{"id":246263,"date":"2026-05-28T05:49:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T10:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=246263"},"modified":"2026-05-28T05:56:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T10:56:26","slug":"virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Prosecutors Refuse to Enforce New &#8216;Assault Weapon&#8217; Ban"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-estimated-reading-time yoast-reading-time__wrapper\"><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__icon\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-icon=\"clock\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" style=\"display:inline-block;vertical-align:-0.1em\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M12 8v4l3 3m6-3a9 9 0 11-18 0 9 9 0 0118 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__spacer\" style=\"display:inline-block;width:1em\"><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__descriptive-text\">Estimated reading time: <\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__reading-time\">3<\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__time-unit\"> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-\"><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>A growing number of Virginia prosecutors are openly refusing to enforce the state\u2019s incoming ban on so-called \u201cassault firearms\u201d and standard-capacity magazines and gun rights groups are cheering them on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The latest applause is coming from Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, which issued a statement praising at least five Virginia Commonwealth\u2019s Attorneys who say the new law violates the 2A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s not exactly subtle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Virginia assault weapons ban: Why a top prosecutor says he won\u2019t enforce it | NBC4 Washington\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wBuCXy-rOt4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The prosecutors publicly opposing enforcement include Phillip Blevins Jr. in Smyth County, Rob Cerullo in Powhatan County, Justin L. Griffin in Pulaski County, and Ryan Mehaffey in Spotsylvania County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to CCRKBA, Kyle Kilgore from Scott County also reportedly made similar comments opposing the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ban itself was recently signed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger and is scheduled to take effect July 1.  And yes, this thing is already becoming an absolute political hand grenade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The law targets many common semiautomatic rifles along with original-capacity magazines, continuing the now-familiar nationwide battle over AR-15s and similar firearms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/ccrkba-easier-to-get-a-gun-than-a-burger-your-fries-arent-cooked\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\" title=\"Virginia Prosecutors Refuse to Enforce New 'Assault Weapon' Ban\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"6067\">CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb<\/a> didn\u2019t exactly hold back in his response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are proud of these men for taking a stand against legislation which is clearly unconstitutional,\u201d Gottlieb said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-see-also-lawsuit-seeks-emergency-block-on-virginia-s-incoming-assault-weapon-ban\">SEE ALSO: <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/virginia-rifle-ban-lawsuit\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\" title=\"Virginia Prosecutors Refuse to Enforce New 'Assault Weapon' Ban\">Lawsuit Seeks Emergency Block on Virginia\u2019s Incoming Assault Weapon Ban<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>He also took direct aim at Spanberger, accusing the governor of campaigning as a moderate before pushing a much more aggressive <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/bill-social-security-nics\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\" title=\"Virginia Prosecutors Refuse to Enforce New 'Assault Weapon' Ban\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"6068\">gun control<\/a> agenda once in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The timing adds another layer of irony here too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the law takes effect as planned, it will do so just days before America\u2019s 250th anniversary celebrations, something gun rights groups are already hammering rhetorically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CCRKBA argues the prosecutors reached the same conclusion many <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/people-book-celebrates-gun-owners-across-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\" title=\"Virginia Prosecutors Refuse to Enforce New 'Assault Weapon' Ban\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"6069\">Second Amendment<\/a> advocates have been repeating since <em>District of Columbia v. Heller <\/em>and <em>New York State <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/silencerco-omega-36m-centerfire-suppressor\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\" title=\"Virginia Prosecutors Refuse to Enforce New 'Assault Weapon' Ban\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"6071\">Rifle &amp; Pistol<\/a> Association v. Bruen<\/em>: firearms commonly owned by millions of Americans shouldn\u2019t be banned outright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AG_Jay_Jones.jpg\" alt=\"A quote from AG Jay Jones.\" class=\"wp-image-246265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AG_Jay_Jones.jpg 900w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AG_Jay_Jones-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AG_Jay_Jones-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AG_Jay_Jones-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">AG Jay Jones is banking on the state&#8217;s prosecutors to enforce the new ban.  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, opponents of the law (including state AG Jay Jones) argue these prosecutors are undermining democratically passed legislation and selectively deciding which laws deserve enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So yeah\u2026 this fight is probably just getting <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/hornady-new-stuff-shot-show\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\" title=\"Virginia Prosecutors Refuse to Enforce New 'Assault Weapon' Ban\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"6070\">started<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One thing is certain though: when county prosecutors start publicly announcing they won\u2019t enforce a brand-new state gun law before it even takes effect, you\u2019re no longer dealing with a quiet policy disagreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019re watching the opening stages of a full-blown constitutional collision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\" style=\"font-size:24px\"><strong><em>*** <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\" title=\"Virginia Prosecutors Refuse to Enforce New 'Assault Weapon' Ban\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a> ***<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ban itself was recently signed by Abigail Spanberger and is scheduled to take effect July 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":246265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"manual","footnotes":""},"categories":[4024],"tags":[132,607,122],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-246263","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-buzz","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-r2kba"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6.1 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Virginia Prosecutors Refuse to Enforce New \u201cAssault Weapon\u201d Ban<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Several Virginia prosecutors say they will not enforce the state\u2019s incoming assault weapon signed by Gov. Spanberger.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Virginia Prosecutors Refuse to Enforce New &#039;Assault Weapon&#039; Ban\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The ban itself was recently signed by Abigail Spanberger and is scheduled to take effect July 1.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gun Reviews and News | GunsAmerica.com\/Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gunsamerica\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gunsamerica\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-28T10:49:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-28T10:56:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AG_Jay_Jones.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Larry Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/GunsAmerica\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gunsamerica\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Larry Z\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Larry Z\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e6de4369965cb544a9ebd9533bb9c06b\"},\"headline\":\"Virginia Prosecutors Refuse to Enforce New &#8216;Assault Weapon&#8217; Ban\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-28T10:49:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-28T10:56:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":432,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/AG_Jay_Jones.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Buzz\",\"News\",\"R2KBA\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\\\/\",\"name\":\"Virginia Prosecutors Refuse to Enforce New \u201cAssault Weapon\u201d Ban\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/virginia-prosecutors-refuse-assault-weapon-ban\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/AG_Jay_Jones.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-28T10:49:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-28T10:56:26+00:00\",\"description\":\"Several Virginia prosecutors say they will not enforce the state\u2019s incoming assault weapon signed by Gov. 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