The Department of Justice, in a social media post Friday, threatened to sue Virginia over a bill on Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk that would ban the sale and production of assault weapons.
The bill — SB 749/HB 217 — was passed by the House and Senate.
Spanberger has until Monday night to sign, veto or amend the bill. She has not indicated what she will do.
The two-page letter to Spanberger was posted on X by Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, Harmeet Dhillon. In it, she says the ban on assault rifles infringes on constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens.
The proposed law, Dhillon wrote, “would require Virginia law enforcement agencies to engage in a practice of unconstitutionally restricting the making, buying or selling of AR-15s and many other semi-automatic firearms in common use.”
Dhillon’s Civil Rights Division has challenged practices that restrict the ownership and use of weapons known as assault rifles. In December, the DOJ sued the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department for requiring those seeking to own a gun to register it with D.C. Metro Police — while the D.C. Code bans the registration of AR-15s and some semi-automatic rifles.
“This Civil Rights Division will seek to enjoin any attempt to infringe the right of law-abiding Virginians to acquire constitutionally protected arms that are possessed by literally tens of millions of Americans,” Dhillon wrote to Spanberger.
“I urge you to reconsider allowing any bill that would infringe on the lawful use of protected firearms.”
The legislation defines “assault firearms” as a category of semi-automatic center-fire rifles or pistols with a magazine capacity of more than 15 rounds.
While the bill would allow current owners to keep their rifles, it would make anyone who sells, imports, manufactures, purchases or transfers an assault firearm guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor — which carries a sentence of up to a year behind bars.
Those opposed to the bill say it bans the lawful sale of an entire class of firearms that are commonly used legally. Whereas those in support say the ban is a necessary step to protect the public, especially in light of mass shootings across the state since Virginia Tech in 2007.
“This threat is a distortion of the very purpose of the Office of Civil Rights, abandoning the protection of the disenfranchised in favor of keeping weapons of mass murder on the streets,” said a spokesperson for Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones.
In Dhillon’s letter, she called on Jones to confer with her attorneys who specialize in the Second Amendment to “avoid unnecessary litigation.”
On Friday, through a spokesperson, he vowed to “take all necessary legal action to defend the Commonwealth’s laws and constitutional authority.”
A spokesperson for Spanberger declined to comment Friday evening on Dhillon’s letter.
The controversial ban is one of over a dozen bills concerning gun rights passed by the General Assembly and forwarded to Spanberger’s desk.
Four of those bills were signed Friday.
They include a law that aims to protect survivors of abusive relationships by prohibiting intimate partners convicted of domestic violence crimes from possessing a firearm, and outlining a procedure for those convicted of domestic violence to safely transfer their firearms to another person.
One law enables the Attorney General to hold firearm manufacturers and dealers legally responsible when their negligent business practices contribute to gun violence, and another bans the manufacture, sale and possession of “ghost guns” — defined as firearms without serial numbers that render them untraceable.
“As a former federal law enforcement officer and someone who comes from a law enforcement family, public safety is personal to me,” Spanberger said in a release about the new laws.
“Preventing gun violence is an issue of public safety — both for the officers who protect our streets and the children and families they work to keep safe. Whether you’re a first responder or a survivor seeking justice … Virginia will always have your back.”
Staff writer Kate Seltzer contributed to this report.
Nori Leybengrub, 757-349-3523, nori.leybengrub@virginiamedia.com
