Trump’s DOJ Sues Washington, D.C. Police Department Over Unconstitutional Ban on Semi-Automatic Firearms
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The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) for enforcing a ban on semi-automatic firearms that the DOJ says violates the Second Amendment.
According to the lawsuit, D.C.’s gun laws require all firearms to be registered with the MPD. However, the D.C. Code simultaneously bans a wide range of commonly owned firearms, making it legally impossible for residents to possess them for self-defense or other lawful purposes.
In a press release announcing the lawsuit, the DOJ stated:
“MPD’s current pattern and practice of refusing to register protected firearms is forcing residents to sue to protect their rights and to risk facing wrongful arrest for lawfully possessing protected firearms.”
Attorney General Pamela Bondi emphasized the department’s commitment to Second Amendment rights:
“Today’s action from the Department of Justice’s new Second Amendment Section underscores our ironclad commitment to protecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans. Washington, D.C.’s ban on some of America’s most popular firearms is an unconstitutional infringement on the Second Amendment — living in our nation’s capital should not prevent law-abiding citizens from exercising their fundamental right to keep and bear arms.”
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division added:
“This Civil Rights Division will defend American citizens from unconstitutional restrictions on commonly used firearms, in violation of their Second Amendment rights. The newly established Second Amendment Section filed this lawsuit to ensure that the very rights D.C. resident Mr. Heller secured 17 years ago are enforced today — and that all law-abiding citizens seeking to own protected firearms for lawful purposes may do so.”
The case references the landmark 2008 Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller, which affirmed that the Second Amendment protects the right of law-abiding citizens to own firearms in their homes for self-defense. In 2003, D.C. special policeman Richard Heller challenged the District’s handgun ban, setting the stage for this historic decision. Nearly two decades later, the DOJ says D.C. continues to enforce similar restrictions, resulting in wrongful arrests and denials of basic rights.
The DOJ explained:
“In 2003, a D.C. special policeman named Richard Heller sued Washington, D.C. because the laws at the time prevented him from owning a handgun and keeping it in his home for self-defense. In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its landmark decision Heller, held that the Second Amendment protects the rights of law-abiding citizens to own semi-automatic weapons in their homes for lawful purposes, such as self-defense. Unfortunately, today, the District still prevents ownership of these very same weapons through a pattern and practice of broadly blocking gun registration. Law-abiding citizens throughout our nation’s capital are facing wrongful arrests due to the enforcement of unconstitutional laws.”
The DOJ encourages current and prospective gun owners who believe they are being blocked from registering or owning lawful firearms to submit complaints via the Second Amendment section of its website.
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