The Justice Department sued California on Wednesday in a major Second Amendment challenge targeting the state’s new ban on retail sales of Glock-style pistols and its broader handgun roster system.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, seeks to block enforcement of California’s newly enacted restrictions on semiautomatic handguns that state officials say can be converted into fully automatic weapons using illegal switches.
The complaint also challenges California’s handgun roster, which limits the handguns dealers may sell to the public.
DOJ Says California Violated Second Amendment
The Trump administration argues California’s restrictions unlawfully prevent residents from acquiring handguns commonly used for lawful purposes, including self-defense.
Justice Department officials said the state cannot ban a broad class of popular firearms simply because criminals may illegally modify them.
The lawsuit follows a warning from Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who gave California until June 30 to resolve the dispute before the federal government went to court.
Ban Took Effect July 1
The challenged law took effect July 1 and applies to retail sales of Glock-style pistols and similar handguns with firing mechanisms that California says make them especially vulnerable to illegal conversion devices.
The ban does not make current ownership illegal, but it restricts future sales through licensed dealers.
Gun rights groups argue the law effectively targets some of the most popular handguns in America, including models long available in California because they were grandfathered onto the state’s approved handgun roster.
Handgun Roster Also Targeted
The Justice Department also took aim at California’s handgun roster, a longstanding regulatory system that requires handgun models to meet specific state requirements before they may be sold by licensed dealers.
Supporters of the roster say it promotes safety standards and keeps especially dangerous firearms off the commercial market.
Critics argue the system has sharply limited consumer choice, prevented sales of newer handgun models and imposed requirements that make it difficult or impossible for manufacturers to add firearms to the approved list.
California Defends Gun Restrictions
California officials have defended the new law as a public safety measure aimed at reducing the spread of illegally converted machine guns.
State leaders argue Glock-style pistols have become a major concern for law enforcement because conversion switches can turn semiautomatic handguns into fully automatic weapons.
Federal law already prohibits machine guns and illegal conversion devices. The Justice Department’s lawsuit argues California has gone further by restricting lawful firearms rather than focusing on criminal misuse.
Major Test For DOJ’s Second Amendment Push
The case marks another significant move by the Trump Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which has created a Second Amendment enforcement section and begun challenging state and local gun restrictions.
The lawsuit could become an important test of how far states may go in regulating commercially available firearms after the Supreme Court’s recent Second Amendment decisions.
For California, the case places two of its most prominent gun-control policies directly in the federal government’s crosshairs.
For gun owners and firearms manufacturers, it could determine whether one of the nation’s largest markets must reopen to handguns the state has sought to restrict.
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