Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, told Newsmax on Tuesday that constitutional protections, including the right to keep and bear arms, should not vanish when Americans cross state lines, pointing to new efforts at the Department of Justice aimed at enforcing gun rights nationwide.

On "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE," Dhillon outlined a developing DOJ initiative centered on enforcing gun rights.

She said the Civil Rights Division has launched a Second Amendment section and plans to take a more assertive posture on the right to keep and bear arms across state lines as legal battles over gun restrictions expand nationwide.

Higbie raised the issue of state boundaries limiting lawful gun owners, while other constitutional rights follow citizens wherever they travel. He asked why his gun rights end at the state line when his speech rights do not.

Dhillon backed the comparison and said DOJ has been preparing for a sustained push.

"No, I agree completely, and so does the attorney general, Pam Bondi. And we've been working on this for several months," she said, while discussing the red tape around the division.

"When you add a new section or component to the Department of Justice, you have to write it up and circulate it to a bunch of government agencies and then send it to Congress and then wait for them to, you know, sit around and act or not act.

"And so it's taken us a while to actually get through the bureaucracy. But this has been in the works for quite a while."

"I've already started with litigation on this front. I've sued Los Angeles County for dragging their feet on CCW [concealed-carry] permits.

"I've argued in the 7th Circuit against Illinois' so-called assault weapons ban, and joined the solicitor general on combating Hawaii's law on a similar basis."

With nearly 13 states imposing bans on popular rifles, Higbie asked whether a Supreme Court review was likely. Dhillon signaled confidence.

"Yeah, I think the odds are pretty high. So it would be ripe for the Supreme Court to come in and finally put an end to this nonsense."

Dhillon said national reciprocity is a logical next phase in the broader legal debate, although the timeline remains uncertain.

"Well, I don't know about the next year, but it would seem to be logical, because if it's a constitutional right, like you just said. So this is kind of nonsense.

"And we really do need to have some national respect and reciprocity. And there's so many other areas of the law in which this is required.

"And so I think that this is where we're going eventually.

"But is it going to happen quickly? I doubt it."

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