2 Democrat Senators Proposed Gun Law That Even Notoriously Liberal Court Rejected

A liberal federal appellate court previously ruled that California’s version of a signature provision of federal legislation being pushed by two Democrat senators was unconstitutional.

In an April 16 release, Democratic Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner said they had introduced the “Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence Act,” also known as S 4339, highlighting a “one gun a month” restriction on handgun purchases that Virginia first enacted in 1993 and reimposed in 2020. However, on June 11, 2025, a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, consisting of United States Circuit Judges Bridget S. Bade, Danielle J. Forrest and John Owens, struck down California’s version of the “one gun a month” limit in a 3-0 ruling.

“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, written by Forrest, said.

Owens concurred with the decision, noting that while their decision struck down the rationing, “it does not address other means of restricting bulk and straw purchasing of firearms, which our nation’s tradition of firearm regulation may support.”