(The Center Square) – Background checks for private firearm sales in Virginia will resume Wednesday after a Lynchburg Circuit Court judge dissolved an injunction that had blocked the requirement since October.
The ruling in Wilson v. Hanley follows Judge Patrick Yeatts’ June 3 decision to leave the injunction in place while considering Attorney General Jay Jones’ request to dissolve it.
Beginning July 1, the Virginia State Police can again conduct criminal history background checks for private firearm sales.
The injunction stemmed from an October ruling in which Yeatts found Virginia’s background check law unconstitutional as applied to adults ages 18-20.
According to the Office of the Attorney General, the legal issue changed after Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed House Bill 1525 on April 22.
The law raised the minimum age to purchase a handgun or assault firearm in Virginia from 18 to 21, directed the Virginia State Police to administer the state’s background check requirements and took effect immediately under an emergency clause.
Jones welcomed the ruling.
“For too long, communities across the Commonwealth have lived in fear and been tormented by grief and loss as the result of preventable gun violence,” Jones said. “Background checks keep guns out of dangerous hands and save lives.”
Jones also criticized former Attorney General Jason Miyares for not appealing the original injunction.
“My predecessor’s refusal to defend Virginia’s life-saving law was shameful, and it put the safety of our communities at risk,” Jones said. “The court’s decision today rights that wrong and puts the commonwealth back on a path of protecting Virginians and stemming the tide of gun violence in our communities.”
Spanberger said the ruling restores protections intended under state law.
“Today’s ruling is a step forward to protect law enforcement officers, kids, and families across the commonwealth from the threat of gun violence in their communities,” Spanberger said in a statement to The Center Square. “Virginians across the political spectrum – including a majority of gun owners – broadly recognize that individuals who are prohibited by law from owning a firearm should not be able to purchase a firearm. Restoring universal background checks in Virginia helps achieve that goal by making sure those individuals cannot evade the law through loopholes or private sales.”
Virginia State Police briefly resumed conducting background checks after HB 1525 became law, but Yeatts ordered the agency to stop following a June 3 hearing while he considered the attorney general’s motion.
Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League and a plaintiff in the case, called the ruling a setback.
“The judge in Lynchburg unexpectedly dissolved his injunction against universal background checks effective July 1,” Van Cleave wrote in a social media post. “This issue is NOT over for VCDL, but it is a setback for the time being.”
