The Second Amendment has been under assault for decades in Washington, D.C.
Gun-grabbing politicians thought they had law-abiding citizens right where they wanted them.
But Jeanine Pirro just made one decision about Washington, D.C. gun laws that left anti-gun Democrats absolutely livid.
Pirro ends prosecutions that violated Supreme Court rulings
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro just sent shockwaves through Washington, D.C.’s anti-gun establishment with a major policy announcement.
Pirro announced that registered rifle and shotgun owners may no longer face felony charges for carrying their weapons in the nation’s capital.
The policy shift comes after Pirro said she received guidance from Justice Department officials who determined that Washington, D.C.’s restrictive gun laws violate the Second Amendment.
"The DC law is clearly a violation of the Supreme Court’s holdings," Pirro told the Washington Post.
For years, Washington, D.C. has maintained some of the most draconian gun laws in the country, treating law-abiding gun owners like criminals for exercising their constitutional rights.
Washington, D.C. maintains some of the strictest gun laws in the country, prohibiting open carry and generally requiring concealed-carry permits to leave home with a firearm – permits that aren’t issued for rifles or shotguns.
Until now, carrying a registered rifle or shotgun without proper permits in Washington, D.C. could result in fines and up to five years in prison.
That’s five years in prison for exercising a constitutional right that the Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed.
Supreme Court precedents finally being enforced
The legal foundation for Pirro’s decision stems from two landmark Supreme Court cases that gun rights advocates have been waiting to see fully implemented.
The Supreme Court struck down Washington, D.C.’s ban on handgun ownership in the home for self-defense in the 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller case.
The Supreme Court expanded gun rights further in the 2022 NY State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen case, where justices ruled that the Constitution protects gun owners’ rights to carry firearms in public for self-defense.
The Court also ruled that gun regulations must align with America’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
That standard is exactly what Washington, D.C.’s restrictive laws fail to meet.
Pirro emphasized that this policy change won’t interfere with prosecuting actual gun crimes.
"Nothing in this memo from the Department of Justice and the Office of Solicitor General precludes the United States Attorney’s Office from charging a felon with the possession of a firearm," she explained.
The key distinction is crucial – this protects law-abiding citizens who have registered their firearms, not criminals who shouldn’t have guns in the first place.
Constitutional rights restored under Trump
Think about what this really means for Second Amendment advocates nationwide.
For the first time in decades, a major prosecutor in one of the most anti-gun jurisdictions in America is actually following Supreme Court precedent instead of playing political games with people’s constitutional rights.
This isn’t some radical departure from law and order – it’s exactly the opposite.
Pirro is doing what prosecutors are supposed to do: enforce the law as written by the Supreme Court, not as wished by anti-gun activists.
"Criminal culpability is not determined by the instruments people employ but by the intent and conduct of the actor," Pirro stated. "Crimes are intentional acts and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent by my office regardless of what instruments of criminality are used."
The timing here isn’t coincidental either.
This announcement comes as the Trump administration continues its systematic restoration of constitutional rights that were trampled during the Biden years.
From free speech to religious liberty to gun rights, President Trump’s team is methodically reversing years of constitutional violations.
And you can bet that anti-gun Democrats in Washington, D.C. are scrambling to figure out how to respond.
They’ve spent decades using the threat of felony prosecutions to intimidate law-abiding gun owners into compliance with unconstitutional restrictions.
Now that intimidation tactic just got blown apart by someone who actually understands both constitutional law and criminal justice.
The broader implications are huge too.
If Washington, D.C.’s gun laws can’t survive constitutional scrutiny under a prosecutor who’s committed to following Supreme Court precedent, what does that say about similar restrictions in New York, California, and other anti-gun states?
Pirro just created a blueprint for how constitutional law enforcement actually works when you have prosecutors who respect the Bill of Rights instead of trying to circumvent it.
¹ Victor Nava, "Pirro to ease prosecutions for carrying registered rifles, shotguns — calls DC law ‘violation of the Supreme Court’s holdings’," New York Post, August 20, 2025.
