In the latest salvo against Virginia’s creeping gun control agenda, a sharp op-ed in the state’s press dismantles the proposed assault weapon ban as both a toothless dud and a blatant constitutional overreach. The piece doesn’t mince words: these bans, peddled as lifesavers, have zero track record of curbing violence—citing data from states like California and New York where assault weapons (a politicized term for scary-looking semi-autos) are involved in a vanishingly small fraction of crimes, often under 2% per FBI stats. Instead, they punish law-abiding Virginians who rely on AR-15s for self-defense, hunting, and sport, echoing the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision that demands historical analogs for any infringement. This isn’t just rhetoric; it’s a masterclass in exposing how politicians recycle failed 1994 federal ban logic, ignoring how criminals don’t register grandpa’s AK or 3D-print bypasses.

Zooming out, this op-ed lands at a pivotal moment for the 2A community. Virginia, once a purple battleground, has tilted blue post-2019 elections, birthing red-flag laws and mag limits that courts are already chipping away. But with Bruen’s ghost haunting legislatures, this critique amplifies the growing judicial skepticism—recent wins like Bianchi v. Frosh in Maryland show assault weapon schemes crumbling under scrutiny for lacking Founding-era precedents. For gun owners, the implications are electric: rally behind voices like this to flood comment periods, support pro-2A candidates in 2025 locals, and push preemptive lawsuits. It’s a reminder that ineffective bans aren’t accidents; they’re stepping stones to confiscation. The 2A fortress holds when we expose the emperor’s new clothes—one op-ed at a time. Stay vigilant, Virginia—your rights aren’t negotiating.