A Second Amendment transformation is coming soon to the Old Dominion now that Democrats hold a trifecta in the state. Virginia’s former governor, Republican Glenn Youngkin, held back the proverbial flood since 2023, when Democrats took both chambers of the legislature, vetoing dozens of gun control bills a year. But he isn’t in charge anymore, and now the new chief executive, Democrat Abigail Spanberger, looks set to sign many of those bills – and a few new ones – into law.
Virginia: The Gun Control State
It looks like 2026 is going to be the year of the gun … restriction – at least in Democrat-controlled Virginia. The Commonwealth has lived under a Democratic majority in its state Senate since 2019, its House of Delegates since 2023, and the governorship since January of this year. And while Glenn Youngkin spent a great deal of his time over those last three years of his governorship vetoing progressive legislation – including as many as 30 gun control bills in 2024 and at least 24 in 2025 – and some of those are coming back now that Spanberger is in office.
Even now, a dozen gun control bills – some of which had been vetoed by the previous governor – have been passed through the legislature and are either sitting on her desk or on the way. And, as best as anyone can predict, she’s going to sign them. For years, Virginia has been a state that, for the most part, recognizes and respects the Second Amendment, like neighboring West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, as well as most of the rest of the South. In just a matter of days, it will transform into a gun grabber’s dream, having more gun control in common with California, New York, and its other neighbor, Maryland.
The bills awaiting her signature are sweeping. Chief among them are bans on so-called high-capacity magazines and assault firearms – the latter of which, according to what will soon be law, means any semi-automatic rifle or pistol with one or more of a handful of “scary black rifle” features like additional hand grips, barrel shrouds, or telescoping stocks. Even many fixed magazine rifles – that is, those that don’t have detachable magazines – fit the bill even without those forbidden features if the ammo capacity exceeds 15 rounds.
But that’s far from the end of it. These new laws will impose another layer of civil liability on firearms manufacturers and dealers, expand the list of prohibited persons and the so-called red flag laws, mandate gun “buyback” programs, ban all firearms in any public buildings, end both open carry and reciprocity with other state carry licenses, and require anyone owning firearms with children in the home to keep all weapons unloaded and locked away. One bill will even create an additional 11% excise tax on firearms and ammunition – making it the first state in the Union to tax guns and ammo as if they were alcohol and tobacco.
The End of an Era
Virginia has never placed particularly high on the list of states ranked by gun rights, and Virginians are used to certain laws coming and going as the levers of power change hands. One good example is the state’s old “one gun a month” purchase limit. First passed in 1993, the Commonwealth maintained for years a restriction against buying more than one handgun in a month. It was repealed in 2012, nearly a decade later, but it was reinstated back in 2020 – though its legal legitimacy was challenged by the Gun Owners of America in a lawsuit last year. With Democrats pulling all the levers for the foreseeable future, it does seem safe to say it will remain unless the courts rule otherwise.
A look at the state’s legislative layout over the years shows how frequently the majorities flip, and the state’s constitutionally mandated one-term limit means the governorship flip-flops frequently from GOP to Democrat control as well. As a whole, the electorate can’t seem to decide if its majority is southern conservative or northern progressive.
But with this slew of gun control laws slated to be signed and soon take effect – and the many more that are almost certain to follow after Democrats get this rare taste of unfettered lawmaking – it marks a sea change that could leave many gun-owning residents underwater.
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