USVI Second Amendment Fight Deepens

Gun Owners of America and Gun Owners Foundation are suing the U.S. Virgin Islands and its police commissioner over what amounts to a carry licensing system designed to say no.

State of play: This is the second active federal lawsuit against the USVI over Second Amendment rights. The territory has been treating the right to bear arms as a privilege to be denied rather than a constitutional guarantee to be respected.

Catch up quick:

• GOA and Gun Owners Foundation are the plaintiffs, targeting both the territory and its top law enforcement official
• The suit asks a federal judge to intervene
• A Florida resident is identified as the triggering plaintiff — someone who can't get licensed in the USVI simply because they aren't a resident

The legal question: Whether a U.S. territory can effectively nullify the Second Amendment through a licensing regime that excludes non-residents and operates as a gatekeeping mechanism rather than a shall-issue system. Post-Bruen, the answer is almost certainly no — the historical tradition of bearing arms doesn't include "only if we feel like letting you."

Between the lines: The fact that this is the second lawsuit tells you everything. The first one didn't scare the USVI into compliance. That means they're either confident in their legal position, buying time, or both. GOA filing independently of the first suit suggests coordination isn't happening — which could mean two separate bites at the apple, or two parallel legal arguments reinforcing each other.

What to watch: How the federal district court handles the non-resident angle. If a U.S. citizen traveling to American soil can be denied a fundamental constitutional right because they live in Florida instead of St. Thomas, that's a circuit-worthy question with implications well beyond one island territory.