Virginia Claims State Constitution Does Not Protect Individual Gun Rights in Crump v. Katz

Summary

In the case of Crump v. Katz, Virginia is defending its new ban, SB749, on semi-automatic firearms and magazines over 15 rounds by arguing that Article I, Section 13 of the Virginia Constitution protects only a collective, militia-tied right to bear arms, not an individual Second Amendment-style right. The Commonwealth asserts that state courts should interpret this provision based on its 1971 ratification history, separate from federal Second Amendment precedents like Heller and Bruen, potentially diminishing state constitutional protections for gun owners.