CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands — This week, Gun Owners of America launched a legal challenge against the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) over its ban on carry for non-residents.
“The Second Amendment doesn’t end at the shoreline. Americans don’t lose their constitutional rights simply because they travel to a U.S. territory. The USVI has created a system where law-abiding citizens are categorically denied the ability to exercise a fundamental constitutional right based solely on where they live. That’s not how constitutional rights work in America, and we’re asking the federal courts to put an end to this blatant violation,” said Luis Valdes, USVI outreach director for Gun Owners of America and national co-chair of Fuerza 2A, in a press statement.
Henry v. Brooks was filed in the District Court of the Virgin Islands Division of St. Thomas and St. John on July 20, and marks the second major lawsuit to be brought against the territory, including one filed in December of 2025 by the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, which challenged delays in the permitting scheme.
The Virgin Islands enjoys “unincorporated territory” status, which means it is under U.S. control and, since 1927, people born in the territory are full U.S. citizens.
The complaint states “…the USVI provides no avenue for ‘all Americans’ – who are not residents of the USVI – to keep or bear arms.” Not only does the Virgin Islands have no reciprocity clause, it does not even allow nonresidents to apply for a USVI license to carry.
As with many other states, the USVI attempted to restrict concealed carry rights after the 2022 Bruen Supreme Court decision, and repealed a limited concealed carry reciprocity statute. The USVI prohibits open carry and allows only limited firearms ownership for individuals and businesses “having a bona fide residence or place of business within the Virgin Islands.”
As the complaint notes, generally speaking, the USVI “bans even the keeping of arms by nonresidents and residents alike.”
In summary, the complaint states “Thus, for the 99.975 percent of Americans who are not residents of the USVI, Second Amendment rights simply do not exist on the islands. No other provision of the Bill of Rights works this way.”
The complaint brings its defense primarily under Bruen, noting that there is “certainly no historical analogue for limiting carry solely to those residents of a particular state.”
In February of 2026, four New York state counties were forced to settle in a case challenging their de facto ban on non-resident carry permits.
