Less than a week after a federal appeals court ruling threw out New Jersey’s 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.
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 The pro-Second Amendment groups noted the territory had rescinded what limited recognition it previously gave to people with concealed carry permits in the complaint filed with the United States District Court of the Virgin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.
“Shortly after Bruen recognized a broad, textual and historical right to public carry, the [United States Virgin Islands] (USVI) repealed its then-existing statute that had granted limited concealed carry reciprocity to the firearm license holders of other states,” GOA said in the filing. “Thus, as of 2022, the USVI does not recognize the firearm licenses issued by any state or territory. And, because the USVI also prohibits the ‘open carry’ of firearms, there is no way for nonresidents to ‘bear arms’ in public based on reciprocity. Nor does USVI law allow nonresidents to apply for a USVI license to carry.”
The new lawsuit follows a Friday ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that struck down New Jersey’s ban on so-called “assault weapons,” 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’s decision was pending.
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.
GOA notes 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.
“The USVI’s 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 – 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,” GOA said.
The Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen declared that New York’s “may issue” 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.
The territory has come under significant scrutiny over its gun laws.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon announced litigation against the territorial police department in December, accusing the agency of imposing “unreasonable conditions” and using a “good cause” standard that the Supreme Court invalidated in the Bruen decision when issuing firearms licenses.
The territory’s 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 “inexcusable lapse.”
“The Court notes with disappointment Defense counsel’s glaring lack of attention to basic litigation procedures,” Rikhye wrote as he denied the territory’s request for additional time.
“This controversy does not merely involve individual litigants; it implicates the fundamental constitutional rights of the people of the Virgin Islands,” Rikhye added. “Accordingly, Defense counsel – appearing as a representative of this territory’s citizens – must treat this matter with the competence, care and professionalism expected of all litigants appearing before this Court.”
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