The Trump administration isn’t just talking about defending the Second Amendment. It’s suing.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, is rapidly becoming one of the most aggressive legal defenders of gun rights in the country. After warning California that its handgun restrictions could violate the Constitution, she gave state officials a chance to negotiate before litigation.
California refused.
Attorney General Rob Bonta rejected the DOJ’s offer outright. Dhillon’s response was short, direct, and unmistakable:
“See y’all in court!”
Within hours, the Department of Justice filed the promised lawsuit, challenging California’s handgun roster and restrictions affecting Glock pistols.
But California wasn’t the only target.
After Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed a ban on many semi-automatic firearms and standard-capacity magazines, Dhillon again took to X with another warning:
“See you in court!”
She wasn’t bluffing.
On July 1, the very day Virginia’s new law took effect, the DOJ filed a federal lawsuit challenging the ban as unconstitutional.
The federal action adds to mounting legal trouble for Virginia’s gun restrictions. Several pro-Second Amendment officials have already declared they won’t enforce the law, while the NRA and other organizations secured a state-level injunction blocking enforcement and have filed their own federal challenge.
For gun owners, the message from the DOJ is becoming increasingly clear: states that pass laws the administration believes violate the Second Amendment should expect to face immediate legal challenges.
Anti-gun activists show no signs of slowing their legislative efforts. But under Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department appears equally determined to meet those efforts with lawsuits instead of press releases.
