US Virgin Island lawmakers thought they were being cute when they hurriedly adopted a new gun control bill a few weeks ago in an attempt to moot the Justice Department’s lawsuit over several of the territory’s practices. As Second Amendment advocates pointed out at the time, the new bill created at least as many problems for the USVI as it solved. Yes, it supposedly addressed the “may issue” licensing scheme for concealed carry permits, but it turned much of the territory into “gun-free zones” where lawful carry is permitted. It nixed the requirement that police be allowed to conduct warrantless inspections of gun owners’ homes to ensure that firearms were being stored in accordance with territorial law, but it made possession of many commonly owned firearms off limits to residents and visitors.
In addition, the office of the attorney general has missed several court-imposed deadlines, which led Judge Evan Rikhye to order the USVI attorneys to explain why they should not be sanctioned for their pattern of tardiness. Rikhye has yet to impose any sanctions, but it’s pretty clear that the judge is getting fed up with the USVI’s nonsense.
A US Virgin Islands federal judge denied the territory’s motion to stay the briefing in DOJ’s lawsuit against its gun permit scheme, saying that “the Court notes with disappointment Defense counsel’s glaring lack of attention to basic litigation procedures.” pic.twitter.com/XSPpdt7Uur
— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) July 19, 2026
Oral arguments on the USVI’s argument that the DOJ’s lawsuit has been mooted are set to take place on August 19, but the USVI government, through the AG’s office, tried to hit the “pause” button on proceedings in an emergency motion filed last week.
Rikhye has denied that motion, and in doing so, delivered a benchslap to the AG’s office.
Plaintiff served its First Set of Requests for Admissions, Requests for Production, and Interrogatories on Defendants on June 2, 2026. Responses were due on July 2, 2026. It is undisputed that Defendants did not attempt to serve actual responses until July 8, 2026—six days late. ed. [The Rules of Civil Proceedings] makes it abundantly clear that requests for admission are automatically deemed admitted if the party to whom the request is directed fails to serve a timely response. In some circumstances, the Court may permit withdrawal of these admissions if: (1) doing so “would promote the presentation of the merits of the action”; and (2) “the court is not persuaded that it would prejudice the requesting party in maintaining or defending the action on the merits.” The Court may also consider other factors, such as “whether the moving party can show good cause for the delay” and “whether the moving party appears to have a strong case on the merits.”
Based on the Record before it, the Court finds no good cause for Defendants’ delay. Indeed, regarding this inexcusable lapse, the Court notes with disappointment Defense counsel’s glaring lack of attention to basic litigation procedures. As the Court observed during the July 8,2026, status conference, this controversy does not merely involve individual litigants; it implicates the fundamental constitutional rights of the people of the Virgin Islands. Accordingly, Defense counsel—appearing as a representative of this territory’s citizens—must treat this matter with the competence, care, and professionalism expected of all litigants appearing before this Court.
Furthermore, the Court remains unpersuaded that allowing the withdrawal of these admissions would promote the presentation of the merits of this action, and it is concerned by the delay in the case’s progression more generally.
Even if Rikhye decides after the August 19 hearing that the USVI has successfully mooted the DOJ’s initial complaints, he’s already said the federal government will be allowed to file an amended complaint. Now that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals (which has jurisdiction over the USVI) has struck down New Jersey’s ban on so-called assault weapons and large capacity magazines, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division is sure to amend its complaint to cover the territory’s newly-enacted gun and magazine restrictions.
The US Virgin Islands government, from the legislature to the attorney general’s office, has been trampling on the Second Amendment rights of residents and visitors and treating those infringements as some sort of twisted game. Rikhye has clearly had enough, and there could be some judicial fireworks at the August 19 hearing, especially if the USVI continues to use its legal filings to launch unprofessional complaints about DOJ attorneys being too mean to them.
The bottom line is that the USVI can’t get around the DOJ’s lawsuit just by changing the territory’s gun laws, so long as those laws are still violating our right to keep and bear arms. The legislature and governor had the opportunity to truly reform the gun laws in the USVI, but they decided to play stupid games instead, and now stupid prizes await them in federal court.
Read the full article here
