> Virginia judge shuts down universal gun background checks bill

The bill required Virginia State Police to conduct background checks and provide criminal history records for private gun sales as well as restricting handgun purchases by teenagers.

By Drew Wilder • Published June 9, 2026 • Updated on June 9, 2026 at 6:15 pm

A judge has shot down Democrats' attempt to implement universal background checks for gun purchases in Virginia.

Virginia's battle over gun violence prevention and gun control laws is as heated as it's ever been now that the courts are hearing challenges to new laws passed by Democrats.

“It was a historical session for gun violence prevention,” said Del. Garrett McGuire, a Democrat from Fairfax County.

McGuire just had his universal background checks bill shot down by a judge in Lynchburg.

The bill required Virginia State Police to conduct background checks and provide criminal history records for private gun sales as well as restricting handgun purchases by teenagers.

Two gun rights groups, Gun Owners of America and Virginia Citizens Defense League, sued and won.

“One of the key reasons that the universal background checks law was unconstitutional is that it denied 18 to 20 year olds the ability to buy a handgun. Period,” said Philip Van Cleave with the Virginia Citizens Defense League.

More than 20 states and D.C. currently have some form of universal background check requirement in place, according to the Giffords Center for Violence Prevention. Virginia passed a similar law in 2020. A judge ruled against it in October.

Then the General Assembly passed a new version of the law this year. But last week, the same judge upheld their previous ruling, striking down the law.

McGuire said he championed this bill, in part, because he was a student at Virginia Tech during the campus shooting in 2007.

“Nineteen years later, I find myself in the House of Delegates still asking some of the same questions that we asked right after that shooting, including why is there a loophole in our code that allows criminals to purchase firearms?” he said.

Following the court's ruling last week, Virginia State Police issued a notice saying the department was “prohibited from administering, enforcing, or otherwise imposing” universal background checks and that VSP “currently cannot provide criminal history background checks for the private sale of firearms.”

More than 90% of Americans support universal background checks, according to gun violence prevention group Everytown for Gun Safety.

Chris Stone with Gun Owners of America said they're unconstitutional.

“There's instances where people need a firearm, and they get held up in a waiting period program,” he said. “Or even if there isn't a waiting period, their name comes back as a false positive in the NICS system."

When asked how can people with past violent offences or mental health conditions be prevented from buying guns if there’s no background check, Stone said, “Well, ironically what that shows is that the system itself doesn't work.”

This likely isn't the last legal action on Virginia's universal background checks, and gun rights groups have more gun safety laws in their sights, with additional legal challenges on the way.

Virginia's Democratic majority also passed an assault weapons ban that goes into effect next month. This Friday, gun rights groups are challenging that law in court, too.