What Spanberger just signed
On Thursday, May 14, 2026, Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed Senate Bill 749 into law. It is the most sweeping firearms restriction Virginia has ever enacted. Starting July 1, 2026, it will be a crime to import, sell, manufacture, purchase, or transfer any firearm Virginia now classifies as an “assault firearm,” along with any magazine, belt, drum, or feed strip that holds more than 15 rounds.
Virginia is now the 11th state to enact some form of assault weapons ban. The General Assembly passed identical versions of the bill in March (Senate 21–19, House 59–35). Spanberger sent it back in April with more than a dozen amendments that would have broadened the ban further — most notably striking the word “fixed” from the rifle and pistol magazine-capacity clause. At the April 22 reconvened session, the General Assembly rejected her amendments, passing the bill “by for the day” in both chambers, which returned it to her in its original form. On May 14 she signed the legislature's version unchanged.
A violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor — up to 12 months in jail, up to a $2,500 fine, and a mandatory three-year prohibition on purchasing, possessing, or transporting any firearm following conviction.
Effective date: July 1, 2026. Penalty: Class 1 misdemeanor, up to 12 months + $2,500 + 3-year firearm prohibition. Magazine cap: 15 rounds. Age floor: 21. Lawsuits filed within 24 hours: three — a joint SAF/NRA/FPC federal suit, an NRA state suit, and a DOJ federal suit.
The six categories
Virginia uses a features-based test, not a list of named models. A firearm becomes an “assault firearm” when it matches a defined action plus a defined magazine type plus a required number of physical features. There are six categories.
What this actually covers
The text doesn't name models — it describes features — but the real-world catalog of affected firearms is broad. Industry observers and NRA-ILA flag the following as plainly covered.
| Firearm | Why it's covered | Status |
|---|---|---|
| AR-15 platform rifles | Detachable mag + pistol grip + collapsible stock | Banned |
| AK-pattern rifles | Detachable mag + pistol grip | Banned |
| SIG MCX / MPX | Detachable mag + pistol grip + threaded barrel | Banned |
| IWI Tavor, FN SCAR, CZ Bren 2 | Detachable mag + pistol grip | Banned |
| HK MR556, MR416 | Detachable mag + pistol grip + threaded barrel | Banned |
| Ruger Mini-14 Tactical | Threaded barrel + pistol-grip stock | Banned |
| AR-pistols with braces | Detachable mag + buffer tube + second feature | Banned |
| Saiga-12 / VEPR-12 shotguns | Detachable mag (single feature) | Banned |
| Standard handguns (Glock, 1911, etc.) | Sold with mags 15 rounds and under for VA market — handgun itself not covered absent a second feature | Not in scope |
Spanberger's rejected amendments would have stripped the word “fixed” from Category 1, which NRA-ILA argued would have pulled the Glock 17 with its factory 17-round magazine, and any 1911 with an extended Wilson magazine, into the assault-firearm definition. Because the General Assembly rejected that amendment, those guns are not in scope of the signed law. They could come back into scope only if Virginia revisits the language in a future session.
What is exempt
The one word she tried to delete
That is what the law covers. Here is what Spanberger wanted it to cover.
Category 1 — semi-automatic centerfire rifles and pistols with a fixed magazine capacity greater than 15 rounds — is almost nothing on its own. “Fixed” means built into the firearm, not detachable. Almost no modern rifle or pistol on the market has a fixed magazine over 15 rounds. The clause as written catches very little.
Spanberger's April 14 amendments would have deleted the word “fixed.” The clause would then have read that any semi-automatic centerfire rifle or pistol with a magazine capacity over 15 rounds qualifies as an assault firearm — including detachable magazines, including magazines not even inserted. NRA-ILA argued that reading would have swept in essentially every common centerfire semi-auto in Virginia, including Glock 17s with factory magazines and 1911s with extended Wilson magazines.
The General Assembly killed it. At the April 22 reconvened session, both chambers passed the bill “by for the day” on her amendments — a procedural move that rejects the governor's changes and returns the bill in its original form. Cardinal News led with “General Assembly rejects more than a dozen of Spanberger's amendments.” The word “fixed” stayed in.
What grandfathered owners can and can't do
Firearms and magazines lawfully owned before July 1, 2026 can be kept. There is no confiscation. There is also no path forward in the used market.
| Action | After July 1, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Keep your existing AR, AK, MCX, etc. | Legal — no confiscation |
| Buy a new covered firearm from a Virginia dealer | Prohibited |
| Buy used from another Virginia resident | Prohibited |
| Import one into Virginia from out of state | Prohibited |
| Transfer to spouse, child, parent, grandparent, sibling | Legal |
| Inherit a covered firearm | Legal |
| Possess as an adult under 21 | Prohibited |
| Buy a magazine over 15 rounds | Prohibited |
| Sell to a non-family Virginia resident | Prohibited |
| Sell out of state through an FFL | Legal |
An adult under 21 cannot possess a grandfathered assault firearm. A 19-year-old can legally own a rifle in Virginia generally, but cannot legally possess one that fits SB 749's features test — even one their family already owned. The age floor on possession is something every state Virginia copied from stretched to do.
No legal in-state resale. No legal in-state private transfers outside immediate family. The Virginia secondary market for any firearm meeting the features test is effectively closed on July 1.
