The Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division, led by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, has filed an Amicus brief in support of Second Amendment rights in Barnett v. Raoul.
An Amicus brief is also known as a “friend of the court” filing. Interested individuals or organizations that are not named in a case can file these briefs to try to influence that court’s decision by supplying relevant information and case law. These briefs are standard from both sides of the issue, but the DOJ filing one on behalf of gun rights is something that we haven’t seen in the past.
The case was filed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), Caleb Barnett, Brian Norman, and two gun shops. The plaintiffs are suing over Illinois’s “Protect Illinois Community Act” (PICA) law. The law banned some of the most common semi-automatic firearms in the country, including the AR-15. Illinois refers to these guns as “assault weapons” and claims that they can be banned because they are “weapons of war.”
The DOJ, in its amicus brief, maintains the stance that the AR-15 and similar rifles can not be banned.
The AR-15 is the most popular civilian rifle in America and is used by tens of millions of law-abiding Americans for lawful reasons.
Total bans on AR-15s are a flagrant violation of the Second Amendment.
Today, the Department of Justice filed an amicus brief telling the Seventh…
— Chad Mizelle (@ChadMizelle47) June 14, 2025
The DOJ lawyers highlight that the Supreme Court stated in Heller that firearms in common use are protected under the Second Amendment. There are approximately 30 million AR-15s in the United States. The Civil Rights Division claims this is enough to constitute common use. The Justice Department is in good company with its analysis. SCOTUS has already determined that 250,000 stun guns are enough to constitute “common use,” and recently in Mexico. v. Smith & Wesson, liberal Associate Justice Elena Kagan admitted as much in her concurring opinion.
The brief reads: “Regrettably, not every State got the message. Just a few months after Bruen, Illinois outlawed some of the most commonly used rifles and magazines in America via a so-called ‘assault weapons’ ban. In doing so, Illinois violated the Supreme Court’s clear directive that States cannot prohibit arms that are ‘in common use’ by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes.”
The DOJ’s brief also challenges the State’s claim that it can ban firearms that are “militaristic” in nature. The lawyers point out that the Second Amendment is about possessing weapons for common defense.
The DOJ highlights that the militias of the founding era would have been useless without “militaristic” firearms. At the time, the musket was a military weapon and was owned by most households during the ratification of the Second Amendment.
The brief states: “Two categories of Second Amendment-related precedent confirm that the Second Amendment contains no carveout for “militaristic” weapons. First, early Second Amendment-related precedent from the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries contains significant support for the view that possessing weapons for the common defense was a core aspect of the preexisting right to keep and bear arms that the Founders codified in the Second Amendment. Consistent with the extensive history discussed above, this early caselaw from federal and State courts uniformly viewed weapons that ‘ha[d] some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia,’ that were ‘part of the ordinary military equipment,’ or the use of which ‘could contribute to the common defense’ as being the core weapons (if not the only ones) protected by the Second Amendment and state analogues.”
The brief also covers PICA’s magazine restrictions. The brief highlights that magazines are necessary for the operation of a firearm and, therefore, are protected by the Second Amendment as an “arm.” Currently, in the United States, there are over 100 million magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. That is one magazine for every man, woman, and child in the nation. The federal government cites this astronomical number as undeniable evidence of common use.
Since President Donald Trump’s executive order on the Second Amendment, the Department of Justice, led by the Civil Rights Division, has made significant strides to protect Americans’ gun rights.
About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
Ya, these militaristic weapons are so dangerous, especially in the hands of a Republican, right? That’s why when you see the left burning and looting like in LA and even killing like in Portland a few years ago, the right went out there and cleaned up the streets because law enforcement wasn’t willing to do it, right? Isn’t it amazing that with all the protests about President Trump being a King that no one was shot with an AR from either the protestors on the left or conservatives on the right. In fact, I don’t think that anyone was shot… Read more »
It’s about time someone stated the obvious. Just surprised it came from the DOJ, but at least the truth is out in the open now: Any firearm suitable for military or law enforcement use is, by extension, also suitable for militia use, and therefore suitable for use (and ownership, without tax stamps or any other bureaucratic mumbo jumbo) by the “citizen soldier”, i.e. the People. This includes (IMO), full-auto weapons, not just look-alikes. Something not stated in the article is also obvious, but conveniently omitted in any discussion about bans on “military style” weapons. Gun-grabbers would have us believe that… Read more »
I left Illinois – Chicago – permanently in 1979, and as bad as things were then (and they WERE bad!) I’ve been appalled at how full-blown commie the state has trended since then.
And NOT just on the issue of gun rights.
WHAT a relief to see an administration that is actually siding WITH Americans rather than AGAINST us.
Illinois Sucks! I’m glad I got out 15 years ago to the Free State of Florida!
Yes, as the militia, able bodied citizens must have access to all the weapons of modern warfare, from select fire “machine guns” to grenades and mortars.