The countdown to Virginia’s new assault weapons ban is playing out at gun counters across the commonwealth.
Customers are snapping up AR-15s, gun manufacturers are rushing shipments to Virginia retailers and store owners say firearms are flying off shelves ahead of a July 1 deadline that will dramatically restrict what guns can be legally sold in the state.
Recent FBI data suggests Virginia gun stores are seeing a huge surge in demand. In May, Virginia recorded 75,376 background checks — more than double the total from the same month last year. While background checks are not a direct measure of gun sales, they’re widely used as an industry indicator.
“They’re buying the living daylights out of ARs,” said Karen Ballengee, owner of Southern Police Equipment (formerly Southern Gun World) in Chesterfield County. “They’re buying guns as fast as they can get their hands on them.”
Customers are looking for ARs, AR pistols and regular handguns with a threaded barrel to accept sound suppressors, Ballengee said.
“This gun itself would be illegal,” Ballengee said, holding a semiautomatic rifle equipped with a pistol grip, “and your grandfather’s probably got 10 of them in his closet.”
— Anna Bryson in Virginians are ‘buying the living daylights’ out of AR-15s and other soon-to-be illegal guns