Federal government says states cannot treat the Second Amendment as a second-class right
The Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) has escalated its defense of the Second Amendment, filing federal lawsuits against California and Virginia over sweeping new firearm restrictions that officials argue violate the U.S. Constitution.
The twin lawsuits challenge Virginia’s ban on the sale and transfer of many commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms and California’s newly-enacted restrictions on Glock-style pistols and the state’s controversial handgun roster.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Constitution “is not a suggestion” and emphasized that the Second Amendment cannot be treated as a lesser Constitutional guarantee.
In California, the Justice Department argues that the state’s new law effectively prohibits the sale of widely-owned handguns based on the possibility they could be illegally modified, while also challenging the handgun roster that limits which pistols law-abiding citizens may purchase.
The Virginia lawsuit targets the Commonwealth’s recently enacted ban on many semi-automatic rifles, which the DOJ contends unlawfully restricts firearms that are in common use for lawful purposes.
Both lawsuits rely heavily on the Supreme Court’s modern Second Amendment jurisprudence, arguing that states cannot enforce firearm restrictions that lack support in the nation’s historical tradition of gun regulation.
The legal challenges come just days after the Supreme Court agreed to hear cases involving so-called “Assault Weapons” Bans, setting the stage for what could become one of the most consequential terms for the Second Amendment in decades.
The National Association for Gun Rights has long maintained that bans on commonly-owned firearms and government-imposed purchasing restrictions violate the plain text of the Second Amendment and conflict with the Constitution’s original meaning.
If successful, the DOJ’s lawsuits could dismantle two of the country’s most aggressive gun control schemes and strengthen Constitutional protections for millions of law-abiding gun owners.
With federal courts, the Department of Justice, and the Supreme Court all poised to weigh in, the battle over the future of the Second Amendment is rapidly intensifying.
Read more at CBS News.
