As Virginia prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, a growing number of local prosecutors and sheriffs across the commonwealth are openly revolting against one of Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s most controversial new laws: a sweeping ban targeting so-called “assault weapons.”
And fittingly enough, the resistance is unfolding in the very state where the American Revolution itself first ignited.
The latest and most prominent official to reject the law is Spotsylvania County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ryan Mehaffey, who formally notified the county sheriff that the gun ban set to take effect July 1 is unconstitutional and cannot lawfully be enforced.
According to him, the Second Amendment exists not merely as a personal right but as a foundational safeguard ensuring citizens retain the ability to defend both themselves and their communities.
This just into my inbox from Pulaski County commonwealth’s attorney: pic.twitter.com/HOkj4gOAgL
— Avery Davis (@AveryRDaviss) May 26, 2026
“Our founders were careful to make sure when they drafted our founding document, that the ultimate right of the people was preserved to defend themselves and to defend their community,” Mehaffey explained.
He further argued that constitutional analysis hinges on whether firearms maintain “some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a regulated militia,” invoking both historical tradition and Supreme Court precedent supporting broad Second Amendment protections.
And Mehaffey is far from alone.
A growing coalition of Virginia prosecutors and sheriffs has now announced they will refuse to enforce the law, which bans the purchase, sale, and transfer of many commonly owned firearms, including AR-15-style rifles.
Commonwealth’s attorneys in Smyth and Powhatan counties have already declared similar opposition. Pulaski County Commonwealth’s Attorney Justin Griffith joined the rebellion this week, stating plainly that prosecutors retain discretion in how criminal laws are enforced.
“I am not going to take law-abiding citizens as of June 30, 2026 and criminalize that same behavior on July 1, 2026 solely on the basis of this new law,” Griffith said.
That sentiment is increasingly spreading through Virginia’s more conservative counties, where many local officials view the law not as public safety legislation but as a direct constitutional violation.
Several sheriffs have echoed the same position.
Amherst County Sheriff Jimmy Ayers stated that citizens retain the right to bear arms so long as they legally qualify to possess them. Campbell County Sheriff Whit Clark went even further, calling the legislation “nothing more than a gun grab.”
“I believe that this is an infringement on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owning citizens,” Clark said.
Perhaps most strikingly, Clark framed his opposition not as political defiance but as fulfillment of his oath of office.
“I’ve laid my hand on the Bible three times and swore to protect and uphold the Constitution of the United States, and I intend to do that,” he said.
The standoff now brewing between Virginia’s Democrat-controlled state government and local constitutional officers is shaping up to become one of the largest state-level Second Amendment confrontations in recent memory.
This is a gross neglect of duties and responsibilities by any commonwealth attorney. You don’t get to pick and choose which law you will enforce. Please do your jobs. https://t.co/QLkDuGmzxV
— Michael Jones (@thedrmikejones) May 26, 2026
Critics of Spanberger’s law argue that it criminalizes ordinary Virginians who legally own some of the most commonly purchased firearms in America while doing little to address violent crime. Supporters, meanwhile, insist the restrictions are necessary to reduce mass shootings and gun violence.
But opponents also point to what they see as glaring double standards inside Virginia’s justice system.
Many conservatives note that progressive prosecutors in Democrat-controlled jurisdictions have routinely exercised discretion by declining to prosecute certain crimes or cooperate with federal immigration enforcement — often with little criticism from the same political figures now outraged over resistance to the gun ban.
That contrast is only fueling further backlash in rural and suburban parts of the state.
