LYNCHBURG, Va. — A judge has ruled that a Virginia gun range must be allowed to open to customers despite a statewide executive order requiring nonessential businesses to close to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The order issued Monday by Lynchburg Circuit Judge F. Patrick Yeatts says federal and state protections on the right to bear arms outweigh any emergency authority held by Gov. Ralph Northam to order the gun range closed.
The SafeSide gun range in Lynchburg filed the lawsuit challenging the governor’s executive order, along with Gun owners of America, the Virginia Citizens Defense League and the Association of Virginia Gun Ranges.
