In a blow to America’s lawful gun owners, Harmeet Dhillon, the Department of Justice assistant attorney general who headed up the creation and operation of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division’s Second Amendment section, has resigned.
According to a Fox News report, Dhillon made the decision well before Republicans lost the midterm election, when Democrats took control of both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Dhillon told Fox that she told White House chief of staff Susie Wiles three weeks before Election Day that she had “accomplished everything” she came to do and wanted to return to private practice. Wiles, she said, asked her to wait until after the midterms. Dhillon formally submitted her resignation on November 5.
“I wasn’t asked to resign,” Dhillon said. “I resigned three weeks ago, and Susie asked me to please wait until after the midterms.”
Dhillon said she plans to return to private practice. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced her resignation in a November 5 social media post.
“Today, I accepted the resignation of Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who led the Civil Right Division with conviction the past 18 months,” Blanche posted on X. “She has defended the civil liberties of every American and enforced the law without fear or favor. The Department is grateful for her dedicated public service, and we with her every success in her future endeavors.”
Making A Difference
For several decades, the DOJ’s Civil Rights division ignored or even worked against the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. But under Dhillon’s watch, the new Second Amendment section worked vigorously to protect the right of lawful gun owners.
“The Second Amendment is not a second-class right,” Dhillon said upon filing a lawsuit against Lost Angeles County. “This lawsuit seeks to stop Los Angeles County’s egregious pattern and practice of delaying law-abiding citizens from exercising their right to bear arms.”
Dhillon’s contribution was especially notable—and remarkable—considering her tenure came following the Biden Administrating, where the DOJ worked continuously to clamp down on lawful gun owners. Under Dhillon, the Second Amendment section made real progress on identifying, and battling, unjust, illegal gun laws at the state and federal level.
Some of Dhillon’s accomplishments during her tenure at the DOJ included suing Montgomery County, Maryland, over its extremely restrictive concealed carry law, asking a federal judge to stop a gun and magazine ban in the Virgin Islands, suing California over its Glock ban and handgun roster, suing Virginia over its new ban on common firearms and standard-capacity magazines, suing Los Angeles for delays in carry permit processing, and suing Denver and the state of Colorado for banning semi-auto rifles and commonly owned magazines.
Among her most recent actions, Dhillon filed a lawsuit challenging San Jose, California’s, exorbitant nearly $1,600 initial application fee for a license to carry a concealed firearm in the city. Under the carry permit scheme, anyone who wants to exercise their Second Amendment rights must not only apply for the permit and pay $318, but must pay another $1,273 if the San Jose Police Department actually issues the permit. Add another $93 for the California DOJ fee and the costs of Live Scan or fingerprinting, taking a psychological exam and completing a training course, and the cost for first-time applicants comes to nearly $2,000.
Later, the DOJ expanded the lawsuit to include the city’s illegal requirement for gun owners to carry liability insurance. San Jose passed the insurance mandate back in 2022, and it took effect on January 1, 2023. Under the ordinance, gun owners must maintain a homeowner’s, renter’s or specialized gun liability insurance policy that must cover losses or damages resulting from the accidental, unintentional or negligent use of a firearm (including death, injury or property damage). The ordinance includes a $25 annual fee designated to fund local gun violence-reduction programs and non-profit safety initiatives—another unconstitutional requirement.
Ultimately, Dhillon’s resignation doesn’t bode well for America’s gun owners. While we can hope to get a like-minded assistant attorney general to replace her, it’s unlikely anyone will work as diligently to protect Second Amendment rights as she did.