Penalties
| Violation | Charge | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Import, sell, manufacture, purchase, or transfer | Class 1 misdemeanor | Up to 12 months + $2,500 fine |
| Post-conviction firearm rights | Mandatory disqualification | 3-year prohibition on purchase, possession, or transport |
| Under-21 possession of any covered firearm | Possession offense | Class 1 misdemeanor |
The companion bill: HB 1524
SB 749 narrows what you may own. HB 1524 narrows where you may carry the firearms SB 749 covers. The two bills move together. HB 1524 was signed in April 2026 with an emergency clause — ahead of SB 749 — not lumped into the May 14 signing.
HB 1524 prohibits public carry — openly or concealed — of any firearm that meets the SB 749 features test, on any public street, road, alley, sidewalk, public right-of-way, or in any public park. The concealed handgun permit exemption is stripped only for the firearms covered by SB 749. A standard non-covered handgun can still be carried by a CHP holder on a sidewalk. A covered firearm cannot.
Together SB 749 and HB 1524 do two distinct things to one defined category of firearm. SB 749 makes it a crime to sell, manufacture, import, or transfer the covered firearms. HB 1524 makes it a crime to publicly carry one, even with a permit. NRA-ILA argues the pair “practically eliminates” the right to carry the affected firearms. The pincer is real — it just doesn't reach every handgun in Virginia.
How it got here
Three lawsuits in 24 hours
Spanberger signed SB 749 on Thursday, May 14, 2026. Within 24 hours, at least three separate legal actions had been filed against it.
McDonald v. Katz — filed in federal court on May 14 as a joint action by the Second Amendment Foundation, the National Rifle Association, the Firearms Policy Coalition, and two private-citizen co-plaintiffs. The complaint challenges both the assault-firearms ban and the 15-round magazine cap as facially unconstitutional under the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.
Santolla v. Katz — filed by the NRA in Washington County Circuit Court on May 14, challenging SB 749 under Article I, Section 13 of the Virginia Constitution. State court is a parallel track to the federal litigation, and a state-court injunction would be enforceable against Virginia officials regardless of the federal posture.
On May 15, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice filed its own federal suit against the Commonwealth through the Civil Rights Division's Second Amendment Section, led by Harmeet Dhillon. A DOJ-led 2A enforcement action against a state AWB is new territory and the most politically loaded of the three filings.
Joint federal suit tests SB 749 under the Second Amendment as interpreted by Heller, Bruen, and Rahimi. State suit tests it under the Virginia Constitution's Article I, Section 13. DOJ suit tests it as a federal civil-rights enforcement matter. Any one of the three could obtain a preliminary injunction before the July 1 effective date.
The Bruen and Heller problem
Under NYSRPA v. Bruen (2022), firearms regulations must be consistent with America's historical tradition of firearm regulation. Under District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), arms “in common use” for lawful purposes are constitutionally protected and cannot be categorically banned.
The AR-15 alone accounts for tens of millions of firearms in civilian hands in the United States. The plaintiffs' core argument is simple: these are arms in common use for lawful purposes by the only measure the Supreme Court has provided, and a state cannot wholesale ban them by features.
But Virginia sits in the worst possible circuit for that argument.
In August 2024, the Fourth Circuit sitting en banc upheld Maryland's assault weapons ban 10–5 in Bianchi v. Brown. The Fourth Circuit held that AR-15-style rifles are not protected under Heller's “in common use” test and that features-based AWBs are consistent with historical tradition under Bruen.
Virginia sits in the Fourth Circuit. Bianchi is binding precedent on the federal court hearing McDonald v. Katz. That is the legal headwind SB 749's challengers face from day one.
The Supreme Court denied cert in Snope v. Brown on June 2, 2025. Justices Alito, Gorsuch, and Thomas would have granted — one short of the four needed. There is no pending SCOTUS vehicle on the features-based AWB question as of the SB 749 signing. The Fourth Circuit is the last word for Virginia plaintiffs unless and until a new case is taken up.
That is why Santolla v. Katz in Washington County Circuit matters. The Virginia state-constitutional track is not bound by Bianchi. The Virginia Supreme Court has never construed Article I, Section 13 as a ceiling on the legislature's power to ban firearms by category. If a federal injunction is unavailable under Bianchi, state court is the alternative path.
Virginia makes 11
| State | Mechanism | Effective |
|---|---|---|
| California | Features + roster | Long-standing |
| Connecticut | Features + list | Long-standing |
| Delaware | Features + list | 2022 |
| Hawaii | Features | Long-standing |
| Illinois | Features + list | 2023 |
| Maryland | Features + list | Long-standing |
| Massachusetts | Features + list | Long-standing |
| New Jersey | Features + list | Long-standing |
| New York | Features | Long-standing |
| Washington | Features | 2023 |
| Virginia | Features (6 categories) | July 1, 2026 |
Virginia is the first state to add itself to the AWB roster since Washington in 2023. It is the first southern state with a features-based AWB. And it sits inside the Fourth Circuit, which already upheld Maryland's ban in Bianchi v. Brown in August 2024 — en banc, 10–5. Federal challengers in Virginia start the case from inside the circuit that has already ruled against them.