The Trump Justice Department has put California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta on notice: stop enforcing the state’s unconstitutional handgun restrictions or face a federal civil-rights lawsuit.

In a June 24 letter, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon announced that the Justice Department is preparing to challenge both California’s coming “Glock ban” and its restrictive Handgun Roster.

“California’s ban on the sale of the most popular handgun in America violates the Second Amendment,” Dhillon wrote.

California’s Glock Ban Takes Effect July 1

California Penal Code §27595 takes effect July 1, 2026. Enacted through Assembly Bill 1127, the law prohibits licensed dealers from selling pistols California labels “semiautomatic machinegun-convertible pistols.”

Tick tock! On July 1, CA plans to impose an unconstitutional “Glock Ban.”
Today, I notified @CAGovernor & @AGRobBonta to drop the unconstitutional restrictions on law-abiding citizens’ rights to purchase legal firearms before the ban goes into effect, or we will sue. Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/xhGmRt4VPz

— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) June 24, 2026

The law targets semiautomatic pistols using cruciform trigger bars that can accept illegal conversion devices commonly called Glock switches. In practice, it will block dealer sales of virtually all Glock and Glock-pattern pistols.

AmmoLand warned readers about this attack while AB 1127 was moving through Sacramento. Glock switches are already treated as machineguns under federal law and are illegal for ordinary citizens to possess. California nevertheless decided to punish lawful buyers, dealers and manufacturers for crimes committed using prohibited conversion devices.

Dhillon’s letter cuts through California’s word games.

“The Second Amendment guarantees the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms for self-defense,” she wrote. “Because handguns are the most popular weapon chosen by Americans for self-defense, a prohibition of their use is invalid.”

Gun-rights organizations have already challenged AB 1127 in Jaymes v. Bonta. The NRA, Second Amendment Foundation, Firearms Policy Coalition, Poway Weapons & Gear and individual gun owners argue that California cannot ban one of America’s most commonly owned handgun platforms.

DOJ Targets California’s Handgun Roster

The Justice Department is now preparing to bring the weight of the United States government into the fight.

“This letter is to inform you that as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, I have authorized the filing of a complaint in federal district court against the State,” Dhillon told Newsom and Bonta.

The threatened complaint would also challenge California’s Handgun Roster, which restricts which pistols dealers may sell. The roster has required certain handguns to incorporate features such as chamber-load indicators and magazine-disconnect mechanisms. Until recently, it also demanded commercially impractical microstamping technology.

Those requirements prevented any new semiautomatic handgun from being added to the roster between 2013 and 2023. In Boland v. Bonta, a federal district court concluded that Californians have a constitutional right to acquire modern handguns rather than being forced to settle for aging designs. That injunction remains stayed during California’s appeal, but Dhillon maintains the challenged restrictions are unconstitutional.

California Faces June 30 Deadline

The most significant part of the letter may be DOJ’s plan to treat California’s enforcement as civil-rights misconduct.

Dhillon said the complaint will allege that implementing the bans and threatening criminal enforcement “constitute a pattern or practice of law enforcement misconduct.” DOJ plans to invoke 34 U.S.C. §12601, a federal law authorizing action against systemic law-enforcement practices that deprive citizens of constitutional rights.

California has until 5 p.m. Eastern on June 30 to request settlement negotiations. DOJ says any resolution must require California to stop enforcement, acknowledge the laws are unconstitutional and accept a court-enforceable consent decree permanently barring these or similar restrictions.

Newsom can surrender his unconstitutional handgun ban now, or defend it against the United States in federal court.

About Duncan Johnson:

Duncan Johnson is a lifelong firearms enthusiast and unwavering defender of the Second Amendment—where “shall not be infringed” means exactly what it says. A graduate of George Mason University, he enjoys competing in local USPSA and multi-gun competitions whenever he’s not covering the latest in gun rights and firearm policy. Duncan is a regular contributor to AmmoLand News and serves as part of the editorial team responsible for AmmoLand’s daily gun-rights reporting and industry coverage.