Virginia lawmakers have approved a controversial bill that would restrict the sale, transfer, importation, and manufacture of certain semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines, sending it to the governor’s desk for final consideration. Senate Bill 749, if signed into law, would prohibit these activities for firearms defined in the legislation as “assault firearms,” along with certain large-capacity ammunition feeding devices. Violations could be charged as a Class 1 misdemeanor.
The restrictions would take effect on July 1, 2026, applying to new purchases. Firearms manufactured before that date and already legally owned would generally remain in circulation. Antique firearms, guns permanently rendered inoperable, and manually operated firearms such as bolt-action, pump-action, or lever-action weapons are exempt from the legislation.
The bill defines “assault firearms” to include certain semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns with specific features or magazine capacities, such as weapons with detachable magazines or features like folding stocks, pistol grips, or threaded barrels. Several exceptions are also outlined, including law enforcement officers, members of the military, and certain government officials, who would still be able to possess the restricted firearms in the course of their duties. Limited transfers would also be allowed in some circumstances, such as inheritance or transfers between immediate family members.
Supporters say the measure is intended to reduce the likelihood of mass shootings by limiting access to firearms designed for combat rather than civilian use.
Supporters say the measure is intended to reduce the likelihood of mass shootings by limiting access to weapons they believe are designed for combat rather than civilian use.
“The inspiration really was, how do we prevent some of those mass shootings from occurring in Virginia?” said Sen. Saddam Salim, a Democrat who sponsored the bill.
Salim said the proposal was influenced by years of high-profile shootings across the country, including the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech. He described the growing fears parents and grandparents have about their children’s safety.
“When you or I were in high school or middle school or elementary school, none of us did any of those drills. Ours was the simple fire drill and the emergency tornado drill… The idea that kids now will have to be in a different atmosphere, knowing that we have all these weapons that are on the streets,” Salim said. “The intent of this was to ensure that certain type of weapons defined in the bill are the ones that are removed, not necessarily every single weapon where people do feel that, and they do have the right to carry those and have those in their possession.”
The bill targets semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns that meet specific feature-based definitions in the legislation. Salim described these firearms as combat-style weapons.
“The main issue with all with the ones that are defined in the bill specifically is that these are sort of sort of war weapons. There are weapons that you can go use to go and go hunting… versus the ones where you can just press one… trigger and it will go and shoot out, you know, more than 20 rounds of magazines, and a lot more,“ he said.
The measure would also restrict future sales of high-capacity magazines holding more than 15 rounds. Salim cited this as a factor in several mass shootings.
“A lot of the mass shootings that we have seen are folks who have gone into places, have just attached a magazine that’s got hundreds of rounds where they’re just essentially hitting one button and just spreading the bullets all across whatever location it’s at,” Salim said.
However, firearms already legally owned would be grandfathered in.
“If something is in your possession right now, you get to keep it. If you want to hand it down… You can hand it down to them. So all of that was to ensure that we have protections for people who own it right now,” Salim said.
Salim emphasized that the legislation is modeled to withstand potential Second Amendment challenges, and how I was modeled after the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994.
“I think it will hold up in court… we modeled it around Maryland and other states where they have actually seen where courts have upheld and said this can stay, it’s constitutionally valid,” he said.
Critics in the firearms industry have voiced concerns about the law’s effect on legal gun owners and businesses. Mitchell Tyler, co-owner of Safe Side in Roanoke County, said retailers have long anticipated similar legislation.
“We’ve been watching the writing on the wall, so we’re of course very frustrated that our representatives in Richmond are attempting to take rights from law-abiding Virginia citizens, creating millions of criminals overnight, potentially even with grandfathering,” Tyler said.
He described a surge in demand for firearms before the bill’s restrictions take effect.
“We won’t have any extra inventory because there’s a whole new group of buyers that are now coming in to buy these, and so our problem is going to be the opposite. It’s going to be how do we get enough inventory between now and June 30th just to satisfy the new demand that the politicians have created,” Tyler said. “We’re selling firearms that will be banned to people who never thought that they would own one...They see that a right is about to be taken and they don’t want to be on the other side of July 1st without something that they may need to use to protect themselves or their family,” Tyler said.
Tyler said AR-15-style rifles account for roughly 30% of the store’s firearms sales.
“That is gonna have a big impact on the things you see on the sales floor… These are the most commonly used and commonly sold firearms that we have had through our store for the last 10 years,” he said.
He also questioned the enforceability of the magazine restrictions.
“There’s no way to prove when those magazines necessarily were purchased… We’re really worried about innocent Virginians getting mixed up in something that either they didn’t understand or something that maybe they would have to prove that they don’t have the paperwork to back up,” Tyler said.
Tyler said the store has been preparing for the bill by diversifying business operations.
“The increase in our classes, we manufacture ammunition, we manufacture firearms, we have e-commerce, we do estates and auction items,” he said.
The bill now goes to Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who has until April 20 to act on the legislation before lawmakers reconvene. If signed, the restrictions would take effect July 1, 2026.