The Department of Justice reportedly filed a lawsuit Monday against the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department, accusing city officials of violating the Second Amendment by enforcing what the DOJ says are unconstitutional firearm bans.
According to the complaint, Washington, D.C. unlawfully prohibited ownership of AR-15s and other commonly owned firearms through provisions in the city’s code. The DOJ argues that those restrictions improperly deny law-abiding residents of the nation’s capital their constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
Attorney General Pam Bondi sharply criticized the city’s policies, saying constitutional rights do not stop at the city limits. “Washington, DC’s ban on some of America’s most popular firearms is an unconstitutional infringement on the Second Amendment,” Bondi said in a statement. “Living in our nation’s capital should not preclude law-abiding citizens from exercising their fundamental constitutional right to keep and bear arms.”
The lawsuit marks the latest legal challenge by the Trump administration against local gun regulations it says conflict with the Constitution. Earlier this month, the DOJ filed a similar case against the U.S. Virgin Islands, signaling a broader effort to confront firearm restrictions in U.S. territories and jurisdictions.
The Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the lawsuit.
The legal action comes amid ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and Washington’s local leadership. In June, President Donald Trump ordered a federal crackdown on crime in the city, deploying National Guard troops, Marines, and immigration officers to patrol D.C. streets. The White House cited concerns over theft, shootings, property crimes, and public safety as justification for the move.
Multiple states sent National Guard members and law enforcement officers to assist in the effort, and the deployment proceeded with limited public resistance from Mayor Muriel Bowser or then-MPD Chief Pamela Smith. At the time, the administration framed the operation as necessary to restore order and protect residents in the capital.
Bowser, however, has pointed to recent crime statistics to defend the city’s approach. She previously said Washington’s violent crime rate hit a 35-year low last year, arguing that local violence intervention strategies were producing results. The Trump administration disputed those claims, accusing city officials of manipulating crime data to make conditions appear better than they actually were.
Political changes have followed. Bowser announced in November that she would not seek reelection after serving as mayor for ten years. Earlier this month, MPD Chief Pamela Smith also announced her resignation. Smith, who became the city’s first Black female police chief, addressed the controversy over crime data in her farewell remarks.
Rejecting accusations that officials altered statistics, Smith forcefully denied any wrongdoing. “Make no mistake — you can say what you want to say,” she said, according to Fox 5. “But I live in this city and I felt it myself. I felt the shift.” She insisted she never pressured anyone to change reported numbers. “I never, and never will and never would have encouraged, intimidated, retaliated or told anyone to change their numbers. Never would I have done that,” she said.
Smith, a former pastor, ended her remarks with a blunt message to critics.
The DOJ lawsuit adds another front to the ongoing clash between the Trump administration and local leaders in Washington, D.C. By targeting the city’s gun laws, federal officials are pressing the argument that constitutional rights must be applied consistently, even in jurisdictions long known for restrictive firearm policies.
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