GOA & VCDL File For An Injunction To Halt Universal Background Checks In Virginia

On Monday, Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) and Gun Owners of America (GOA) filed a lawsuit in Lynchburg, Virginia, for a temporary injunction to block the universal background checks law from going into effect in the Commonwealth.

In the previous legislative session in the Democrat-controlled legislature passed sweeping gun control measures, including a universal background check law. During early 2020, Virginia became ground zero for the battle over gun rights. Over 96% of jurisdictions within Virginia have declared themselves Second Amendment Sanctuaries with Sheriffs Jenkins of Culpepper County threatening to deputize all residents.

The lawsuit names Colonel Gary T. Settle in his official duties as the Superintendent of the Virginia Department of State Police as a defendant. The suit claims that VCDL/GOA member Raul Wilson intends to sell a firearm to Peter Elhert, another VCDL/GOA member after the law goes into effect in July. The lawsuit alleges that the mandatory background checks violate the defendants’ gun rights under Article One, Section 13 of the Virginia Constitution.

Another plaintiff in the case is Wyatt Lowman. Lowman is an 18-year-old resident of Lynchburg. In Virginia, 18-year-old residents can own and purchase handguns if they are buying it through a private non-dealer sale, but the new law requires anyone going through a background check for a handgun to be 21 years old.

The new universal background check law effectively raises the minimum age to acquire a handgun from 18 years old to 21 years old. The legislature never intended to change the age for gun ownership in Virginia, but it did through an unintended side effect.

GOA and VCDL view this stealth law change as just another overreach by a government out of touch with its citizenship.

Read more at Ammoland