Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, a Democrat, announced Tuesday the creation of the Firearms Accountability & Industry Responsibility Unit to investigate and sue firearm manufacturers, dealers, and other industry members under the state’s new firearm industry law.

The move expands Jones’s role in enforcing Virginia’s gun restrictions at a time when his office is already defending several of the state’s firearm laws in court. Jones has backed the state’s assault-weapons ban and magazine limits and has vowed to continue fighting legal challenges to them.

Jones has faced significant controversy over past political rhetoric. During his 2025 campaign for attorney general, text messages from 2022 became public in which he described a hypothetical shooting of then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican, and discussed urinating on the graves of political opponents. Jones later apologized, saying he was “embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry” for the remarks.

The new law requires firearm businesses to establish “reasonable controls” over the manufacture, sale, distribution, use, and marketing of their products. It authorizes the attorney general to seek injunctions, restitution, compensatory and punitive damages, and other court remedies against companies accused of violations. Jones’s office can also issue civil investigative demands whenever it claims reasonable cause to believe a violation has occurred or is about to occur.

Jones said the FAIR Unit will target what he considers unlawful sales and distribution practices, marketing, known product risks, and conduct that could facilitate illegal gun acquisition. “Creating safer communities starts with holding dealers and manufacturers accountable when they are reckless with the lives of Virginians,” he said. His office is now hiring civil litigators, prosecutors, and investigators to staff the unit.

Gun-rights advocates warn the broad civil powers could be used to harass lawful manufacturers and dealers, effectively burdening constitutionally protected conduct. Virginia is already facing multiple Second Amendment lawsuits over its assault-weapons ban and other restrictions. Combined with Jones’s earlier violent rhetoric against Republicans, the new enforcement unit has heightened concerns that the Democratic attorney general is weaponizing state authority.