Calm Down, There's a Reason DOJ Hasn't Sued Your State (Yet)

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]Hello again everyone. Welcome to Washington Gun Law TV. I'm Washington Gun Law President William Kirk. Thanks for joining us. As you know, your United States Department of Justice is on a rampage. They are dropping lawsuits all over the place. And while many of us are really excited about that, some of you seem to not be happy. You think that they could be doing more, what you're really suffering from is a big case of what about me? Did you ever stop and think that there might be a method to this madness? that there might actually be a strategy in play. That's what we're going to try to explain to you today so you can understand what the lay of the land is and what the Department of Justice is likely trying to do. So today, let's get you all educated and let's talk about calm down. There's a reason DOJ hasn't sued your state yet.

[00:00:53]Okay, America, listen. every time we do a video that's like, "Wow, check out what the Department of Justice is doing here, like their lawsuits against both the city of Denver and the state of Colorado." While there are all sorts of comments out there of like, "This is awesome." There's also a bunch of people, and you know who you are, and you're all living behind enemy lines that are like, "What about us now? Do our state next." Okay, now I get the frustration because I live in one of those states. Haven't seen a lawsuit kicking around yet against the state of Washington, have we? And yet you don't hear me complaining. Why is that? Well, it's not because I'm a glutton for punishment, although to some degree I am cuz I live in Washington. It's because I think I figured out what the strategy here is by the Department of Justice.

[00:01:35]And it's one of trying to get maximum output and trying to do it in the shortest possible period of time. Let me explain what I'm talking about. What we currently have as far as active lawsuits in the United States where the Department of Justice is suing a local jurisdiction over something related to gun laws, we have Los Angeles County, which deals with ridiculous delays and expenses related to concealed carry licenses. That lawsuit is already in settlement negotiations. The Department of Justice is going to be able to settle that suit with Los Angeles County. We have United States verse the American Virgin Islands. A challenge to the Virgin Islands ridiculous concealed carry scheme. They have never even implemented anything remotely close to what Brean mandates that however if it ends up going to the Court of Appeals will end up where? In the third circuit court of appeals. Let's remember that.

[00:02:30]Then we have United States vers District of Columbia, a suit against the District of Columbia's assault weapon ban. If that case were to go up to a higher level, where would it go? What circuit court? That right. It would go to its own circuit court inside the District of Columbia. And now we have the lawsuits of United States vers city of Denver and United States vers of Colorado. One of the lawsuits is a challenge to both an assault weapon ban and a magazine ban against the city of Denver. And then the lawsuit against the state is to their magazine ban. If those cases were to be appealed to a division of the court of appeals, where would they go? They would go to the 10th circuit. So, as you see, we have lawsuits which could end up on appeal in the third circuit, the 10th Circuit, or the District of Columbia Circuit. And I can assure you, if Minnesota were to pass an assault weapon ban, would the United States Department of Justice sue? Yes, immediately. Why?

[00:03:33]Well, because that lawsuit would eventually be resolved where in the eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. But you see, if you live behind enemy lines and you've been living under these laws for a while, I get you're anxious to see the Department of Justice do something about it. But here's the problem you run into, depending on which one of these deep blue states you live in. Washington or California, you're in the Ninth Circuit.

[00:03:57]Illinois, you're in the Seventh Circuit.

[00:03:59]New York, you're in the second circuit.

[00:04:01]Massachusetts, you're in the first circuit. Oh, and Virginia, yeah, obviously you are this close to passing all sorts of unconstitutional gun bans.

[00:04:08]The problem is is you lie in the fourth circuit court of appeals. So, what does the first, the second, the fourth, the seventh, and the ninth circuit all have in common? That's right. Terrible case law when it comes to platform bans.

[00:04:26]terrible case laws as it relates to the common use doctrine and the constitutionality of outright bans. And every single time that some proponent of an armband, it wants to argue that there's no circuit split and therefore there's no reason for the United States Supreme Court to take this case. What do they always site to? That's right. They site to the first and the second and the fourth and the seventh and the ninth circuit. Now, if you go back and you take a look at the interview that we were lucky enough to do with Assistant Attorney General Har Dylan, where we talked about some of the job descriptions and what's going on in the Second Amendment section of the Civil Rights Division, you will realize that this is a newly created division that is still not well manned. Manpower is a significant issue over there. Here's what else is a significant issue over there in the Second Amendment division is that you have a finite time period in which to get this done. because we do not know what happens when the next presidential election comes around. We do not know what administration will be in the White House. We do know there will be a change in the administration because of term limits. And therefore, the time to strike, the time to make these lawsuits count may be over in the next 2 and 1/2 years, which means the Department of Justice needs to be as effective and as efficient as humanly possible with these lawsuits. Running head first into a brick wall of bad case law does not make for efficient litigation of a case. Now, you can do that if you're playing the long game. If you are a private plaintiff and you can wait this thing out, then that is perfectly okay and you see that all of the time, but what is the long game?

[00:06:05]Well, ask those attorneys for both Miller and Duncan whose cases have been kicking around for over a decade now out of California. But if you want to have maximum impact as fast as humanly possible, what you need to do if you're the United States Department of Justice is to create a circuit split. Because once that circuit split is created, it literally puts the Supreme Court in a position where they can no longer kick that can down the road. And the best way you're going to create that circuit split is by specifically picking the fights that the United States Department of Justice is choosing to pick at the current time. So, yes, Virginia, calm down. Is there likely going to be a lawsuit by the United States Department of Justice against your state over the unconstitutional bans they're passing?

[00:06:49]Yes, there will be. Is it likely to be successful? Probably in the long run, yes. But if you're looking for any type of immediate relief knowing there's bad circuit precedent sitting right on top of you, I would not hold your breath.

[00:07:02]Now, Minnesota, if you want to go ahead and do this, I am begging you to go ahead and do it because we would love love to get this issue before the eighth circuit. Oh, and a final reminder, you know, for all of these moving pieces here and everything, the third circuit, you guys could just solve this problem right now if you just issued your ruling in Cheeseman v. Platkin, the challenge to New Jerseys assault weapon ban, and ruled consistent with the tone of questioning we got during oral arguments. Yeah, the circuit split that we need to finally get to this, the highest court in the land and resolve this issue once and for all will be right there. But for those of you suffering from an acute case of what about me, that is the reason that the United States Department of Justice, in our opinion, is currently picking the suits as they are. Okay, listen. If you have any other questions about this or anything else related to what's left of our Second Amendment rights, you guys should know how to get a hold of Washington gun law by now. But if you don't, that's okay. Okay, that information is down there in the description box. If you got an idea for a video that we should be doing around here, cool. Click on that link right there. Tell us all about it. If you want to subscribe to our monthly newsletter, find out about all the cool stuff they don't let us talk about here, and meet all of our sponsors, there's a link in the description box for you to do that.

[00:08:15]And then finally, and most importantly, let's everyone remember that part of being the lawful and responsible gun owner, like we talk about all the time here, is to know what the law is in every situation and how it applies to you in any instance that you may find yourself. Until next time, thanks for watching and stay safe.