December 18, 2025
The U.S. government alleges the Virgin Islands violated Second Amendment rights by denying American citizens the right of possessing and carrying guns.
The United States government is starting a rift with the U.S Virgin Islands with a lawsuit alleging a Second Amendment violation for denying American citizens the right to possess and carry guns, the Associated Press reports.
The federal government launched a suit against the U.S. territory, police department, and Police Commissioner Mario Brooks, claiming law enforcement “denies firearms licenses to otherwise qualified applicants whenever it deems that the applicant has ‘too many’ firearms.” The Caribbean nation requires gun permit applicants to demonstrate “good reason to fear death or great injury to his person or property” in addition to having “two credible persons” who can expound on their need for a gun.
It also required applicants to have “good moral character” to receive a gun permit, which, if obtained, is good for a single weapon and is valid for up to three years.
Applicants are also required to “submit to intrusive and warrantless home searches” as an additional condition to having a firearm permit. If a person refuses, which is subject to take “several months to a year to schedule and complete,” the government won’t process the request.
The suit from the U.S. federal government under the Trump administration cites the claims as defying “binding Supreme Court precedent to frustrate the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding American citizens” and feels citizens “have a fundamental right to possess guns in their homes.”
While the suit claims applicants are required to “unnecessarily spend money to install a safe” and have it bolted to the floor or wall of their residence, the U.S. Virgin Islands government released a statement saying Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. and Lt. Gov. Tregenza A. Roach “is committed to protecting constitutional rights while maintaining public safety.”
The Dec. 16 lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in the U.S. Virgin Islands is an added push from the Trump team to expand gun rights following President Donald Trump’s 2024 allegation that the Second Amendment was “under siege” and labeled himself as “the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House,” according to CBS News.
Interestingly enough, the administration’s suit and allegations against the Islands are similar to its own requests in the immigration probe. In early December, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a notice suggesting tourists from certain countries should submit personal information, in addition to five years of social media history, to gain entry into the country. Critics feel the proposed changes will do more harm than good, negatively impacting tourism and scaring tourists away.
The next step is submitting DNA as proposed changes by CBP to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which suggests “high-value data fields” being added, including biometrics such as facial scans, fingerprints, and iris data.
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