The Constitution & 2nd Amendment protect the lawful ownership of semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15.@TheJusticeDept will aggressively defend this right, & the @CivilRights Division will sue if states refuse to comply. pic.twitter.com/QRqbc2520b
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) April 15, 2026
Under the Supreme Court’s precedent, particularly the Bruen precedent, when you look at the historical analysis, Justice Thomas lays this out very clearly, it is clear that semi-automatic rifles of the nature of the AR-15 are protected by the Constitution and by the Second Amendment. So, I did warn Governor Spanberger that if she signed that bill, that we would immediately file suit and so far she hasn’t signed it. Yesterday was her deadline to sign it. She instead sent it back to the legislature with some minor technical edits that don’t cure the problems I identified in my letter.
Now she has signed some other laws into effect. There’s a so-called ghost gun bill about home-manufactured firearms and firearms parts. And that’s going to be analyzed under our ATF regulations and other issues. We’re going to look at those laws and there’s also a law that is very concerning that effectively removes immunity from gun manufacturers and tries to hold them liable for all the crimes that occur or injuries that are inflicted with their firearms, which is a really ridiculous law that’s designed to put gun manufacturing out of business in our country and I think it’s inconsistent with federal law.
The right to carry, the right to bear arms, the right to have them in your home and enjoy them for lawful purposes is meaningless if you’re not able to acquire those firearms.
— Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon