UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SUES THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR UNCONSTITUTIONAL PRACTICES RESULTING IN EFFECTIVE DENIALS OF GUN PERMITS

St. Thomas, VI –United States Attorney Adam F. Sleeper announced today that the United States Department of Justice filed a complaint against the Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) alleging that the territory’s unreasonable delays and conditions on lawful gun owners’ rights create an unconstitutional permitting process in violation of the Second Amendment. Numerous applicants complained that VIPD is unreasonably delaying their gun permit application decisions and adding unreasonable conditions, including bolted-in gun safes, prior to issuing gun licenses. Finally, VIPD continues to enforce a proper cause requirement nearly identical to the law that the U.S. Supreme Court previously struck down in another case years ago.
“This Civil Rights Division will protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the United States Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. “The newly-established Second Amendment Section filed this lawsuit to bring the Virgin Islands Police Department back into legal compliance by ensuring that applicants receive timely decisions without unconstitutional obstruction.”
“The territory’s firearms licensing laws and practices are inconsistent with the Second Amendment,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Sleeper for the District of the U.S. Virgin Islands. “This lawsuit seeks to uphold the rights of law-abiding citizens to bear arms in the U.S. Virgin Islands.”
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a regulation it labeled “proper cause,” which New York law enforcement used to deny gun permits if the applicant did not show “proper cause” for the gun permit. That case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, is the established law of the land, including in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Today, the Virgin Islands maintains and enforces a law nearly identical to the overturned law. Additionally, complaints have poured in from residents showing unconstitutional delays and requirements, including police conducting unconstitutional and unreasonable home searches—the very type of requirements the U.S. Supreme Court finds abusive in permitting schemes. The lawsuit is filed in the U.S. District Court of the Virgin Islands.
If you are a current or prospective gun owner and believe your gun permit application is subject to unconstitutional delays or practices, please submit a complaint through justice.gov/crt/second-amendment-section.