Virginia Gun Background Check Law Struck Down After Five Years of Litigation

Virginia’s background check law for private handgun sales is officially dead, ending five years of intense court battles.

Attorney Rachel Moss of Attorneys On Retainer says the final order in Wilson v. Hanley has now been issued, striking down the statute that required universal background checks for gun sales in Virginia.

It’s not the broad Second Amendment ruling many hoped for, but it’s a major victory and highlights serious problems in how the law treated young adults.

A Five-Year Fight Over Private Sales

Moss explains that Wilson v. Hanley has been winding through courts since 2020, challenging Virginia Code § 18.2-308.2:5 – the law mandating background checks for all firearm sales, including private transactions.

Since then, the legal landscape has shifted dramatically.

Moss notes that the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision changed how courts assess Second Amendment cases, and the later Rahimi ruling added more complexity.

The judge in Wilson acknowledged those cases but chose a narrower path. Instead of ruling on the constitutionality of private sale background checks under Bruen, the court focused on how the Virginia statute functioned in practice – and that’s where it fell apart.

How Virginia’s Background Check Law Worked

Moss carefully explains the statute.

The law required that no one could sell a firearm for money, goods, services, or anything of value unless a licensed dealer ran a background check and received a “proceed” response from the State Police system.

In simple terms, every sale – even between two ordinary Virginians – had to go through a licensed dealer and the background check system.

The law’s goal, Moss says, was clear: lawmakers wanted every buyer to undergo a background check, without exemptions for any group.

But when the law collided with federal background checks for young adults, it became unconstitutional as applied.

Why 18- to 20-Year-Olds Were at the Center

The critical group in the case was 18- to 20-year-olds.

Under federal practice, when the national background check system processes a handgun purchase for someone in that age range, the transaction is automatically denied.

Moss says this meant that an 18-, 19-, or 20-year-old trying to buy a handgun in Virginia would always be blocked. Because the state law funneled every sale through that system, young adults were effectively barred from buying handguns in any normal way.

The court recognized this as a serious constitutional issue.

Moss adds that the judge had already issued an injunction preventing enforcement of the law against 18- to 20-year-olds while the case was ongoing, signaling the problem early.

The Three-Prong Test That Sank the Statute

Moss explains the court applied a three-part test from the Iote decision, which addresses what courts should do when a statute is unconstitutional “as applied” to a specific group.

Sever the offending part?
Could the court remove only the problematic section without harming the rest of the law? Moss says the judge concluded this wouldn’t work. Exempting 18- to 20-year-olds while keeping checks for everyone else would contradict the legislature’s original intent.
Rewrite minimally?
Could the court tweak the law to make it constitutional? Moss says the judge rejected this, emphasizing courts cannot act as mini-legislatures. Fixing the age issue would require major changes, crossing from interpretation into policymaking.
Respect legislative intent?
Could any remedy honor the legislature’s goals? Moss notes the judge found that lawmakers did not intend arbitrary age discrimination or to strip young adults of their rights. The court couldn’t pretend the law meant to exempt 18- to 20-year-olds while enforcing it on everyone else.

With all three prongs pointing the same way, the court saw only one solution: strike the entire act.

What the Final Order Actually Does

Back in October 2025, the judge issued an opinion letter signaling his intended ruling and requesting proposed orders from both sides. That letter foreshadowed the outcome but wasn’t binding.

Now, the final order is official.

Moss says the court’s order:

Declares Virginia’s background check law unconstitutional as applied to adults aged 18 to 20.
Strikes down the statute entirely, as severing or rewriting it wouldn’t make sense.
Enjoins Virginia law enforcement from enforcing the act – a binding order.
Dissolves all temporary injunctions and earlier stopgap measures, replaced by this permanent ruling.

The state opposed the plaintiffs’ proposed order, but the judge adopted it with only minor edits. Practically, Virginia’s background check mandate for private sales is now off the books.

A Win – With a Big Asterisk

Moss calls it a “big win” for Second Amendment supporters in Virginia. A law that effectively blocked young adults from buying handguns while claiming to treat everyone equally has been ruled unconstitutional.

The ruling also shows courts are paying attention to how “universal” background checks work in practice, not just on paper.

But Moss cautions: the judge did not address the larger question everyone wanted answered – whether private-sale background checks themselves violate the Second Amendment and Bruen. This was strictly an as-applied challenge for 18- to 20-year-olds.

The door remains open for the Virginia legislature to propose a revised version.

What Comes Next for Virginia Gun Owners

Moss believes Virginia lawmakers may try again. They could propose a new background check law with different mechanics or one that avoids automatic denials for young adults.

If they do, she expects more litigation – possibly years of it.

From a gun rights perspective, this is both encouraging and frustrating:

Encouraging, because the case proves bad laws can be overturned and courts will strike down statutes that unfairly strip rights from specific groups.
Frustrating, because the core constitutional question about private-sale background checks remains unresolved, even after five years of litigation.

Moss highlights two key realities:

“Universal background check” laws can have hidden consequences for young adults who are otherwise legal adults, especially when tied to federal systems not designed for them.
Courts are often more willing to correct unfairness for a narrow group than issue sweeping rulings that reshape the entire gun control framework.

For now, Virginia gun owners, especially those aged 18 to 20, have more breathing room. But Moss warns this isn’t the end – it’s the end of one bad law and the start of whatever the General Assembly decides to do next.