Lawsuit filed in Lynchburg challenges extended background checks in Virginia

The battle over firearms continues in Virginia.

VA Attorney General Mark Herring

In a lawsuit filed in Lynchburg Circuit Court, several organizations and individuals take issue with a bill Governor Northam signed into law earlier this year.

According to the language of the bill, it will require a background check for any firearm sale in Virginia, effective July 1st, 2020.

It goes on to say a person who sells a firearm to another person, without that required background check, would face a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Gun Owners of America, one of the organizations listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said this action by the governor is unconstitutional.

“It [expanded background checks] cuts against the whole idea about having a right that shall not be infringed, as the constitution says,” said Erich Pratt, Senior Vice President of Gun Owners of America…

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring‘s office said this law, and other gun safety measures, were put in place to keep Virginians and their communities safe. His office said Herring looks forward to defending Virginia’s new expanded background checks law against the gun lobby’s attacks.

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