On June 3, 2026, a Lynchburg Circuit Court judge rejected Attorney General Jay Jones’ (D) request to remove an injunction that prevented universal background checks from being enforced.
The initial injunction was issued in the fall of 2025. Ammoland noted that the injunction “prevented the Virginia State Police from enforcing the [checks], determining that [they] violated Article I, Section 13 of the Virginia State Constitution, which protects the right to keep and bear arms.”
However, upon taking over the Virginia legislature in January, Democrats pushed through legislation to attempt resumption of the checks and, on May 27, 2026, the Virginia State Police “[announced] that it would begin conducting background checks on private sales, a direct challenge to the existing court injunction.”
But the June 3, 2026, ruling stopped the enforcement of the checks and the Virginia State Police issued a statement, which said:
After a hearing in Lynchburg Circuit Court on June 3, 2026, and in compliance with the injunction and final order entered by the Circuit Court for the City of Lynchburg in Raul Wilson, Wyatt Lowman, Virginia Citizens Defense League, Gun Owners of America, Inc, and Gun Owners Foundation v. Colonel Jeffrey S. Katz, CL25000582-01, the Virginia Department of State Police (VSP) is enjoined and prohibited from administering, enforcing, or otherwise imposing upon any person the requirements of Va. Code § 18.2-308.2:5.
The lawsuit which led to the June 3, 2026, ruling was brought by Gun Owners of America and the Virginia Citizens Defense League.
WATCH — AWR Hawkins: Universal Background Checks = Gun Registry
Video Source: ahawkins
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. He is a lever action man in an AR-15 world. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
