A state judge effectively froze the legal battle over Virginia’s “assault firearms” and “high-capacity” magazine ban this week. But filings from a sister case provide further insight into whether the fight is actually over for now.

On Wednesday, Washington County Circuit Judge Jeffrey L. Campbell issued a stay enshrining his statewide preliminary injunction against enforcement of the law until the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decides its own “assault weapons” case next year. That puts Santolla v. Katz on ice for the foreseeable future–unless Virginia officials decide to appeal.

The most recent filings in Santolla‘s sister case, Crump v. Katz, show where state officials are on that question and how much their view has changed in a few short weeks.

Back on June 21st, Lancaster County Circuit Judge John Martin issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Virginia State Police from enforcing the “assault firearms” ban. On June 29th, Judge Campbell followed up with a similar ruling.

“Because the newly enacted Firearms Ban and Magazine Ban would likely run afoul of the protections of the Second Amendment with respect to the types of firearms and components the Plaintiffs possess as enunciated in both Heller and Bruen, I find that the Plaintiffs are likely to prevail on the merits of their claims,” Campbell wrote in his first order in Santolla v. Katz.

On July 8th, after the law went into effect, Judge Campbell took the extra step of expanding his initial injunction. He said the initial injunctions were too limited to get at the “complete relief” sought by the plaintiffs.

“[T]he Court now finds that to afford complete relief to the Plaintiffs herein, the injunction imposed by the Court’s prior ruling shall be extended to statewide application and enjoin all law enforcement agencies of the Commonwealth and its localities,” Judge Campbell wrote in his later Santolla v. Katz order.

Attorney General Jay Jones (D.) has continually argued the ban is constitutional at the state and federal level. He’s repeatedly said the state would defend it by all means necessary.

“We will continue to vigorously defend Virginia’s assault weapons ban and magazine capacity restrictions and uphold the laws designed to keep Virginians safe,” Jones said in a statement to The Reload in June.

A few weeks after SCOTUS took up its AR-15 ban case, he did tell a Lynchburg, Virginia news station he was open to a stay in light of that.

“The United States Supreme Court is reviewing challenges involving assault weapons bans that could directly inform these cases,” he told WSET when Campbell’s statewide injunction went into effect on July 21st. “Staying the four pending lawsuits will support the equal and fair application of the law and prevent conflicting outcomes.”

But his office hasn’t responded to repeated questions from The Reload about its litigation plans since then. It wouldn’t say whether it wanted the stay to restore enforcement of the law. A July 20th filing from the state in Crump v. Katz does seem to answer that question.

“[W]e cannot agree to bind individuals that are not a party to this case. However, given the statewide injunction in Washington County, I do not believe you need to seek that from this Court,” Gretchen Nygaard, Deputy Attorney General for civil litigation, wrote in an email to Crump’s lawyers. “I can inform you that we have made this same representation to all Plaintiffs in these pending cases–including that we will not be appealing the Washington County injunction during the pendency of any stay.”

Nygaard agreed to allow the stay to remain in place through the totality of the SCOTUS case. Her email is backed up by a recent statement from one of the lawyers in the Santolla case as well.

“We agreed to the Attorney General’s request to stay the progression of our case, with the injunction remaining in place banning the enforcement of the gun ban bills, ONLY when the Va. AG agreed with us that the Stay Order would clearly state that the current injunction applies STATEWIDE — protecting all citizens and all FFL’s — without exception,” Republican state senator Bill Stanley, who is representing the Santolla plaintiffs, said in a social media post.

Of course, that doesn’t mean there will be no action in the case until SCOTUS delivers its decision. For one, the Crump plaintiffs want Judge Martin to issue an order ensuring anyone buying the banned guns during this injunction period is legally protected even if the injunctions are eventually overturned–a potential issue we’ve highlighted recently.

“Further demonstrating the need for a final judgment as opposed to an open-ended stay, it is far from clear whether a temporary injunction protects against future enforcement for past conduct that occurred during the injunction’s pendency, should the present injunction ever be dissolved or otherwise vacated,” they wrote in their July 20th filing. “In fact, government counsel refused to disavow future prosecutions of violations Defendant is currently enjoined from pursuing.”

The Crump plaintiffs also want their injunction expanded to cover all Virginia law enforcement as the Santolla plaintiffs got. Plaintiffs in both cases still want a final ruling on the merits, too.

So, while there is still litigating to do and there’s some chance the plaintiffs could lose on the merits in the higher Virginia courts, the state appears content to leave AR-15s and other “assault firearms” on shelves while the legal fight unfolds and SCOTUS weighs in. Since nearly all experts agree SCOTUS is likely to rule AR-15 bans unconstitutional, that formulation likely means the fight is practically over, and AR-15s won’t ever come back off Virginia shelves again. At least, barring any big surprises.

Certainly, gun-rights activists are confident that’s the direction things are headed.

“So gun stores, throw open your doors and sell these lawful firearms, and you patriots— boldly go through those doors and support these great local businesses and exercise your 2nd Amendment rights!” Stanley said in his post. “Victory has been achieved, and your Liberty is still alive and well here in Virginia.”