GOA Gives Analysis of HB 2, Action Required

Dear friend,

At Gun Owners of America, we track hundreds (if not thousands) of pieces of gun legislation around the country.

And sadly, we have noticed one trend.

The anti-gunners keep getting more and more aggressive in their gun control legislation. (It’s worth pointing out, however, that many Republicans still introduce watered-down, compromised “pro-gun” bills.)

Consider, a few years ago, many “assault weapons” ban bills were mirrors of the federal 1994 “Assault Weapon” Ban law.

This law generally prohibited certain firearms that failed a “feature test” and magazines over ten rounds. However, previously owned firearms and magazines were grandfathered in.

To be clear, any ban on any type of firearm, magazine, or accessory (with or without a grandfather clause) is a gross infringement of the Second Amendment.

But despite AR-15s being the most popular firearm in America (making them in common use), and the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision which is being used to strike down other “assault weapon” bans around the country, Virginian Democrats have found ways to make their gun control legislation worse.

This year’s “assault weapon” ban bill is the worst bill ever introduced into the General Assembly, and it is probably one of the worst around the country.

In fact, some of the lowlights of HB 2 are:

• Allows local governments to participate in gun “buy backs.”
• Prohibits the import, sell, manufacture, possession, transport or transfer of an “assault weapon.”
• Redundantly makes it a crime to sell, barter, give, or furnish any firearm to any person known to be prohibited from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm.
• Changes the law to require that any person purchasing an “assault weapon” from a dealer be 21 years of age or older.
• Expands the definition of “assault firearms” — including more rifles, shotguns and handguns.
• Makes it a crime for any person to import, sell, barter, or transfer a “large capacity” ammunition feeding device.

Infuriatingly, this is not all HB 2 does. You can read a complete breakdown of the bill here.

In contrast to previous “assault weapon” bills introduced (and defeated) in the Commonwealth, HB 2 prohibits the purchase and possession of all “assault weapons” by persons under 21 and those “assault weapons” manufactured after July 1, 2024 by persons 21 years and older. Also, it does not have the exceptions for the transfer of an “assault weapon” found in previous legislation.

It also reduces the magazine capacity from twelve to ten rounds.

HB 2 — with its Senate companion, SB 2 — in addition to many, many other gun control bills in the House of Delegates and Senate have already passed the first hurdles to become law.

You need to contact your elected representatives immediately to stop this tyranny.

And you can contact your Delegate, Senator, and Gov. Youngkin easily by clicking here.

Please don’t delay, your actions can make a difference.

In liberty,

Jordan Stein
Certified Firearms Instructor
Southeast Region Director
Gun Owners of America