The Trump administration filed lawsuits against California and Virginia on Wednesday, challenging new state laws that restrict the sale of semiautomatic firearms. The Justice Department brought the two separate suits in federal court, arguing that the laws violate the Second Amendment.
Justice Department argues constitutional violations
“The Constitution is not a suggestion, and the Second Amendment is not a second-class right,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a news release announcing the lawsuit against Virginia. The Virginia law, signed earlier this year by Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger, bans the sale and manufacture of certain semiautomatic firearms. It took effect Wednesday and faces at least four other lawsuits challenging its constitutionality.
The California law prohibits gun shops from selling certain handguns that can easily be made fully automatic. The DOJ suit specifically targets the ban on Glock and Glock-style pistols, among the most popular handguns in the U.S., and also challenges additional restrictions on handguns sold in California.
State officials defend gun safety measures
Attorneys general in both states vowed to defend their laws. Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones’s office called the ban a “commonsense” measure that “keeps Virginians safe, protects law enforcement, and safeguards communities across the Commonwealth.” Governor Spanberger’s office said in a statement that “firearms designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong in our communities, near our kids and schools, or on Virginia’s streets.”
The California attorney general’s office said the state has “effective and constitutional gun safety laws” that “helped drive firearm death rates to record lows.”
Broader context and upcoming Supreme Court case
States controlled by Democrats and Republicans have diverged in recent years over gun legislation, with some Republican states passing laws to relax firearm restrictions. The U.S. Supreme Court said Tuesday it will take up another major Second Amendment case, considering whether bans on semiautomatic rifles violate the Constitution. Arguments are expected in the fall. The court, which has a conservative majority, has expanded gun rights, including in two cases this term.
