The U.S. Justice Department has filed an 18-page amended complaint in its civil-rights case against the Virgin Islands government, VIPD and Police Commissioner Mario Brooks. The federal action, United States v. Government of the Virgin Islands, alleges a pattern or practice of conduct that deprived people of rights protected by the Second Amendment.
Federal attorneys allege that VIPD imposed licensing delays that sometimes approached a year, required applicants to install bolted gun safes and permit home inspections, denied some applicants for owning what the department considered too many firearms and continued a special-reason requirement for carrying a weapon after a 2022 Supreme Court decision.
The amended filing also alleges that VIPD enforced firearm and magazine restrictions modeled on the federal 1994 assault-weapons ban after that law expired in 2004, without separate federal or territorial authority. The complaint further challenges portions of Act 9113 involving magazine capacity, suppressors, firearm registration, public carry, long guns, demonstration zones and safe storage.
These are allegations by the federal government, not findings of fact or a final judgment. The territorial government has previously argued that Act 9113 corrected defects challenged in the original case. DOJ is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief rather than monetary damages, and the District Court has not decided which historical practices or current provisions are unlawful.
VIPD and the Justice Department should publish plain-language, date-stamped guidance identifying which licensing procedures remain in force during the case. The territorial government should also make Act 9113 and every enacted amendment available in a consolidated public text so residents do not have to reconstruct the law from separate bills and court filings.
Source published September 2, 2026. Read the original reporting or release for the complete record.
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