Ban AR-style rifles? Virginia is a warning.
A law prohibiting the sale of "assault firearms" could have spurred record-breaking sales in the state.
July 27, 2026 at 6:45 a.m. EDTToday at 6:45 a.m. EDT
Virginia Democrats took a shot at restricting AR-style rifles this year, but the move appears to have backfired.
On May 14, Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) signed an "assault firearms" ban following a party-line vote in March. The law prohibits the sale or transfer of any semiautomatic center-fire rifles that are capable of accepting detachable magazines and have certain ergonomic or cosmetic features, such as pistol grips and telescoping stocks. The legislation primarily targets rifles but also affects semiautomatic pistols and shotguns.
For a short time, the statute seemed to be succeeding. By July 1, when the law took effect, the targeted guns were gone from stores statewide. Background check data soon showed, however, that the legislation appeared to have had the unintended, if unsurprising, effect of spiking sales before it went into effect.
In June, the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) reported a remarkable increase in reviews for long gun sales, which include rifles and shotguns. The vetting system an imperfect but reliable gauge for sales saw a single-month record in Virginia and more than three times the number of checks during the same period in 2025. The state saw 43,553 NICS long gun checks last month, more than any other state, despite being the 12th most populous.
That, moreover, was just the culmination of a months long sales surge, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Its analysis showed that NICS checks on gun sales were up 26 percent year-over-year in January. The number jumped to 55 percent in February, 70 percent in March and 78 percent in April, before surging to more than 100 percent in May.
A law prohibiting the sale of "assault firearms" could have spurred record-breaking sales in the state.
July 27, 2026 at 6:45 a.m. EDTToday at 6:45 a.m. EDT
Virginia Democrats took a shot at restricting AR-style rifles this year, but the move appears to have backfired.
On May 14, Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) signed an "assault firearms" ban following a party-line vote in March. The law prohibits the sale or transfer of any semiautomatic center-fire rifles that are capable of accepting detachable magazines and have certain ergonomic or cosmetic features, such as pistol grips and telescoping stocks. The legislation primarily targets rifles but also affects semiautomatic pistols and shotguns.
For a short time, the statute seemed to be succeeding. By July 1, when the law took effect, the targeted guns were gone from stores statewide. Background check data soon showed, however, that the legislation appeared to have had the unintended, if unsurprising, effect of spiking sales before it went into effect.
In June, the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) reported a remarkable increase in reviews for long gun sales, which include rifles and shotguns. The vetting system an imperfect but reliable gauge for sales saw a single-month record in Virginia and more than three times the number of checks during the same period in 2025. The state saw 43,553 NICS long gun checks last month, more than any other state, despite being the 12th most populous.
That, moreover, was just the culmination of a months long sales surge, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Its analysis showed that NICS checks on gun sales were up 26 percent year-over-year in January. The number jumped to 55 percent in February, 70 percent in March and 78 percent in April, before surging to more than 100 percent in May.
