Virginia just witnessed a seismic shift in the fight for Second Amendment rights with a court ruling that’s got gun control advocates scrambling.
According to Breitbart, on Thursday, October 16, 2025, Gun Owners of America clinched a major victory in the case of Wilson v. Hanley, successfully blocking the enforcement of Virginia’s universal background check law for handgun sales.
This legal showdown unfolded in the Twenty-Fourth Judicial Circuit of Virginia, where Judge F. Patrick Yeatts delivered a decision that’s as sharp as a tack.
Court Strikes Down Arbitrary Age Rules
The law in question, which mandated background checks for handgun purchases, had a peculiar carve-out for 18- to 20-year-olds, exempting them from certain requirements while still insisting on checks for their transactions.
Judge Yeatts wasn’t buying the logic—or lack thereof—behind this age-based distinction, and frankly, neither should anyone who values fairness over bureaucratic whims.
His ruling pointed out the glaring inconsistency in treating one age group differently without a shred of justifiable reason, putting the law on ice until the legislature can sort out this mess.
Judge Yeatts Calls Out Flawed Policy
“Here, the Court finds no legitimate government interest in exempting individuals ages 18 to 20 from background checks while requiring them for those over the age of 20,” Judge Yeatts wrote in his order.
Let’s unpack that gem—arbitrarily picking an age range to exempt from scrutiny is the kind of half-baked policy that makes you wonder if anyone in the room was paying attention when this law was drafted. “Such a distinction would be as arbitrary as exempting any age range, such as 57 to 59, without justification,” he continued, delivering a polite but pointed jab at the absurdity of it all.
Legislature Left with Cleanup Duty
Now, Judge Yeatts didn’t just slap down the law and call it a day; he left the door open for Virginia’s lawmakers to rewrite the statute and eliminate this disparate treatment based on age.
But let’s be real—revising a law to make sense after it’s been exposed as flawed isn’t exactly a quick fix, and it’s certainly not within the court’s current scope to play editor for the legislature.
Until that rewrite happens, if it ever does, the court has officially barred enforcement of this universal background check mandate, giving gun rights supporters a well-earned win.
Victory for Gun Rights Advocates
For those who’ve long argued that such laws infringe on constitutional freedoms without delivering real safety, this ruling is a breath of fresh air in a debate often choked by overreach.
While respecting the need for public safety, it’s hard to ignore how often these policies seem less about protection and more about control, especially when they’re riddled with inconsistencies like this age exemption.
Gun Owners of America’s triumph in Wilson v. Hanley isn’t just a legal notch in the belt—it’s a reminder that the fight for individual rights can still cut through the fog of progressive policy experiments, and that’s a cause worth celebrating with a tip of the hat to Judge Yeatts for calling out nonsense when he sees it.
