Washington County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey L. Campbell granted a statewide preliminary injunction June 29 blocking enforcement of Virginia's assault firearms and magazine ban just two days before the law was set to take effect — the NRA-ILA announced it as the second injunction in five days to halt the legislation. The ruling in Santolla v. Katz, brought by the NRA and the Virginia Shooting Sports Association alongside several individual plaintiffs, freezes the ban through at least December 31, 2026.

Campbell concluded in a June 29 opinion letter that the challenged laws likely violate Article 1, Section 13 of the Virginia Constitution — the state's individual right to keep and bear arms guarantee — and applied the Bruen framework to assess whether the restrictions have sufficient historical grounding. The court rejected the Commonwealth's argument that the firearms covered by the ban fall into a category government has traditionally regulated, and rejected the historical analogs the state offered to justify the restrictions.

The injunction covers the Virginia State Police and named localities including Washington County, Chesterfield County, Frederick County, York County, Giles County, and Chesapeake. By enjoining the state police — the primary statewide enforcement mechanism — the ruling prevents the ban from going into effect across Virginia pending the litigation outcome. Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones said his office will appeal, stating his intention to continue defending both the magazine capacity limits and the assault firearms ban.

The Santolla v. Katz ruling is the second of its kind this week. A Lancaster County Circuit Court judge granted a separate preliminary injunction in Crump v. Katz on June 25. A third challenge, Black v. Hook, brought by the National Shooting Sports Foundation in Fauquier County Circuit Court, was still pending as of this writing. Jones has signaled he will appeal all three cases, meaning the fight is moving toward the Virginia Court of Appeals and potentially the Virginia Supreme Court — which has not yet issued a definitive ruling applying Bruen to an assault-weapons-style ban.

Virginia's SB 749, signed by Governor Abigail Spanberger on May 14, would have prohibited the future sale, manufacture, and transfer of defined assault firearms — semiautomatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns identified primarily by features including pistol grips, threaded barrels, and folding stocks — and banned feeding devices holding more than 15 rounds. Existing owners retain their firearms under a grandfather clause.

With two preliminary injunctions now in place, dealers across Virginia can continue selling affected firearms and magazines while the cases proceed. The first full merits hearing is scheduled for December, meaning the injunctions cover the peak retail months of the year. Gun shops in the state had already reported background check volumes running more than 100 percent above the prior year in the months leading up to July 1, as buyers moved to acquire affected firearms before the anticipated sale restriction. The VSSA called Campbell's ruling confirmation that Virginia's constitutional arms guarantee carries the same weight as the federal Second Amendment and that the Bruen historical test applies with full force at the state level.