The Virginia Citizens Defense League and Gun Owners Foundation filed a contempt motion Thursday in a Virginia circuit court after the Spanberger administration directed state police to resume conducting background checks on private firearm transfers — a practice a Lynchburg court had permanently enjoined in October 2025. AmmoLand reported that Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones's office confirmed in writing to the plaintiffs' attorneys that the Virginia State Police had resumed the checks that afternoon, citing newly enacted HB 1525 as the legal authority to defy the standing court order.

The Circuit Court for the City of Lynchburg issued the permanent injunction in October 2025 after finding the state's attempt to extend background check requirements to private firearm transfers unconstitutional. That ruling paused Virginia's effort to require NICS checks on private-party handgun transactions beyond the existing requirement for federally licensed dealers — a practice gun rights groups had challenged as an overreach burdening lawful sellers. The Lynchburg injunction had been in effect for more than six months when the Spanberger administration moved to override it through legislation.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed HB 1525 on April 22, 2026, after the General Assembly concurred with her amendments to what had originally been a bill focused on restricting juvenile access to handguns. The amendments directed the Virginia State Police to enforce the background check system the Lynchburg injunction had blocked, and included an emergency clause designed to make the law effective immediately upon signing, bypassing the normal 90-day implementation timeline. Virginia Scope reported on the administration's decision to treat the new statute as superseding the permanent court order. Cardinal News had previously covered the state's earlier attempt to dissolve the Lynchburg injunction through the courts rather than the legislature.

The contempt motion filed by VCDL and Gun Owners Foundation turns on a procedural flaw at the heart of HB 1525's emergency designation. Under the Virginia Constitution, legislation designated as emergency law requires passage by a four-fifths majority in both legislative chambers. HB 1525 cleared the Virginia Senate on a 21-18 vote and the House of Delegates 63-36 — both well below the 80 percent supermajority required for emergency legislation to take immediate effect. The motion argues that the emergency clause is therefore constitutionally void, meaning the statute cannot take effect immediately and cannot supersede the existing permanent injunction.

Virginia State Police, for its part, was advised by the Jones administration that the new law supersedes the prior court order regardless of the emergency clause dispute. Bearing Arms reports that gun rights advocates plan to press the circuit court to hold VSP in formal contempt if the court agrees the injunction remains binding and enforceable.

The Lynchburg circuit judge now faces a narrow but consequential question: whether a statute enacted without the supermajority required for emergency legislation can, by its own terms, override a permanent injunction already on that court's books. The contempt proceeding adds yet another legal front to Virginia's increasingly litigated firearms policy. Spanberger's assault firearms ban, signed earlier this month, is set to take effect July 1 and is already facing federal challenges from the NRA, SAF, and FPC. If the circuit court sides with VCDL and Gun Owners Foundation, it would place the Spanberger administration in the position of having deliberately defied a court's order — a development that would significantly escalate the political and legal stakes heading into the summer.