Column: Virginia’s gun owners must stand up before it’s too late

Virginia gun owners need to wake up to what is coming in 2026. Anti-gun legislators in Richmond have wasted no time filing bills that threaten both your rights and the very industry that supports your ability to exercise them. Their actions leave no question that the aim is not public safety, but political control. And what they cannot ban outright, they plan to destroy through red tape and lawsuits.

At the center of this effort is Virginia Senate Bill 27. On paper, it creates new “standards of responsible conduct” for members of the firearm industry. The bill forces these businesses to adopt vague “reasonable controls” over the manufacture, sale, distribution, use and marketing of firearms and related products. Once these rules are in place, the attorney general, local prosecutors and even private individuals could sue any gun-related business for perceived violations. The foreseeable result would be a flood of politically motivated lawsuits designed to drive lawful companies into bankruptcy.

This is precisely what the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) was meant to stop. That federal law, enacted in 2005, protects gun manufacturers and dealers from liability when criminals misuse their products. SB27 tries to get around that law by creating new “responsibility” requirements. It is a calculated attack on the lawful firearm industry.

We have already seen this type of abuse in states such as New Jersey, where Attorney General Matt Platkin has targeted companies such as Glock to gain political points, pad state coffers and ultimately to harm gun makers by suing on grounds designed to sidestep the PLCAA.

And the gun-grabbing agenda in Richmond doesn’t stop there.

The same crowd that’s pushing SB27 is also moving to expand red flag gun confiscation laws, widening the scope of people who are allowed to petition the courts to deprive law-abiding citizens of their right to bear arms based on the premise that they pose a risk to themselves or others. Currently, only law enforcement officers or commonwealth attorneys (prosecutors) can do this, usually acting on reports from family members and neighbors. The new proposed law would expand who can petition for the order beyond the law enforcement community.

Lawmakers have already introduced legislation to ban some of the most popular firearms in America, which they label “assault weapons.” They’ve also introduced language to outlaw so-called “high-capacity” magazines. These measures, implemented by other states, have been ruled unconstitutional breaches of the Second Amendment in federal courts, and we expect the Supreme Court will rule likewise in due time.

If this were not enough, Virginia’s leading proxies for the Bloomberg-funded anti-gun movement have proposed a $500 tax on suppressors, mere days after the previous nearly 100-year-old $200 federal tax fell to $0 as a result of the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” They’ve also resurrected a proposal to impose an 11% tax on guns and ammunition. It’s just another way the gun grabbers seek to penalize responsible gun owners and throw up every roadblock, burden and delay possible to prevent honest Virginians from exercising their rights.

Indeed, every corner of the law is being exploited to make gun ownership harder and more expensive, one regulation at a time.

Virginia gun owners cannot afford to sit back and hope someone else fights this battle. Now is the time to prepare, organize and make your voice heard. The other side counts on silence; they’re counting on our apathy. We need to prove them wrong. The future of Virginia’s freedom depends on it.

John Commerford of Annandale is executive director of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action.