Justice Department Sues Colorado Over Gun Laws, Indicts James Comey

The Trump administration filed two lawsuits last week in Colorado challenging the state's 15-round magazine limit and Denver's assault weapon ban. Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, argues that both measures are unconstitutional because they ban arms in common use for lawful purposes and lack a historical tradition justifying them.

Dhillon deployed the same argument against the District of Columbia's assault weapon ban in a lawsuit filed in December 2025 by the Civil Rights Division's Second Amendment Section.

The Supreme Court clarified the constitutional test for gun control laws in 2022, and at least four justices appear inclined to view such restrictions skeptically. S. Virgin Islands over its handgun carry permit requirement.

U.S. Virgin Islands imposes a vague, highly discretionary requirement for publicly carrying handguns that resembles a New York law struck down by the Supreme Court in 2022. The Justice Department is investigating the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which takes as long as 18 months to act on carry permit applications.

A federal law authorizes the attorney general to seek civil remedies for a law enforcement pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of their constitutional or statutory rights. "The Constitution is not a suggestion and the Second Amendment is not a second-class right," Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said last week.

Even as it pursues these gun rights cases, the Trump administration has defended the Gun Control Act's ban on firearm possession by unlawful drug users. The Supreme Court will soon decide a case centered on that ban. The administration has also defended the Gun Control Act's disarmament of people with nonviolent felony records.

The gun rights litigation unfolded against a backdrop of high-profile criminal cases at the Justice Department. James Comey was indicted a second time in late April 2026, just weeks after Trump fired Pam Bondi as attorney general in part because she failed to successfully prosecute Comey and other Trump enemies.

Todd Blanche was Pam Bondi's deputy at the Department of Justice and a former top Trump criminal defense lawyer.

James Comey was first charged last year in a separate case alleging he lied to Congress. A judge threw out James Comey's first indictment on the grounds that White House lawyer and prosecutor Lindsey Halligan had been improperly appointed on Pam Bondi’s watch.

The new indictment alleges James Comey threatened to kill Trump based on his posting a photo on Instagram in May 2025 of seashells on a beach that read "86-47".

The justice department's three-page, two-count indictment alleges the seashells were arranged in a pattern making out "86 47", which a reasonable recipient familiar with the circumstances would interpret as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.

James Comey removed the Instagram post after receiving criticism and indicated that he intended no harm. Todd Blanche said on May 3 that the justice department has evidence of all sorts from an 11-month investigation that it will present at a trial.

Joe DiGenova, an 81-year-old former Trump election lawyer, was recruited in April 2026 to lead the investigation of John Brennan and other Trump foes. Joe DiGenova was sworn in on 20 April 2026. On 20 April 2026, Joe DiGenova appeared on WBAL Radio and said Trump personally asked him to lead what he dubbed the Russia hoax investigation.

The justice department removed veteran Miami prosecutor Maria Medetis Long, who was leading the Brennan inquiry, because she balked at pressures to quickly charge Brennan over alleged lying to Congress. The Southern Poverty Law Center pleaded not guilty on 7 May to charges that it conspired to launder money and committed fraud.

The justice department issued a 14-page indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center alleging it defrauded donors by using their funds to pay informants inside white supremacist groups.

Pam Bondi spoke during a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House on 15 October 2025 along with Todd Blanche and Donald Trump. Todd Blanche spoke during a press conference at the US justice department on 30 January 2026 in Washington DC. James Comey participated in a book discussion on his book A Higher Loyalty at George Washington University on 30 April 2018.