{"id":3696,"date":"2026-07-22T17:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T17:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hometransferguide.com\/?p=3696"},"modified":"2026-07-22T17:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T17:08:11","slug":"us-territory-with-unconstitutional-gun-laws-is-having-rough-week-in-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hometransferguide.com\/?p=3696","title":{"rendered":"US Territory With \u2018Unconstitutional\u2019 Gun Laws Is Having Rough Week In Court"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div><!-- \/10519169\/dailycaller_incontent_1 --> <\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Less than a week after a federal appeals court ruling threw out New Jersey\u2019s ban on modern semiautomatic firearms, casting doubt on a similar measure recently imposed by the Virgin Islands, the tropical territory was slapped with a lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hometransferguide.com\/?p=3694\">Michelin Chef Facing Jail Time After Serving Customers Ants<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Gun Owners of America and Gun Owners Foundation announced Monday they were suing the Caribbean Sea territory over its ban on possession of firearms by non-residents. The pro-Second Amendment groups noted the territory had rescinded what limited recognition it previously gave to people with concealed carry permits in the  filed with the United States District Court of the Virgin Islands, leaving people the choice of going defenseless or facing a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. <strong>(RELATED: Anti-Gun Territory In Paradise Shoots Itself In The Foot With Semi-Auto Ban)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cShortly after Bruen recognized a broad, textual and historical right to public carry, the [United States Virgin Islands] (USVI) repealed its then-existing statute that had granted limited concealed carry reciprocity to the firearm license holders of other states,\u201d GOA said in the filing. \u201cThus, as of 2022, the USVI does not recognize the firearm licenses issued by any state or territory. And, because the USVI also prohibits the \u2018open carry\u2019 of firearms, there is no way for nonresidents to \u2018bear arms\u2019 in public based on reciprocity. Nor does USVI law allow nonresidents to apply for a USVI license to carry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The new lawsuit follows a Friday ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that struck down New Jersey\u2019s ban on so-called \u201cassault weapons,\u201d expanding an order by a federal district judge that ruled that the AR-15 rifle was protected by the Second Amendment to also cover other semiautomatic rifles as well as standard capacity magazines. The decision affects a similar law the Virgin Islands enacted in June, despite warnings that the appellate court\u2019s decision was pending.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic Virgin Islands Territorial Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. and Attorney General Gordon Campbell Rhea did notrespond to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/10519169\/dailycaller_incontent_2 --> <\/p>\n<p>GOAnotes that the gun laws in the Virgin Islands were even more extreme than provisions that had been ruled unconstitutional in states with a track record of hostility to the Second Amendment in its filing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe USVI\u2019s patently unconstitutional scheme of denying Second Amendment rights to nonresidents represents an extreme outlier in the United States, as Plaintiffs are not aware of any state that similarly has no mechanism for nonresidents to keep or bear arms \u2013 by denying nonresidents the ability to apply for licenses to carry a concealed handgun, by refusing to recognize or grant reciprocity to the out-of-state licenses held by nonresidents, and by conditioning mere possession (much less carry) of all firearms on the issuance of an unobtainable government permission slip,\u201d GOA said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hometransferguide.com\/?p=3691\">DUKE: Welcome To The \u2018Wokesonian\u2019 \u2014 Fire Them All, Cancel The Checks<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court\u2019s June 2022 decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen declared that New York\u2019s \u201cmay issue\u201d system of concealed carry permits was unconstitutional on Second Amendment grounds, prompting several states to pass legislation that included stringent limits on where those with permits could carry.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/10519169\/dailycaller_incontent_3 --> <\/p>\n<p>The territory has come under significant scrutiny over its gun laws. <\/p>\n<p>Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon announced litigation against the territorial police department in December, accusing the agency of imposing \u201cunreasonable conditions\u201d and using a \u201cgood cause\u201d standard that the Supreme Court invalidated in the Bruen decision when issuing firearms licenses. <strong>(RELATED: Pro-Second Amendment Group Warns US Territory In Paradise It Faces Legal Perdition Over Proposed Gun Laws)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The territory\u2019s attorneys have even taken heat from United States District Judge Evan Rikhye of the District Court of the Virgin Islands, who chastised attorneys representing the territory for filing a response six days after the deadline in a Saturday ruling, calling it an \u201cinexcusable lapse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Court notes with disappointment Defense counsel\u2019s glaring lack of attention to basic litigation procedures,\u201d Rikhye wrote as he denied the territory\u2019s request for additional time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis controversy does not merely involve individual litigants; it implicates the fundamental constitutional rights of the people of the Virgin Islands,\u201d Rikhye added. \u201cAccordingly, Defense counsel \u2013 appearing as a representative of this territory\u2019s citizens \u2013 must treat this matter with the competence, care and professionalism expected of all litigants appearing before this Court.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hometransferguide.com\/?p=3689\">Don\u2019t Believe The Narrative: The El Salvador Beyond The Headlines<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Days after a federal appeals court ruling threw out a New Jersey\u2019s ban on modern semi-auto firearms, the Virgin Islands got slapped with another legal action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[18,259,106,1057,1058,565,1292,26,2028,3415,2029],"class_list":["post-3696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-2a","tag-concealed-carry","tag-department-of-justice","tag-gun-owners-foundation","tag-gun-owners-of-america","tag-justice-department","tag-litigation","tag-second-amendment","tag-u-s-virgin-islands","tag-us-virgin-islands","tag-virgin-islands"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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