Look, folks, another judge just told Virginians that their constitutional right to keep and bear arms doesn't actually mean what it says. A Spotsylvania circuit court judge denied a preliminary injunction in Curtis v. Katz, which means Virginia's semiautomatic firearm and magazine ban can move forward while the lawsuit drags on.
The plaintiffs made a solid argument — Virginia's Constitution specifically recognizes an individual right to arms as members of the unorganized militia. And let's be honest: the rifles and handguns being banned are exactly the kind of arms the militia would need. These aren't "military style" weapons for show — they're the real deal that citizens would use if called upon to defend this country.
But Judge William E. Glover didn't see it that way. He admitted the plaintiffs would suffer "irreparable harm" if the ban takes effect and is later ruled unconstitutional — but apparently that's not enough to stop it. He basically said the potential harm to the Commonwealth outweighs trampling on our constitutional rights. That's backwards, folks.
Even worse, the judge said he doesn't believe there's an individual right to possess these arms at all. He's buying the argument that only organized militia members — or perhaps only the government — should have access to these firearms. That's not what the Founders had in mind when they wrote the Second Amendment, and it's certainly not what Virginia's founders wrote into Article 1, Section 13 of the state constitution.
The plaintiffs have 15 days to appeal, and from what I'm hearing, they're seriously considering it. This case is unique because it's one of the first to challenge gun laws specifically based on the Militia clause rather than just the Second Amendment. If they can get this in front of a higher court with a proper constitutional review, they might have a shot.
But meanwhile, Virginians are looking at losing their rights while the lawyers sort this out. That's how these bans work — they take your guns first and figure out if it's legal later. By the time the courts finally rule the right way, how many guns will be surrendered? How many law-abiding citizens will be turned into criminals overnight?
This is why we can't keep letting these laws pass and hope the courts fix it later. We need to fight back at the ballot box and in the streets. Your rights aren't supposed to be subject to "balance of hardships" calculations by judges.