The Department of Justice (DOJ) has initiated a legal complaint against the Virgin Islands, specifically targeting the gun laws enacted in June which include prohibitions on modern semiautomatic firearms and standard capacity magazines.
In December 2025, the Second Amendment Section of the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ launched litigation against the Virgin Islands Police Department, alleging that the agency had imposed “unreasonable conditions” and utilized a “good cause” standard that was invalidated by the Supreme Court in its June 2022 ruling known as Bruen. The recently filed “First Supplemental and Amended Complaint” references the new legislation from June that included the bans in an attempt to make the case irrelevant. (RELATED: Harmeet Dhillon Takes Aim at US Territory’s Semi-Auto Ban)
According to the amended complaint, on June 25, 2026, the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) approved Act No. 9113, which is titled the ‘2026 Second Amendment Rights and Public Safety Act’ and modified the territory’s firearms laws. “Act No. 9113 imposes several restrictions and requirements on law-abiding gun owners, the enforcement of which leads to VIPD law enforcement officers depriving these individuals of their Second Amendment rights,” the complaint states.
The DOJ has filed an amended complaint in its lawsuit against the US Virgin Islands’ gun permit scheme, which adds claims against the territory’s AR-15, magazine, and suppressor bans, public demonstration carry ban, long gun carry ban, gun storage law, and gun registration law:… pic.twitter.com/GxgqJS4aiE
— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) September 2, 2026
Act 9113, signed by Democratic Territorial Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. on June 24, prohibits the receipt, transfer, and sale of modern semiautomatic firearms and magazines with standard capacity. This was later referenced by the territory’s attorneys in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit as moot, filed on June 28. However, the DOJ dismissed this motion in a July 29 filing, which pointed out nine provisions, including two separate carry bans and additional bans on firearms and/or accessories that were claimed to violate the Second Amendment.
The Virgin Islands’ Attorney General, Gordon Campbell Rhea, did not promptly respond to inquiries from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
U.S. District Judge Evan Rikhye, a Trump appointee, has criticized the territory repeatedly for not meeting court deadlines in this case. On August 18, Rikhye denied a motion to strike filed by the territorial government on July 22, the same day the attorneys were supposed to submit a brief concerning the new gun-control law. The judge reprimanded the territory’s attorneys for missing that deadline for the second time in an opinion that accompanied the order.
“The Defendant filed its Motion to Strike on July 22, 2026—the precise court-ordered deadline for Defendant to submit its brief regarding the newly enacted Virgin Islands statute, titled the ‘2026 Second Amendment Rights and Public Safety Act,’” Rikhye noted in a footnote. “Defendant failed to timely file that brief, yet somehow managed to file its Motion to Strike that same day. The following day, Defendant filed its brief one day late, without first seeking leave of Court. Only after submitting the untimely brief did Defendant retroactively seek leave for the late filing. The Court will address this procedural noncompliance under separate order.”
Rikhye further advised the Defendant, mentioning that the citizens of the Virgin Islands would benefit more if the Office of the Virgin Islands Attorney General concentrated on meeting court-imposed deadlines rather than submitting unnecessary motions that misinterpret federal civil procedure rules. (RELATED: DOJ Details All Claims Against Territory’s Gun Laws Violate Second Amendment)
In July, Rikhye also expressed disappointment with the territory’s attorneys for submitting a response six days after the deadline in a prior pre-trial matter.
“The Court notes with disappointment Defense counsel’s glaring lack of attention to basic litigation procedures,” Rikhye wrote, denying the territory’s plea for extra time to address the issue.
“This controversy does not merely involve individual litigants; it implicates the fundamental constitutional rights of the people of the Virgin Islands,” Rikhye remarked. “Accordingly, Defense counsel – as representatives of the territory’s citizens – should treat this matter with the level of competence, care, and professionalism required of all litigants appearing before this Court.”
