Nov. 18 Hearing Set as GOA and VCDL Fight Virginia’s Handgun Purchase Ban for 18-to-20-Year-Olds and Universal Background Checks

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LYNCHBURG, VA — A hearing is set for Nov. 18 in Lynchburg Circuit Court in the lawsuit challenging two Virginia gun statutes. One keeps adults 18 to 20 from buying handguns. The other requires universal background checks. Plaintiffs Melody Boyer and Natasha Rousseau are suing Virginia State Police Superintendent Jeffrey Katz, joined by Gun Owners of America and the Virginia Citizens Defense League.

Last month I covered the filing in Back in the Court That Already Said Under-21 Adults Can Buy Handguns, when the plaintiffs took the new purchase ban and the private-sale background check law back to the court that had ruled for young adult buyers before. Since then, as reported by WDBJ7, the case has a hearing date, the state has its lawyers in place, and the groups behind the suit are making their argument publicly.

The Virginia attorney general’s office is representing Katz. When WDBJ7 contacted that office, it referred questions to Virginia State Police. VSP had not responded at the time of the station’s report.

GOA Director of State and Local Affairs Chris Stone laid out the age claim directly. “We believe law-abiding adults ages 18, 19 and 20 should be able to purchase handguns and, ‘assault firearms,’” Stone said. “Also, you should be able to conduct private sales of firearms that has existed in this state for literal centuries.”

VCDL President Philip Van Cleave made the same point through everything else the law already lets young adults do. “They can enter into contracts. They can buy an automobile if they want. They can be on a jury. They vote. But they are adults. And their right to protect themselves shouldn’t end just because they’re a young adult,” he said.

That list is the age argument in a single breath. Virginia trusts an 18-year-old with a ballot, a jury summons, and a binding contract. The plaintiffs say it cannot then turn around and tell that same adult he is too young to buy a handgun to protect himself.

The background check claim goes after private sales between Virginians. “The state cannot force you to say you must conduct a background check to exercise one of your fundamental rights because a right delayed is a right denied,” Stone said.

This fight has been in front of Virginia courts before. GOA announced in October 2025 that the court in Wilson v. Hanley had struck down Virginia Code § 18.2-308.2:5, the universal background check law for private sales. According to GOA, the court declared the statute unconstitutional “particularly due to its discriminatory impact on law-abiding adults aged 18-20” and blocked its enforcement across the entire Commonwealth. The court’s opinion in that case was not available for this article, so that account is GOA’s description as a party to the case, not the court’s own words. WDBJ7 reported that the issues are being raised again because the General Assembly passed measures to overturn rulings judges made in 2020 and 2024 in favor of gun rights activists.

Graham Bryant, counsel with the Richmond-based law firm Troutman Pepper Locke, described what the court now has to decide. “What the court will have to do in this case is weigh whether the General Assembly’s new actions are constitutionally adequate,” he said. He added the catch that matters for anyone in Virginia today: “The argument is that that constitutional provision equally bars this new legislation. But until a court finds that that’s the case, the statute certainly is presumed to be constitutional.”

More from USA Carry:

• Back in the Court That Already Said Under-21 Adults Can Buy Handguns: GOA and VCDL Sue Virginia State Police Over New Purchase Ban and Private-Sale Background Check Law – USA Carry
• Ohio Bill Would Allow Adults 18-20 to Purchase Handguns from Licensed Dealers, Prepares for Possible Federal Shift
• DOJ Says It Will Not Prosecute Dealers Who Sell Handguns to 18-to-20-Year-Olds, Calling Federal Ban Inconsistent With the Second Amendment
• Federal Judge Upholds Massachusetts Handgun Ban for 18- to 20-Year-Olds, Rejecting NRA and SAF Challenge
• Massachusetts High Court Upholds Under-21 Handgun Carry Ban, Affirming the Conviction of a 20-Year-Old Who Was Never Allowed to Apply

In plain terms, the law stands and gets enforced until a judge says otherwise, and a hearing is not a ruling. An 18-year-old Virginian who wants a handgun is bound by the statute on the books until the court acts. A responsible carry mindset means knowing which law is in force on the day you buy, not the law you expect a judge to hand down.

I will continue tracking Boyer v. Katz through the Nov. 18 hearing in Lynchburg Circuit Court.

Read the original story: Nov. 18 Hearing Set as GOA and VCDL Fight Virginia’s Handgun Purchase Ban for 18-to-20-Year-Olds and Universal Background Checks