so VSP stands down everywhere. But VSP is the only agency that does.

“It is not a statewide injunction. A Fairfax County police officer can still make an arrest.”

Tim Anderson · plaintiffs’ co-counsel, on the June 29 order as written

Richmond agreed with him. The Attorney General’s office spent the past week telling Virginians the ban is “in effect across most of the state.” That is the gap Judge Campbell just moved to close.

PLATE 02 The announcement △

What Judge Campbell announced this morning.

The news broke the way most of this fight has broken: from Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. Verbatim, in full:

FIELD BULLETIN @VCDL_ORG JUL 8, 2026 · 10:36 ET
“BREAKING 7/8/26 - A COMPLETE STATEWIDE in junction on AWB and AW carry prohibition is coming on July 21st! Washington County Circuit Court Judge Campbell has announced he is extending his original injunction to be statewide, covering ALL law enforcement agencies! He wants there to be enough time for all Virginia law enforcement to be notified of that injunction, hence the July 21 start date. More details coming later today.”
Philip Van Cleave, president, Virginia Citizens Defense League View the post ↗

As of publication, this post is the only public source for the extension. No written order is out. Plate 07 has the caveats.

PLATE 03 The coverage on July 21 △

On July 21, the map fills in.

As announced: one order, out of one courtroom in the far southwest corner of Virginia, covering all law enforcement in the Commonwealth. Watch it travel from Judge Campbell’s bench in Washington County to the Eastern Shore.

Sheet 2 of 2 · Coverage as announced, eff. July 21 Schematic · 133 localities
Bound: every law enforcement agency, every locality UNTIL FURTHER ORDER · OR JULY 1, 2027

No carve-outs, and nobody left to make the arrest in Fairfax.

PLATE 04 The notice runway △

Why July 21? So nobody can say they didn’t know.

Per Van Cleave, Campbell picked the date deliberately: he wants enough time for every law enforcement agency in Virginia to be notified of the injunction before it starts.

JUL 8 →→→ JUL 21 13 days to put all 133 localities on actual notice

And the clock behind it has not changed: the underlying order runs until further order of the court, or July 1, 2027 at the latest. That is a full year of statewide freeze, unless a higher court takes it away.

PLATE 05 What the order freezes △

Three prohibitions, frozen across the whole map.

Enjoined
Selling, buying, making, or transferring an assault firearm
§ 18.2-287.4:1 · SB 749

The headline ban. Covered by the June 29 order and confirmed in every account of it.

Enjoined
Magazines over 15 rounds
§ 18.2-309.1

The standard-capacity magazine cap rides on the same order.

Delayed, then enjoined
Carrying an assault firearm in public
§ 18.2-287.4 · SB 727 / HB 1524

The budget already benched this one to July 1, 2027. Van Cleave says the statewide order reaches it too. Belt and suspenders, if the entered order says what the announcement says.

PLATE 06 The survey line △

From one corner of the map to all of it, in 26 days.

Jun 25
Crump v. Katz, Lancaster County

Judge John Martin enjoins the ban as to the Virginia State Police. VSP is benched everywhere, but only VSP.

Jun 29
Santolla v. Katz, Washington County

Judge Jeffrey L. Campbell benches VSP again, plus the prosecutors of six named localities. The same day, the budget shoves the carry ban to July 1, 2027.

Jun 30
SCOTUS takes the AR-15 question

Cert granted in Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins. The common-use question that decides SB 749 is on the docket.

Jul 1
The effective date arrives dead

Both headline bans are non-operative the day they were supposed to switch on. The Justice Department sues the Commonwealth before lunch.

Jul 6
Consolidation denied

The three-judge panel refuses to merge the four suits into one courtroom. Every case, and every injunction, stays home.

Jul 8
Campbell announces the statewide extension

Per VCDL: the Santolla order grows to cover all Virginia law enforcement, with a notice runway before it starts.

Jul 21
Every agency in Virginia is under the order Pending

The announced start date. The map below this line is what it buys.

PLATE 07 Plat notes △

What the record shows, and what it does not show yet.

Read before repeating

NOTE 1

Everything on this page about the statewide extension comes from one source: Philip Van Cleave’s July 8 post for VCDL. No written order is public, and no news outlet had confirmed the announcement when this page was published.

NOTE 2

The post promised “more details coming later today.” Check VCDL’s alerts and the Washington County docket for the entered order before treating any detail here as final.

NOTE 3

Whether the extension reaches the public-carry prohibition is Van Cleave’s characterization. The June 29 order, as reported, covered the sale, purchase, manufacture, and transfer ban plus the magazine cap.

NOTE 4

The Attorney General disputes broad readings of the existing order and already has an emergency stay request aimed at the Crump injunction sitting at the Supreme Court of Virginia. An appeal or stay could reach this order too.

NOTE 5

Announced is not entered. Until Judge Campbell signs the statewide order, the patchwork plat at the top of this page is the law.