Five years ago Virginia Democrats enacted a "universal" background check law (along with several other gun control measures) after the took complete control of state government for the first time in several decades.
Now Gun Owners of America has won an injunction barring enforcement of that statute.
🚨BREAKING🚨
— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) October 16, 2025
Gun Owners of America, @GunFoundation, & @VCDL_ORG just defeated Virginia's universal background check law in state court. Soon, you will be able to purchase firearms in private sales once again. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/aTfYptpmg8
Twenty-Fourth Judicial Circuit Judge F. Patrick Yeatts issued his opinion on Thursday afternoon, declaring that there was no need to "embark on an analysis as to whether Virginia's background check requirements comport with the "\'historical tradition of firearm regulation' in the United States.
In exercising judicial restraint, the Court finds it improper to resolve the question of firearm regulation through the lens of Bruen. Instead, the inherent as-applied constitutional deficiencies of the Act require that the court strike the statute in its entirety.
Not to get too into the weeds here, but the statute in question originally imposed background check requirements on all gun purchasers over the age of 18. There's a conflict, however: Virginia law allows 18-year-olds to purchase and possess handguns, while federal law does not. So, any 18-to-20-year-old attempting to buy a handgun, even from a private party, still had to go through a NICS check and would be denied.
Yeatts previously granted an injunction as it applied to those young adults, but today he ruled that the law must be thrown out in its entirety based on a prior case know as Ayotte. If you want to geek out on the legal underpinnings behind Yeatts' decision you can read his opinion here, but the short version is that at the moment the background check requirement on private transfers seems to be null and void.
A note of caution, though. Because this wasn't decided on Second Amendment grounds, Yeatts left open the door for lawmakers to remedy the technical deficiencies that led to him striking down the statute.
The Court also observes that it is feasible to create a system where all individuals are treated equally in obtaining a background check. For example, Nevada law requires all firearm sales and transfers, with limited exceptions, to go through a background check conducted by a federally licensed firearms dealer (FFL). The FFL conducts the background check through the Nevada Department of Public Safety's (DPS)Point of Contact system. This system interfaces with the National Instant Criminal Background System (NICS) to determine the eligibility of the buyer to possess a firearm-regardless of age. While Virginia has not adopted such a system, whether due to cost or other reasons, Nevada demonstrates that it is possible to implement a uniform approach.
The statute as it stands, cannot remain intact. If the legislature wishes to rewrite the law to create a system that does not impose disparate treatment based on age, it may do so. At that time, a court might rightly address the question of whether it is constitutional to require a background check to obtain a handgun through a private sale. Now is not that time.
Nevada's law prohibits sales of handguns to adults younger than 21, so running NICS checks on private party sales involving under-21s doesn't create a conflict with state law. I don't know if this was his intention or not, but it seems to me that Yeatts is essentially inviting the Virginia legislature to institute a ban on handgun sales to under-21s, although I'd argue that would absolutely create a system that imposes disparate treatment based on age.
If Democrats once again regain a governing trifecta in next month's elections we may very well have to deal with an attempt to raise the age to purchase handguns, along with a host of other anti-2A actions. For now though, Gun Owners of America has succeeded in taking down Virginia's "universal" background check law, and that's good news for Second Amendment advocates across the Old Dominion.
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