Virginia Democrats Pass Controversial Legislation to Allow Gun Confiscation
by Bronson Winslow
“Progressive” lawmakers in Richmond have successfully passed a draconian firearm law to accelerate gun seizures by the government without due process.
Virginia police can now enter a person’s home, confiscate their firearms, and hold them indefinitely—without a trial.
This destruction of due process stems from HB 901, a red flag expansion bill now sitting on Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s (D) desk. Red flag laws or Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) allow a civil court to issue a warrant for the seizure of an individual’s firearms—even if no evidence exists to support the petitioner’s claims.
“This should alarm every American,” attorney Edward Paltzik of Bochner PLLC and the National Constitutional Law Union told Restoration News. “To obtain a warrant, the government is supposed to demonstrate probable cause—evidence that a law has been broken or is about to be broken. That standard is being dangerously diluted.”
Under the measure, the power to initiate firearm seizures no longer rests solely with law enforcement and district attorneys. School administrators, therapists, social workers, community services board members, and others can now petition a court to suspend an individual’s Second Amendment rights.
Supporters pitch red flag laws as safety measures—but HB901 unquestionably violates every Virginian's constitutional rights. The bill replaces due process with mere suspicion, and constitutional protections with bureaucratic overreach.
Long Held Plans
Following the horrific deaths of 14 students and 3 teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, red flag laws spread like wildfire across the country.
On the five-year anniversary of the shooting, former President Joe Biden pledged $231 million to states for crisis intervention projects including red flag laws. The subsidy pulls from $750 million in funding from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which Biden signed into law in June 2022.
From the beginning, gun control activists framed ERPOs as “common sense” safety tools—a means to reduce “gun violence.” But they soon became sweeping constitutional violations.
To propel red flag laws across the nation, Biden added a catch to the $231 million in crisis intervention funding. If a state wanted more money, it would need to implement red flag laws.
As a result, red flag laws ballooned from merely 6 states to 22 states in five years.
Virginia's red flag law expansion should not come as a surprise. Gov. Spanberger has been a long-time supporter of the initiative and backed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
“I have repeatedly voiced my support for and cosponsored legislation related to ERPOs,” said Spanberger in 2022.
Virginia accepted the terms of the deal and has received over $3 million in block grants as of 2025.
Maryland’s Wiley Case
One of the clearest examples of how red flag laws can go wrong is the Maryland Willey case—where a veteran was arrested and disarmed, all because a county official held a grudge.
In August 2023, the Second Amendment Foundation and one of its members, Donald S. Willey, a 64-year-old Marine Corps veteran, filed a lawsuit in United States District Court challenging Maryland’s red flag laws. Willey was allegedly harassed, stripped of his gun rights, and forced to undergo a mental health exam after the local zoning director filed a false ERPO (red flag) petition against him, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs allege that, over two decades, Maryland authorities—particularly Dorchester County Planning and Zoning Director Susan E. Webb—harassed Willey over minor zoning issues, including alleged property violations. In 2023, after a compliance inspection and new notices, Webb and another inspector returned without notice and stapled a notice to a fiberglass boat cover, causing extensive damage.
Webb eventually filed a petition for an ERPO, falsely claiming Willey threatened her—which he steadfastly denies, according to a release.
Regardless of the truth, and without a trial in which Willey could confront his accuser, police entered Wiley’s home and removed all of his ammunition and firearms.
“This is the sort of nonsense we have repeatedly warned about,” said SAF founder and executive vice president Alan M. Gottlieb. “These so-called ‘red flag laws’ can be abused and weaponized against private citizens who have done nothing wrong. It is an outrage.”
Protecting Virginians
Supporters of red flag laws present them as proactive measures to prevent mass shootings or guns ending up in the hands of unstable individuals. However, they attempt to serve an impossible function.
ERPOs strip away due process and leave Second Amendment rights subject to the whims of any accuser. This framework allows individuals to disarm others at will, with no proof of criminal intent—even over a grudge.
Under Gov. Spanberger, red flag laws in Virginia will only expand. She has been a supporter of the initiative from the start and has shown little (read: zero) hesitation when it comes to trampling on the individual rights guaranteed by the Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments.
The radical Left will continue to normalize sweeping gun laws in the name of safety until Americans choose to stand up for the Constitution. Virginians must fight against these Orwellian laws.
Bronson Winslow is an Investigative Researcher for Restoration News specializing in gun rights and criminal justice policy. He graduated from Virginia Military Institute and previously wrote for the Daily Caller. He publishes regularly at American Greatness.
