We recently reported that the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it had created a new section under its Civil Rights Division—the first ever dedicated to protecting the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Last week, it was announced that one of the first cases taken up under this new paradigm of the DOJ defending the Second Amendment was to sue the Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) for “an unconstitutional permitting process” related to the issuance of gun permits in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
A release from the DOJ notes, “Numerous applicants complained that VIPD is unreasonably delaying their gun permit application decisions and added unreasonable conditions, including bolted-in gun safes, prior to issuing gun licenses.”
Also mentioned was the fact that the VIPD uses a “proper cause” standard in its issuing process, which is contrary to the ruling handed down in the 2022 Bruen decision, which held such standards to be unconstitutional.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who previously released a video announcing DOJ’s intent to defend the Second Amendment on behalf of law-abiding American citizens, was quoted in the new release, stating, “The newly-established Second Amendment Section filed this lawsuit to bring the Virgin Islands Police Department back into legal compliance by ensuring that applicants receive timely decisions without unconstitutional obstruction.”
The U.S. Virgin Islands has shown glimmers of hope for the gun rights of the residents of this U.S. territory at times. In early 2025, the governor seemed to indicate he’d like to see gun laws there made less onerous. But later in the year, legislation was introduced that sought to impose even greater restrictions.
This legislation, unfortunately, seems far more in line with the anti-gun history of the island territory, which included a call for gun confiscation in 2017 in the leadup to the threat of Hurricane Irma that was poised to make landfall. That call for seizing lawfully owned firearms was met with protestations from NRA and others, which led to furious backpedaling from the then-governor.
Speaking on the recent case filed by the DOJ designed to rein in the VIPD, U.S. Attorney Adam Sleeper for the District of the U.S. Virgin Islands stated, “The territory’s firearms licensing laws and practices are inconsistent with the Second Amendment. This lawsuit seeks to uphold the rights of law-abiding citizens to bear arms in the U.S. Virgin Islands.”
The filing of this lawsuit is just one more example of why it was so important to the preservation of the Second Amendment that Americans elected President Donald J. Trump in 2024. It should help to advance the agenda he set forth in his Executive Order on the Second Amendment issued in February 2025.
Stay tuned for further updates on this case.
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