Top DOJ official predicts Supreme Court will declare AR-15 rifles legal everywhere in America

The Justice Department's top civil rights lawyer believes the Trump administration's lawsuit this week against the city of Denver's gun ban will one day soon lead to a Supreme Court decision legalizing the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle – revered by gun owners and reviled by liberals – in every jurisdiction in America.

"We intend to make sure they do that," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in an interview set to be aired Wednesday night on the Just the News, No Noise television show.

Dhillon spoke just hours after her office filed a lawsuit against the city of Denver over its ban on "assault rifles," arguing the ban violates residents' Second Amendment rights. 

The ban covers AR-15-style rifles, which the complaint argues are owned by "tens of millions" of Americans, 

The complaint also describes the use of the term "assault rifle" in the Denver law's language as a "rhetorically politically charged" term used by "anti-gun publicists." 

In addition, the suit cites the 2008 Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which held that the Second Amendment protects the right of law-abiding citizens to possess weapons that are in common use for lawful purposes.

“The Constitution is not a suggestion, and the Second Amendment is not a second-class right. Denver's ban on commonly owned semi-automatic rifles directly violates the right to bear arms. This Department of Justice will vigorously defend the liberties of law-abiding citizens," acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in praising the legal strike.

Dhillon credited her bosses for giving her the freedom to file lawsuits protecting Second Amendment rights.

"I want to thank the president for setting the tone at the beginning of his administration and having an executive order that made clear that the Second Amendment is a first class right in the United States, and Pam Bondi and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche have fully backed that up," she said.

"We intend to make sure that citizens of Denver have the same rights as citizens of the rest of America. And we do have other cities like this," she added. "The District of Columbia also has a similar ban. We have sued them already, and we will be absolutely looking for other opportunities. And there are other types of issues as well. 

Dhillon explained why she believes the AR-15 will be deemed legal nationwide soon.

"I think the AR-15 ban is one that really is a kind of low-hanging fruit, because the Supreme Court held in a 9-0 opinion in the Smith and Wesson case that the AR-15 is the most commonly owned and operated rifle in the United States. And so when you add that statistic to the ruling in the Bruen and Heller decisions, which talk about firearms that are in common use and for law-abiding citizens, that leads to the inexorable conclusion that the AR-15 is presumptively legal all over America.

"And denial of the right to own it and, in fact, criminalization of that in Denver, is something that is long overdue to be updated. And we intend to make sure they do that," she said.

Dhillon said differing case law in the federal judicial circuits makes it likely that the Supreme Court will take up the case.

"There is kind of a Circuit split on this issue. So the Fourth Circuit has some bad precedent on this issue, and we intend to create some good precedent in some other circuits in addition to what's already there. And then I think it would be right for the (Supreme) Court.

"And the court has really signaled in several opinions where it is going with this," she added. "And I think there is going to be a ruling eventually from the Supreme Court that AR-15s are legal for all law-abiding citizens to own and operate."