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They Introduced It on April 16
April 16, 2026, was the 19th anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine chose that date to introduce S.4339, the Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence Act. The bill would impose seven federal restrictions that have never existed at the national level.
Both senators represent Virginia. They wrote the bill around laws their own state already passed.
What S.4339 Does
The bill combines provisions that have been proposed separately for years. None have ever been packaged into one federal bill.
| Provision | What it means |
|---|---|
| One-handgun-a-month limit | Buyers cannot purchase more than one handgun per 30 days |
| Lost/stolen reporting | Gun owners must report lost or stolen firearms within 48 hours |
| Boyfriend loophole closure | Extends domestic violence gun prohibitions to dating partners, not just spouses |
| Federal ERPO (red flag) process | Creates a federal extreme risk protection order for removing firearms from people deemed dangerous |
| Assault weapons ban | Bans sale and manufacture of semiautomatic assault weapons |
| Mental healthcare facility buffer | Prohibits firearms within 1,000 feet of mental healthcare facilities |
| Universal background checks | Requires checks on all gun sales, including private transactions |
“These are laws that work. Virginia passed them. Gun deaths went down. There is no reason the rest of the country should wait.”
Senator Tim Kaine, press release, April 16, 2026
Virginia Passed These Laws. They Worked.
Virginia enacted a one-handgun-a-month purchase limit in 1993, repealed it in 2012, then reinstated it in 2020 along with universal background checks and a red flag law. The state also closed the boyfriend loophole and required lost/stolen firearm reporting.
After the 2020 laws took effect, Virginia saw its gun death rate fall for two consecutive years according to CDC WONDER data. The senators argue S.4339 applies what their state already proved at the federal level.
No Federal Assault Weapons Ban Has Existed Since 2004
The original federal assault weapons ban expired in September 2004. Congress has not renewed it. Two bills sit in the current Congress without votes.
| Bill | Status |
|---|---|
| H.R.3115 (House assault weapons ban) | Introduced, no committee vote |
| S.1531 (Senate assault weapons ban) | Introduced, no committee vote |
| S.4339 (Virginia Plan) | Introduced April 16, 2026, no committee vote |
Twenty-two years without a federal ban means a generation of adults has grown up in a country where these weapons are unrestricted at the national level.
The Boyfriend Loophole Is a Real Gap
Federal law prohibits gun ownership by people convicted of domestic violence against a spouse, cohabitant, or co-parent. It does not cover dating partners. That gap is called the boyfriend loophole.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 partially addressed this by including dating partners in background check prohibitions, but only for misdemeanor convictions less than five years old. S.4339 would make the prohibition permanent.
According to Everytown for Gun Safety, intimate partner violence accounts for more than half of all homicides of women in the United States. In 70% of those cases, the abuser used a gun.
Federal ERPOs Do Not Exist
Twenty-one states and Washington, D.C. have red flag laws that allow courts to temporarily remove firearms from people who show signs of being dangerous to themselves or others. There is no federal version.
S.4339 would create one. Under the bill, family members or law enforcement could petition a federal court for a temporary order. A full hearing would follow within 14 days.
The federal ERPO is particularly relevant because six states have now passed laws banning red flag enforcement entirely. A federal law would apply in those states regardless.
Where It Stands
S.4339 has zero Republican co-sponsors. In the current Senate, that means it cannot overcome a filibuster. Warner and Kaine introduced it knowing this.
The bill is a marker. It establishes the most detailed federal gun safety framework since the 1994 assault weapons ban and gives every senator a concrete proposal to support or reject by name.
Contact your senators. Ask them where they stand on S.4339. If they support it, ask them to co-sponsor it publicly. If they oppose it, ask them which provision they object to and why.