In a lawsuit filed last week, the Justice Department argues that Virginia's recently enacted "assault weapon" ban violates the Second Amendment, raising the same issue that the Supreme Court recently agreed to address in cases involving similar laws. Also last week, the Justice Department challenged California restrictions that make it illegal to sell handguns commonly sold in other states, including Glock pistols.
Virginia's law, which Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed on April 13, makes it a crime to manufacture, import, sell, purchase, or transfer "assault firearms." It defines that category to include semiautomatic center-fire rifles that accept detachable magazines and have any of five listed features: 1) a folding or adjustable stock, 2) a thumbhole stock or pistol grip, 3) a second handgrip or protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand, 4) a grenade launcher, or 5) a threaded barrel that can be used to attach a muzzle break, a muzzle compensator, a sound suppressor, or a flash suppressor.
