Democratic Senators Propose Federal One-Gun-a-Month Handgun Purchase Limit

Democratic Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner introduced federal legislation on April 16 that includes a one-gun-a-month limit on handgun purchases. The bill, titled the Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence Act or S. 4339, seeks to impose the restriction nationwide.

Virginia first enacted such a limit in 1993, repealed it in 2012 and reimposed it in 2020. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on June 11, 2025 that California's version of the one-gun-a-month limit is unconstitutional.

The court issued a 3-0 decision striking down the law. The opinion stated that possession of multiple firearms and the ability to acquire them through purchase without meaningful constraints are protected by the Second Amendment. "California’s law is facially unconstitutional because possession of multiple firearms and the ability to acquire firearms through purchase without meaningful constraints are protected by the Second Amendment and California’s law is not supported by our nation’s tradition of firearms regulation," the opinion said.

One judge concurred that the ruling did not address other potential means of restricting bulk and straw purchases of firearms that may align with the nation's tradition of firearm regulation. The panel consisted of two judges appointed during President Donald Trump’s first term and one appointed by former President Barack Obama.

Democratic appointees still held a majority on the court at the time of the ruling.

The Ninth Circuit has faced reversal by the Supreme Court in nearly four out of every five decisions since 2007. The high court reversed 94 percent of the circuit’s rulings in the term ending in June 2021. The Firearms Policy Coalition filed suit against California's restriction in December 2020 in federal district court.