After a judge in Virginia rejected a motion by anti-gun Attorney General Jay Jones to lift an injunction blocking the state police from enforcing a background check requirement on private transfers of firearms, Democrat lawmakers could have pledged to address the defects in their scheme so that it complies with Virginia’s constitution and the judge’s previous rulings.
Instead, they’re taking the low road and accusing Second Amendment advocates of wanting to arm violent criminals.
Felons & wife beaters across VA rejoice! You can still buy a gun from a private seller for the time being even though we changed the law to specifically fix 1 judge’s complaint & you can still get that AR-15 from a private seller @bradybuzz @Everytown @MomsDemand @VASenateDems https://t.co/A3843kBUFN
— Senator Scott Surovell – ssurovell.bsky.social (@ssurovell) June 3, 2026
Contrary to Surovell’s revisionist history, Democrats did not change the law to specifically “fix” the problem with the previous universal background check law identified by Lynchburg Circuit Judge F. Patrick Yeatts. The judge had previously ruled that the Democrats’ scheme was unequal in its treatment of gun buyers, because some were subjected to a NICS check while adults under the age of 21 who were purchasing a handgun in a private sale were not.
The Democrats’ “fix” was to prohibit adults under the age of 21 from buying handguns, even though Yeatts had previously ruled that those adults have the right to do so under the Virginia constitution. In his decisions, Yeatts has repeatedly suggested that he would probably uphold a universal background check law that treated every gun buyer equally, but a law that denies some lawful adults the ability to purchase the most common arm used for self-defense was never going to pass muster with the judge.
As bad as Surovell’s post was, Del. Garrett McGuire was even more unhinged in his response.
Gun lobby isn’t hiding it. They want criminals like domestic abusers to be able to obtain firearms easier. And they’re willing to throw police in jail over it. https://t.co/Ujbey1WLSL
— Garrett McGuire (@GMcGuireVA) June 3, 2026
McGuire has previously claimed that if the universal background check law hadn’t been put on ice, the convicted felon who shot up an ROTC classroom at Old Dominion University wouldn’t have been able to get a gun, even though the gun he allegedly purchased in a private sale had been stolen by the seller a year earlier. The idea that someone selling a stolen firearm would put a buyer through a background check is downright laughable, but the facts clearly don’t matter to the Fairfax County Democrat.
Gun Owners of America and Virginia Citizens Defense League didn’t sue over the Democrats’ background check scheme because they want to arm domestic abusers or other violent criminals. They initiated a lawsuit because the scheme prevented law-abiding adults from accessing their Second Amendment rights. And when Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Attorney General Jay Jones declared that the judge’s injunction was null and void because of a new law, and instructed the state police to resume enforcing background checks on private sales, GOA and VCDL rightfully sought to hold the head of the Virginia State Police in contempt of court for violating the existing injunction.
Yeatts, by the way, denied that request on Wednesday, though he did put the VSP on notice that he would hold officials in contempt if they continue to try to enforce the scheme going forward. As of Thursday morning, the Virginia State Police website states that it will not be conducting background checks on private transfers, so it appears that the judge’s message was received loud and clear by police, if not Democrat politicians.
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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