US Virgin Islands’ gun restrictions violate the Second Amendment, DOJ claims

A Second Amendment standoff has ignited between the federal government and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

On Tuesday, the federal government sued the U.S. territory, its police department, and Police Commissioner Mario Brooks over what it argues are violations of the Second Amendment.

‘This lawsuit seeks to uphold the rights of law-abiding citizens to bear arms in the US Virgin Islands.’

For example, applicants for a firearm license must demonstrate to the commissioner of the Virgin Islands Police Department that they have “good reason to fear death or great injury to his person or property” and must be vouched for by “two credible persons.”

The law also requires that applicants have “good moral character” but does not define those requirements clearly or at all.

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Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. government also alleges that Virgin Islands law requires warrantless searches and “unconstitutionally conditioning the grant of a license to possess or carry a firearm on expenditures of money to purchase and install safes,” which are purportedly required to be bolted to the floor of the applicant’s home.

“This Civil Rights Division will protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “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 territory’s firearms licensing laws and practices are inconsistent with the Second Amendment,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Sleeper for the District of the U.S. Virgin Islands. “This lawsuit seeks to uphold the rights of law-abiding citizens to bear arms in the U.S. Virgin Islands.”

The complaint comes after numerous applicants complained that Virgin Islands authorities were “unreasonably delaying their gun permit application decisions and added unreasonable conditions,” according to the Justice Department’s press release.

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