Pirro Attempts Damage Control After Controversial Carry Comments

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro attempted to do some damage control on social media Tuesday morning after her Monday comments on Fox News sparked a wave of criticism from Second Amendment organizations and supporters. 

Pirro didn't walk back her statement that anyone bringing a gun into the District will go to jail, as well as her insistence that permit-holders from jurisdictions outside the District of Columbia would face charges for carrying in D.C., but she did try to clarify those remarks. 

Let me be clear: I am a proud supporter of the Second Amendment.

Washington, D.C. law requires handguns be licensed in the District with the Metropolitan Police Department to be carried into our community.

We are focused on individuals who are unlawfully carrying guns and…

— Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) February 3, 2026

A short time later Pirro posted this video to X as well. 

A message to my fellow gun owners…put your safety back on 😉 pic.twitter.com/fkgWD7GsuB

— Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) February 3, 2026

In the video, Pirro says she owns both long guns and handguns and keynoted an NRA convention and once again said she's a proud supporter of the Second Amendment.

However, you need to be responsible. And every responsible gun owner that I know makes sure they understand the laws where they are going and understand whatever registration requirements there might be. President Trump's goal here, and my goal as well, is to take guns out of the hands of criminals. There's a reason we have the lowest homicide rate in recorded history. We're taking guns off the street, illegal guns in the hands of criminals, who want to use those guns to victimize law-abiding citizens. There's a big difference here. You're responsible, you follow the laws, you're not going to have a problem with me.

Unfortunately for Pirro, I don't think she did herself any favors here. Among other issues, Pirro said her goal is to "take guns out of the hands of criminals." Well, someone with a valid Virginia permit who carries a pistol in D.C. is a criminal under D.C. law, and Pirro apparently means to prosecute them as vociferously as she would someone charged with armed robbery or carjacking. 

As I pointed out in my earlier post, Pirro has already declared that, in her view, D.C.'s ban on openly carried long guns and possession of "large capacity" magazines violates the Second Amendment and violations by lawful D.C. gun owners won't be prosecuted. If Pirro is willing to make a judgment call about the constitutionality of those statutes, then it stands to reason that she can do the same with D.C.'s lack of reciprocity... as well as its gun registration requirements. 

And if Pirro wants to charge someone with a valid Virginia or Maryland carry permit simply for carrying an "unregistered" gun and ammunition in D.C., that suggests that she finds those statutes 2A-compliant; a position that puts her at odds with the 2A community and even Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who has suggested that a lack of reciprocity violates the Second Amendment.  

No one takes issue with Pirro's statements about going after criminals who want to use guns to victimize law-abiding citizens. The problem is that she didn't confine her remarks to those individuals. Her statements continue to include those whose only "crime" is carrying in our nation's capital without first obtaining a permission slip from the Metropolitan PD and registering their gun with the department... even if those same people can lawfully carry across all or most of the country. 

Honestly, at this point I don't know what Pirro could say that would calm the waters, short of announcing that her office won't prosecute individuals with a valid carry permit from other states who are charged merely with possessory offenses. Unfortunately, based on her comments today I don't see that happening.

Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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