Virginia has enacted a major new firearms restriction after Governor Abigail Spanberger signed Senate Bill 749 into law. The measure creates a statewide prohibition on what the statute labels “assault weapons” as well as a ban on “high-capacity” magazines.

The law is not immediate. Its effective date is set for July 1, 2026, giving residents, retailers, and law enforcement a defined timeline before the new rules take effect.

Even with that delayed start, opponents moved quickly to contest the policy in court. The signing was followed right away by two separate lawsuits, each taking a different route to challenge the legislation.

One case was filed in Virginia’s state courts by Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL). Their approach relies on a distinctive argument grounded solely in the Virginia Constitution, aiming to keep the dispute framed as a state-law question rather than a federal one.

A second challenge was filed in federal court by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC). That filing is structured to pursue a streamlined path that seeks to avoid review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and instead position the case to reach the U.S. Supreme Court as directly as possible.

Together, the paired lawsuits set up a two-front legal fight—one focusing on state constitutional claims and the other targeting federal review—over a law that bans specified firearms and magazines across Virginia beginning July 1, 2026.