The Justice Department has filed lawsuits targeting assault weapons bans in Virginia and California, both of which were set to take effect Wednesday.

The government is seeking permanent injunctions in both cases to block the laws from being enforced, arguing that they violate gun owners’ Second Amendment rights. The legal challenges come as the latest example of the Trump administration pushing to strike down gun control measures.

“The Constitution is not a suggestion, and the Second Amendment is not a second-class right,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement announcing the Virginia lawsuit.

That lawsuit, which names the commonwealth and the Virginia State Police as defendants, challenges a law banning the sale and purchase of assault weapons and magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds. Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, signed the law in May, but two court injunctions have blocked it from taking effect until next year as legal challenges from gun rights groups unfold.

Meanwhile, gun safety organizations, including Everytown for Gun Safety and Brady, applauded the measure when it was signed into law, making Virginia the 11th state to ban assault weapons nationwide, according to Everytown. Among Virginians, the law appears popular: Roanoke College conducted a poll of more than 800 voters in February and found that almost 60% supported banning assault rifles.

According to a Washington Post report published in 2023, AR-15s are the bestselling rifles in the U.S., with roughly 15 million people owning at least one, per polling data from the Post and Ipsos. Those who do not own the rifles may be most familiar with them from their use in several of the country’s deadliest mass shootings.

The government’s 13-page complaint makes no mention of the rifles’ historic use in school shootings. The complaint states: “AR-15 type rifles are not commonly used by criminals,” instead citing survey data showing their use for self-defense and hunting.

A spokesperson for Spanberger’s office told MS NOW on Wednesday that the governor “firmly believes that firearms designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong in our communities, near our kids and schools, or on Virginia’s streets.”

The Virginia State Police directed MS NOW’s questions to the state attorney general’s office, which said in a statement that it would “defend Virginia’s assault weapons ban against the Trump DOJ’s misuse of the Civil Rights Division.”

“This commonsense law keeps Virginians safe, protects law enforcement, and safeguards communities across the Commonwealth,” the statement said.

The Supreme Court is expected to take up a case considering the constitutionality of assault weapons bans in its next term, which could affect the implementation of the Virginia law.

The California suit, meanwhile, targets the state’s so-called Glock ban, which Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed into law last fall and took effect Wednesday. The law bans the sale of semiautomatic pistols that can be converted into automatic machine guns with a pistol converter, also referred to as a switch. The government’s lawsuit contends tthat he law mainly, though not exclusively, affects the Glock brand due to its manufacturing of pistols.

The suit also challenges the enforcement of the state’s 2007 Unsafe Handgun Act, which prohibits the sale of certain handguns and requires that those meeting the “unsafe” definition be added to a roster. The 17-page complaint alleges that the law is overly broad and at odds with previous Supreme Court rulings that allow the purchase of handguns for self-defense.

In a statement provided to MS NOW, Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for Newsom, called the lawsuit “politically motivated” and alleged that the government is “trying to dismantle California’s commonsense gun safety laws.”

“Our response is simple — these laws save lives,” Crofts-Pelayo added. “California has proven that strong, evidence-based gun safety measures can reduce gun violence while respecting the rights of responsible gun owners.”

A spokesperson for California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the office will review the complaint and respond in court, adding that it is “committed to defending California’s effective and constitutional gun safety laws, including laws that protect the public from the proliferation of machine guns and from unsafe handguns that have not passed consumer safety and testing requirements.”

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