"The High Court of American Samoa is the final word, and its justices don't get life tenure or Senate confirmation — they're appointed and removable at will by the Secretary of the Interior."

That's not a court in any meaningful constitutional sense — that's a panel that serves at the pleasure of a cabinet official. The same setup that allowed this ruling to stand is the same setup that could unwind it without a single court filing.

"President Trump could, in theory, fire the current justices, appoint replacements who respect the Constitution, and issue an executive order affirming the Second Amendment applies there with the same force it does in all fifty states."

Theoretical authority and political will are two different things. The DOJ already sued the Virgin Islands over gun restrictions last year, so the precedent for executive action exists — the question is whether 45,000 residents in the South Pacific rank high enough on the priority list.

"American Samoa's court didn't bother with a creative rationale at all — it just declared the amendment doesn't reach the territory."

Hawaii at least tried to dress it up with cultural history before the Supreme Court shut them down in Wolford. American Samoa skipped the costume entirely. That's either brazen or a signal that they know there's no federal circuit court to answer to — probably both.

The fix here doesn't require Bruen arguments or an amicus brief from the Firearms Policy Coalition. It requires Interior Secretary Burgum to decide this matters. Whether it does is the real question.

For those of you who've traveled with firearms to U.S. territories — Guam, USVI, anywhere — what was your experience navigating the local laws versus assuming federal protections applied?

Read the full article in The Handbook → | By Steve Duskett