“The Virginia law makes the commercial purchase of AR-15-s-tyle rifles a crime,” the Justice Department said. “The AR-15 rifle is the most popular rifle in America. Virginia’s enforcement of the new ban is a pattern or practice of conduct by the commonwealth’s law enforcement officers that deprives the citizens of Virginia of their constitutional right to buy and sell arms protected by the Second Amendment.”
The federal Department of Justice has filed lawsuits against Virginia and California, accusing each state of enacting “unconstitutional” restrictions on certain types of firearms.
According to CBS News, in Virginia, the Justice Department is targeting a recently-passed law that prohibits the sale of certain semi-automatic weapons. In California, it is suing over a statute that restricts handguns that can be modified into a “machinegun-convertible pistol.”
“The Constitution is not a suggestion, and the Second Amendment is not a second-class right,” Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “This Justice Department has done more to protect the Second Amendment than any administration in our nation’s history, and we will continue to do so whenever necessary.”
Blanche’s office emphasized previous promises to take action against Virginia if its newly-elected governor, Abigail Spanberger, signed the weapons bill into effect.
“On April 10, I promised Governor Spanberger that we would sue Virginia if she signed this unconstitutional weapons ban into law. I keep my promises,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a press release. “Law-abiding Americans should not have to live under the threat of criminal sanction for simply exercising their Second Amendment right to possess arms owned by millions of their fellow citizens.”
In the Virginia case, the Justice Department claims that the assault-weapons restriction would curtail residents’ ability to buy, possess, and own common rifles like the AR-15.
“The Virginia law makes the commercial purchase of AR-15-s-tyle rifles a crime,” the Justice Department said. “The AR-15 rifle is the most popular rifle in America. Virginia’s enforcement of the new ban is a pattern or practice of conduct by the commonwealth’s law enforcement officers that deprives the citizens of Virginia of their constitutional right to buy and sell arms protected by the Second Amendment.”
The California lawsuit challenges the state’s so-called “Glock Ban.” It also asks the court to prevent California from enforcing a “Handgun Roster,” or list “limiting legal firearms that individuals may purchase.”
CBS News notes that, on Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court said that it will consider in its next term whether the Second Amendment guarantees the right to own and purchase AR-15-style rifles. The two cases it has agreed to hear both feature restrictive, local- and state-level firearms laws, with one claim from Connecticut and another from Cook County, Illinois.
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled against a Hawaii law that restricts firearms on parcels of private property open to the public; it also sided with a Texas litigant who challenged a federal rule preventing certain “drug users” from purchasing firearms.
Sources
Justice Department files lawsuit against Virginia over new semi-automatic rifle ban
Justice Department Sues the Commonwealth of Virginia for Unconstitutional Weapons Bans
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