Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon revealed in Monday’s edition of Human Events Daily with Jack Posobiec that the DOJ’s Civil Rights Department is working on creating a new Second Amendment section that will focus on firearm cases.
Dhillon called the move "historic," adding that ever since she arrived at the DOJ, she has been working with others "to figure out ways that we can highlight and expand the work that we're doing. And luckily, the Supreme Court has given us some good tools with the Bruen decision three years ago and other decisions that have made it clear that the Second Amendment is not a second-class right. That's what the attorney general is very fond of saying about this issue.
"And so far, I've gone to court and personally argued against Illinois' so-called assault weapons ban. I also have helped with the Solicitor General's briefing in the Wolford case in Hawaii, challenging their ludicrous restrictions over there. And we have sued Los Angeles County for unreasonable delays in issuing concealed carry permits that, under Bruen, are supposed to be issued very quickly," she said, noting that "other cases are planned all over the country."
"There are states that have unreasonable restrictions, not just blue states, some red states with some outdated restrictions on there that are inconsistent with the law. Some states charge thousands of dollars to even apply for a concealed carry permit. This is not constitutional, and this focus is important."
Dhillon said that she has received pushback from Democrat members of Congress, through which a new section must be approved, questioning why it is needed, she said, "to ask the question shows you why we need it."
She said that as a concealed carry permit holder in DC, "the minute you cross over a state line, suddenly you're at risk for being arrested because of some dumb rule in a different jurisdiction," and added that "here in DC, as a woman, I can't carry that weapon in my purse, I have to carry it on my person."
"So there's some restrictions here that really make us more vulnerable unnecessarily, and so there are a lot of things that we're going to be looking at. I won't tip our hand, but expect a lot of activity from the Second Amendment section and a lot of commitment from this DOJ to eliminating unnecessary state laws that interfere with this fundamental right of law-abiding citizens to carry and bear and use arms."
Posobiec chimed in, "We've had the Second Amendment for as long as we've had the United States. It dates back to 1791 and the original ratification of the Constitution. This isn't the first time we've had a second amendment section on the attorney general, though, is it? Surely it can’t be."
"It is," Dhillon replied. "this attorney general did it and approved it, and I'm so proud to be part of it. The Civil Rights Division is where it's housed, because we safeguard America's civil rights."
She said there’s "a lot of focus on this," and that a lot of DOJ appointees are weapons owners who "personally have experienced the discrimination. I came from California. I have two firearms from California that now California is trying to ban. So it is a constant Whack-a-Mole with these states trying to restrict rights to buy ammo, and Glock is not safe, and this gun should be designed that way. Suddenly, they're gun designers too.
"So this is insane. I know there's a lot of frustration from our beloved Second Amendment activists out there. My former law firm used to do a lot of work for some of the leading gun organizations, so we hear from them, but it is an important priority of the DOJ. And I hope people will give us some grace as we get moving on this."
