Victory for Gun Safety in the Courts: NRA-Backed Plaintiffs Suffer Another Blow in Case Challenging Fairfax County’s Common-Sense Gun Safety Law Prohibiting Guns in Parks and at Permitted Events

Fairfax County, VA – In a victory for gun safety in the courts, NRA-backed plaintiffs challenging Fairfax County’s common-sense gun safety ordinance restricting guns in parks and at County-permitted events faced yet another blow when a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that plaintiffs are not entitled to a preliminary injunction blocking the County from enforcing its law while the case continues. This decision comes just months after the plaintiffs dropped their lawsuit challenging the ordinance in state court after suffering a series of defeats. The plaintiffs then filed their suit in federal court in November, only to fail once again in their flawed efforts to undermine public safety in Fairfax County.

“We’re very pleased by the court’s ruling that Fairfax County can continue to enforce its common sense and life-saving ordinance,” said Janet Carter, Senior Director of Issues and Appeals at Everytown Law. “Keeping guns out of sensitive places like parks and permitted events has no doubt made the Fairfax community safer.”

Everytown Law, the nation’s largest and most experienced team of litigators in the U.S. working full-time on advancing gun violence prevention in the courts, represented Fairfax County in the case, alongside lawyers from the County and from the law firm Offit Kurman. Janet Carter, Senior Director of Issues and Appeals at Everytown Law, argued the case for the County.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted overwhelmingly to adopt the ordinance in September 2020. The County was able to pass the life-saving ordinance after former Governor Northam signed legislation into law that rolled back Virginia’s preemption law by allowing local governments to prohibit guns in a number of sensitive places. Fairfax County’s ordinance prohibits guns in County parks, at or adjacent to County-permitted events (or events that require such a permit), community and recreation centers, and government buildings. 

The Everytown Law team includes Janet Carter, William Taylor, Priyanka Gupta, Carina Bentata, Eleuthera Sa, Ivan Wohner, Freya Jamison, Kellen Heniford, and Alison Oh.