LYNCHBURG, VA – A judge in Lynchburg has put the brakes on Virginia’s efforts to require background checks for private gun sales — sparking a new round of debate over gun rights, public safety, and who has the final say on gun control.
That’s tied back to Virginia’s universal background check law, passed in 2020, which expanded the requirement beyond gun stores to many private sales between individuals.
But the Virginia Citizens Defense League challenged the law, arguing it went too far.
“It also made it impossible for an 18 to 20-year-old young adult to be able to purchase a handgun at all,” President Philip Van Cleave said.
Van Cleave says that’s one reason his group took the law to court.
In October 2025, a Lynchburg Circuit Court judge ruled parts of the law unconstitutional, and the background check requirement was paused.
“It got struck down on those grounds,” Van Cleave said.
But this year, lawmakers passed House Bill 1525.
The law makes it a class 1 misdemeanor for anyone younger than 21 to purchase a handgun or assault firearm anywhere in the commonwealth. It goes on to direct VSP to enforce the existing law related to background checks.
It was signed at the end of April, with an emergency clause, meaning it would immediately go into effect.
That’s when the Citizens Defense League went back to court.
“We immediately filed for contempt of court, because that was in direct violation of the court order,” Van Cleave said.
On June 3, the judge upheld his prior ruling - again stopping the background checks.
We reached out to VSP, and a spokesperson said, “Private sale background checks are no longer available or required by the Virginia State Police.
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 Order prohibits the VSP from running, or assisting in the running of, private sale background checks pursuant to the provisions of Va. Code § 18.2-308.2:5. Accordingly, VSP currently cannot provide criminal history background checks for the private sale of firearms."
We reached out multiple times to the Attorney General’s office but have not received a response.