For the first time since quietly creating a new Second Amendment Section inside the Civil Rights Division, the Department of Justice has finally done something gun owners have been demanding for years: it sued D.C. over its long-standing gun ban.
Just before Christmas, the DOJ filed a sweeping federal lawsuit against the District of Columbia, challenging the city’s so-called “assault weapons” ban — a law that doesn’t merely restrict some firearms, but criminalizes the possession of most of them.
It’s the DOJ’s first truly aggressive action since announcing its new Second Amendment Section earlier this month.
Now comes the hard part: proving this isn’t a one-off stunt.
D.C.’s “Assault Weapons” Ban Is a Registration Trap
In Washington, D.C., firearm registration isn’t optional. It’s mandatory.
But under D.C. law, entire categories of common, modern firearms — including AR-15-style rifles — are simply ineligible for registration.
The result is a clever sleight of hand: the city claims it hasn’t “banned” anything, while ensuring law-abiding citizens can never legally possess these firearms.
The DOJ’s lawsuit cuts straight through the charade.
The complaint states plainly that D.C.’s scheme amounts to a de facto ban on firearms that are “in common use” for lawful purposes like self-defense — firearms owned by millions of Americans nationwide.
The DOJ even acknowledges what gun owners have been saying for years: the AR-15 is the most popular rifle in America.
The DOJ Lawsuit Is More Than Symbolic — It’s a Civil Rights Case
What makes this lawsuit different isn’t just what the DOJ is challenging — it’s how.
The Department didn’t merely file a standard constitutional challenge. Instead, it invoked its “pattern or practice” civil-rights authority, the same legal weapon historically used against abusive police departments.
In other words, the DOJ is alleging that D.C. law enforcement has engaged in a systematic violation of civil rights — arresting, prosecuting, and threatening jail time against citizens whose only offense is possessing firearms the city refuses to register.
If the DOJ wins, the consequences could be massive.
A ruling wouldn’t just strike down a statute. It could halt arrests, stop prosecutions, and force D.C. to register protected firearms, setting a precedent that could unravel assault-weapon bans nationwide.
A First Test for the DOJ’s New “Second Amendment Section”
This case is also the first real test of the DOJ’s newly announced Second Amendment Section, housed within the Civil Rights Division and spearheaded by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.
On paper, the move makes sense.
For years, Second Amendment cases have been scattered across a bloated DOJ — handled by career bureaucrats, many of whom are openly hostile to gun rights.
Centralizing those cases under a dedicated Second Amendment unit could impose much-needed discipline.
But gun owners have learned the hard way: structure alone doesn’t guarantee outcomes.
Gun Owners Have Been Here Before — And They’re Skeptical
That skepticism is well-earned.
While the DOJ is now suing D.C., it is simultaneously defending other gun-confiscation regimes across the country — including federal NFA regulations, suppressor restrictions, and interstate gun bans.
More recently, the DOJ even argued that knives aren’t protected by the Second Amendment, something that is easy to debunk.
Most notably, the Department continues to fight the landmark lawsuit brought by Gun Owners of America and Silencer Shop, a case that could dismantle much of the NFA.
That contradiction hasn’t stopped establishment gun groups from immediately praising the DOJ.
True to form, they rushed to applaud the DOJ lawsuit — carrying water for a bureaucracy that has not yet proven it deserves gun owners’ trust.
Par for the course.
For decades, the establishment gun lobby has sought proximity to power — even when it comes at the expense of its membership.
Texas Gun Rights: Cautiously Hopeful, Not Naïve
Texas Gun Rights isn’t popping champagne — but it isn’t rooting against the lawsuit either.
“This shows what the DOJ can do,” said Chris McNutt, President of Texas Gun Rights. “But gun owners aren’t interested in symbolic gestures. We’re interested in consistent action.”
McNutt was blunt about the stakes.
“The DOJ doesn’t get a gold star for doing one thing right while continuing to defend unconstitutional gun laws everywhere else,” he said. “Proof is in the pudding.”
Still, Texas Gun Rights remains cautiously hopeful that the new Second Amendment Section could finally streamline gun-rights cases — funneling them under leadership that actually respects the Constitution.
Because right now, the DOJ is still too big, too bureaucratic, and too full of left-wing lawyers that the Trump administration and Attorney General Pam Bondi have yet to fully rein in.
One Lawsuit Won’t Redeem a Department — But It Could Start Something
If the DOJ is serious, this lawsuit should be the beginning — not the exception.
Winning against D.C.’s assault-weapons ban would send a clear message: the Second Amendment is a civil right, not a suggestion.
But redemption won’t come from press releases or applause from establishment groups. It will come from consistent victories, real enforcement, and a DOJ willing to confront gun control everywhere — not just where it’s politically convenient.
“The proof will come in what they do next,” McNutt said. “Gun owners are watching.”
The DOJ has taken its first swing.
Now it has to prove it’s willing to keep fighting.
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