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DOJ Civil Rights Division Targets Virginia Gun-Law Enforcement After Background-Check Volume Tops 100,000 in June

7/2/2026

Department of Justice's civil rights division says it is actively monitoring Virginia's contested assault-weapons ban after a Lancaster County judge blocked the law's enforcement through Dec.

31 and a spike in background-check applications — more than 100,000 processed by Virginia State Police in June alone, averaging over 5,000 transactions a day — left firearm buyers facing extended waits.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said her office is "all over this" case and similar instances of what she called "gun-grabbing nonsense nationally," responding to concerns raised in part by a fellow Trump administration official.

Judge Blocks the Ban, Citing Rational-Basis Flaw Judge John Martin of Lancaster County in Virginia's Northern Neck issued the preliminary injunction halting the law through Dec.

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