New Federal Lawsuit Challenges USVI Gun Laws, Seeks Carry Licenses for Nonresident Visitors

A new lawsuit filed in District Court seeks to strike down portions of the Virgin Islands’ firearm licensing system that prevent nonresidents from applying for licenses to carry concealed handguns in the territory. Sean Dale Henry, Gun Owners of America and Gun Owners Foundation filed the complaint Monday against the Government of the Virgin Islands and V.I. Police Commissioner Mario Brooks. The plaintiffs accuse territorial officials of a “wholesale refusal to allow Americans to exercise their enumerated constitutional right to ‘keep and bear Arms’ unless they have a ‘bona fide residence or place of business’ in the USVI.” The lawsuit alleges that the territory’s policies violate the Second and Fourteenth amendments by leaving nonresidents without any legal mechanism to carry a firearm in public, even when they hold valid licenses issued elsewhere in the United States. “As of 2022, the USVI does not recognize the firearm licenses issued by any state or territory,” the civil complai...