DOJ Focus on Virginia: Are They Now Slow-Walking Firearms Purchase Background Checks?

Virginia’s “assault weapon” law, which is as stupid as these laws always are, is on hold, as a judge has issued an injunction against enforcing the law until the litigation of the case is complete. That’s good news, but now there are reports that some background checks for the weapons that would be affected by this law are deliberately being slow-walked.

Now, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) is looking into it.

A top DOJ prosecutor responded to concerns raised by a Virginia resident and fellow Trump administration official over alleged slow-walking of background checks after a judge temporarily blocked a sweeping “assault weapons” ban that otherwise was set to take effect Wednesday.

The uproar comes as Richmond becomes the latest Democrat-run capital to pursue restrictions on Second Amendment-related activities. The Supreme Court’s recent rulings against New York’s and the District of Columbia’s gun laws have given conservatives major legal victories in their efforts to challenge similar measures.

Amid Virginia’s legal fight, critics accused state police of intentionally slow-walking background checks to effectively backdoor-enforce the law while it is litigated. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon responded that her office is “all over this” case and other instances of “gun-grabbing nonsense nationally.”

Those of us who remember the 1994 federal “assault weapons” ban will remember that sales of the affected weapons shot skyward while that bill was being debated, and background check turnaround times increased as well. That last part appears to be happening in Virginia:

After the ruling, FTC Commissioner Andrew Ferguson tweeted that he encountered what he called an “en masse” delay in background checks after visiting his local gun store. The checks are handled by the Virginia State Police.

The top cop at VSP, Col. Jeffrey Katz, is both a Spanberger appointee and listed the defendant in the Lancaster case.

“The Virginia State Police is is delaying background checks en masse in one of the most flagrant violations of our rights that I’ve seen. This is outrageous,” Ferguson said.

“Our police are aiding radical leftists to disarm Americans.”

There’s just one possible problem here: The Virginia State Police maintains that the center responsible for these checks, the Firearms Transaction Center or FTC, is seeing the turnaround time increase, not because of any deliberate action, but because of increased volume.

When asked about the allegation, VSP suggested there was no intentional slow-walking and said troopers have seen a spike in applications over the past month.

“The Firearms Transaction Center is seeing a large number of transactions. The [center] has processed over 100,000 transactions in June alone and have been averaging over 5,000 transactions a day,” said Matthew Demlein, an ombudsman for the state police.

“The [center] is working diligently to complete each transaction.”

The DOJ is reportedly looking into this, but when you look at the history of laws like this, the sales of the affected weapons, as happened in 1994, always shoot up as the legislation nears passage, or, as in this case, the law is blocked while litigation goes on.

Read More: New: Supreme Court Unanimously Tosses Federal Pot-User Firearm Ban

Spanberger Gets Smacked Down *Again* As Virginia Judge Blocks ‘Assault Firearms’ Ban

The gun buyers may now have a little more time to make their purchases. As this was being written, another statewide injunction was put in place halting enforcement of the ban. The new injunction is in place until July 2027, unless there is another ruling in the meantime:

Breaking: A judge in Washington County has sided with the NRA in a challenge to Virginia’s assault weapons ban. I’m awaiting further details.

— Joe Dodson (@joedodson16) June 29, 2026

You can read the new injunction here.

These laws are ill-advised, essentially useless, and almost always penned by people who know little or nothing about firearms. The same would appear to be the case here, but we can expect this litigation to go on for some time. Now, though, the pro-Second Amendment side has an even stronger counter to this in the form of the SCOTUS Bruen decision; that is the rock upon which this case may very well founder. 

Stay tuned. 

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