In a convincing affirmation of the Second Modification, the U.S. Division of Justice (DOJ) underneath Lawyer Common Pam Bondi has launched a federal lawsuit towards the District of Columbia (D.C.), difficult the town’s draconian gun registration legal guidelines that unlawfully prohibit law-abiding Americans from proudly owning semi-automatic firearms just like the AR-15.
The case was filed on December 22, 2025, within the U.S. District Court docket for the District of Columbia. The authorized motion targets the Metropolitan Police Division (MPD) and its Chief, Pamela Smith, alleging that she has enforced firearms restrictions that blatantly violate the USA Structure, as affirmed by Supreme Court docket rulings in circumstances similar to District of Columbia v. Heller and New York State Rifle & Pistol Affiliation v. Bruen. This authorized motion by the DOJ indicators a seismic shift from the federal authorities violating an American’s Constitutionally protected rights in the direction of defending the basic proper of Individuals to maintain and bear arms, guaranteeing that residents within the Nation’s Capital can train their constitutional freedoms with out worry of presidency reprisals.
The authorized transient in the USA v. District of Columbia alleges a systemic “sample or apply” of denying registrations for firearms “in widespread use,” in direct contravention of 34 U.S.C. § 1260c1. D.C. Code sections, together with § 7-2502.01 and § 7-2501.01, impose a blanket ban on registering semi-automatic rifles, pistols with threaded barrels that settle for removable magazines, and shotguns with pistol grips. The DOJ dismisses these options as superficial and unrelated to any legit public security issues. Because the grievance states, these legal guidelines criminalize possession of arms that tens of thousands and thousands of Individuals depend on each day, subjecting D.C. residents to potential arrests, fines as much as $2,500, and jail time for merely defending their properties and households.
“At this time’s motion from the Division of Justice’s new Second Modification Part underscores our ironclad dedication to defending the Second Modification rights of law-abiding Individuals,” stated Lawyer Common Pamela Bondi within the official press launch. “Washington, DC’s ban on a few of America’s hottest firearms is an unconstitutional infringement on the Second Modification — dwelling in our nation’s capital mustn’t preclude law-abiding residents from exercising their elementary constitutional proper to maintain and bear arms.” Bondi’s phrases spotlight the DOJ’s renewed concentrate on dismantling anti-gun insurance policies that erode private liberties.
Echoing this sentiment, Assistant Lawyer Common Harmeet Okay. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division declared, “This Civil Rights Division will defend Americans from unconstitutional restrictions of generally used firearms, in violation of their Second Modification rights.” She added, “The newly established Second Modification Part filed this lawsuit to make sure that the very rights D.C. resident Mr. Heller secured 17 years in the past are enforced in the present day — and that every one law-abiding residents looking for to personal protected firearms for lawful functions might achieve this.” Dhillon’s management within the newly shaped Second Modification Part marks a historic pivot, treating gun rights because the civil liberties they’re, protected towards tyrannical native ordinances.
This @CivilRights and @AGPamBondi are taking intention at illegal restrictions nationwide, together with in the present day in our yard on the District of Columbia! pic.twitter.com/nhxG7bUZsK
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) December 22, 2025
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The case immediately depends on Heller, by which the Supreme Court docket held that law-abiding residents have a person proper to own handguns and different widespread firearms within the dwelling for self-defense. Because the press launch notes, “In 2003, a D.C. particular policeman named Dick Heller sued Washington, D.C. as a result of the legal guidelines on the time prevented him from proudly owning a handgun and conserving it in his dwelling for self-defense.” The Court docket dominated that the Second Modification safeguards arms “in widespread use in the present day,” a normal that clearly encompasses the AR-15, the preferred rifle in America, as confirmed in Smith & Wesson Manufacturers, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos. But D.C. continues to require residents to navigate a maze of forms or face prosecution for proudly owning arms in widespread use.
The DOJ’s grievance seeks a declaration that the D.C. bans on AR-15s and comparable firearms are unconstitutional. The Division calls for everlasting injunctions towards arrests or fines for residents present in possession of AR-15s, and mandates streamlined registration processes. It cites different ongoing circumstances, similar to Yzaguirre v. District of Columbia, by which MPD’s denials have led to lawsuits. “MPD’s present sample and apply of refusing to register protected firearms is forcing residents to sue to guard their rights and to danger dealing with wrongful arrest for lawfully possessing protected firearms,” the press launch emphasizes.
Gun rights advocates are celebrating this as a game-changer. Gun Homeowners of America (GOA), The Firearms Coverage Coalition (FPC), and Second Modification Basis (SAF) have lengthy argued that such bans are relics of gun-control extremism, and this federal intervention validates their stance.
This follows the DOJ’s latest go well with towards the U.S. Virgin Islands for comparable violations, establishing a sample of aggressive protection for gun homeowners. Critics of gun management, like these at Motive journal and GOA, have known as for the DOJ to cease defending federal overreaches and as a substitute champion particular person rights, a name that’s being answered on this case, however ignored in circumstances difficult the Constitutionality of short-barreled rifles(SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBS), another weapons (AOWs), and suppressors being included within the Nationwide Firearms Act (NFA).
Anti-gun teams, nevertheless, are predictably alarmed, viewing this as an assault on “commonsense” measures. Organizations like Brady United and Giffords decry the concentrate on “gun rights” as endangering public security, however their arguments crumble underneath Bruen’s history-and-tradition check, which finds no analogue for broad bans on widespread arms. Within the inner-city of D.C., the place crime charges are extraordinarily excessive, these restrictions solely empower criminals whereas disarming the harmless.
If victorious, this lawsuit might liberate D.C. gun homeowners and set a precedent for rolling again comparable bans nationwide, reinforcing that the Second Modification isn’t a second-class proper. As proceedings unfold into 2026, gun lovers and constitutional defenders will watch carefully, looking forward to a future the place the correct to bear arms is absolutely revered in each nook of America.
About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA teacher and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed individuals from all walks of life, and on the Structure. John lives in Northern Virginia along with his spouse and sons, comply with him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
