Democrat Jay Jones won't become Virginia's Attorney General until next month, but the darling of the gun control movement (most of whom stood by their endorsement even after texts from Jones that showed, among other things, him wishing that a Republican lawmaker's children would be murdered so he would support gun control) isn't waiting until he takes office to defend a gun control statute recently struck down by a Virginia judge.
In late October a circuit court judge in Lynchburg struck down the state's "universal" background check law after Gun Owners of America and the Virginia Citizens Defense League filed a lawsuit arguing the statute was unconstitutional. Judge F. Patrick Yeatts agreed, noting that the law had a particularly discriminatory impact on law-abiding adults aged 18-20. Yeatts enjoined the law from being enforced statewide, and current Attorney General Jason Miyares declined to appeal that decision.
Now Jones is asking a Virginia court to allow him to intercede in his unofficial capacity as AG-to-be. Jones has even blasted out a press release patting himself on the back for the unconventional request.
Under Virginia law, the Commonwealth must file a notice of appeal within 30 days unless the Court of Appeals grants an extension. Without swift action, the right to appeal and the Commonwealth’s ability to defend the constitutionality of its own laws would expire today, Dec. 1, 2025. Despite defending the law in the trial court, Attorney General Jason Miyares has taken no action to protect the Commonwealth’s appeal rights and has not responded to multiple inquiries from Attorney General–Elect Jones’s office.
“Virginians demanded an Attorney General who will stand up for their safety, and that’s exactly what I’m doing,” said Attorney General–Elect Jay Jones. “Background checks save lives and are essential to keeping guns out of dangerous hands. This motion protects Virginia’s ability to appeal this ruling, defend our laws, and keep our communities safe from gun violence.”
If granted, the motion will extend the deadline to file a notice of appeal from Dec. 1, 2025 to Jan. 30, 2026, giving the Attorney General-elect time to evaluate the ruling, coordinate with the Governor and the General Assembly, and determine the Commonwealth’s best course of action.
I would love for Jay Jones to tell the public how many people have been prosecuted for conducting a private transfer of a firearm without first going through a background check since the law was enacted in 2020. Personally, I'm not aware of any such cases, and I think the law is utterly useless when it comes to preventing criminals from illegally obtaining firearms. Universal background check laws are impossible to enforce proactively. At best they provide a charge for prosecutors after a transfer has been made, and in those cases the defendant would most likely be facing more serious charges anyway.
It would be an outrageous injustice for the Virginia Court of Appeals to grant Jones's request. Like it or not, he's not the Attorney General at the moment, and if Miyares doesn't want to appeal Yeatt's decision it's well within his authority to let the matter rest.
We cannot have a system of government where politicians assume the powers of an office before they're sworn in, nor can they impede the actions of the current officeholder. Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if incoming officeholders had veto power over current officeholders in the time period between an election and the new officeholder being sworn in?
Jones's demand is downright dangerous, and should be quickly rejected by the Court of Appeals. Virginia Democrats are going to get their chance to inflict serious damage to our Second Amendment rights when Abigal Spanberger and Jay Jones take office and the 2026 legislative session kicks off in mid-January, but until then Jones has no official position in state government, and should have no say at all in the decisions made by the current Attorney General.
Even if the Court of Appeals rejects Jones's request, though, he's already sent a signal to his allies in the gun control movement and to Virginia gun owners that he will be an activist AG intent on running roughshod over our Second Amendment rights. Miyares hasn't been perfect by any means, but he's going to look like the legal equivalent of Charlton Heston once Jones has a few months in office under his belt.
There are dark days ahead for Virginia gun owners, and Jay Jones will be playing a major role in the infringements to come. He'll not only defend every new gun control law adopted by the legislature, but will most likely sign on to anti-gun amicus briefs and use the power of his office to persecute gun makers and sellers whenever possible. We can't escape that fact, but that still doesn't give Jones the power or authority to usurp the decisions of the man who currently holds the office he was elected to, and if the Court of Appeals grants his request it will be a major blow to the rule of law in the Old Dominion.
