Virginia gun range loses legal bid on virus restrictions

LEESBURG, Va. — A judge has rejected a request from a Loudoun County gun range that sought to loosen the restrictions imposed under Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s executive orders to mitigate spread of the coronavirus.

The injunction request filed by owners of the Silver Eagle shooting range was one of many filed across Virginia challenging business closures.

Nearly all of them have been rejected, though a judge in Lynchburg ruled that closure of a range there violated the constitutional right to bear arms.

The Loudoun County judge, though, reached a different conclusion than the judge in Lynchburg.

The judge ruled Wednesday that Second Amendment protections extend to individuals, not gun ranges like Silver Eagle.