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The Justice Department has warned California that its new “Glock ban” violates the Second Amendment and threatened to sue if the state doesn’t back off.

Getting into it: In a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said “Californians have the constitutional right to acquire and use state-of-the-art handguns to protect themselves,” adding that they should not be forced to settle for “decade-old models.” She said she had already authorized a federal complaint but would defer it if California entered pre-suit negotiations by 5 p.m. June 30, posting on X, “Tick tock!”

At the center of it all is Assembly Bill 1127, which takes effect July 1 and bars licensed dealers from selling “machinegun-convertible pistols,” a label written to sweep in semiautomatic handguns that share the cruciform trigger setup found in Glocks. Supporters say it targets guns that can be cheaply converted to fully automatic fire with illegal “Glock switches,” already banned under federal law. The measure does not outlaw current ownership, and private-party transfers remain legal.

Dhillon argues more broadly that the ban and California’s handgun roster rules together make it a crime to buy constitutionally protected guns, citing the Supreme Court’s Heller decision and noting that handguns are the most popular self-defense weapon in America.

The threat fits a wider DOJ trend of targeting gun laws in Democratic-led areas, following suits over AR-15 and magazine bans in Colorado and Washington, and concealed-carry delays in Los Angeles County, all alleging a “pattern or practice” of denying Second Amendment rights.

Newsom’s and Bonta’s offices had not responded to requests for comment.