Virginia gun sales spike ahead of July 1 assault weapons ban signed by Gov. Spanberger

Gun sales in Virginia have surged in recent months ahead of a July 1 ban on the sale of assault weapons, according to data from the FBI. Democrat-sponsored bills that would ban the sale of semi-automatic rifles or pistols that have a magazine capacity of more than 15 rounds were introduced in the legislature in January and Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed it into law last month. Since January, the number of background checks done for the purchase of a firearm has gone up exponentially, with 75,376