Federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia will no longer bring felony charges against people accused of possessing rifles or shotguns under local law, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced Tuesday.
The new policy, issued by the nation’s largest U.S. attorney’s office, limits prosecutions to cases where long guns are used in violent crimes or when a defendant is barred from possessing firearms due to a criminal record. Local D.C. authorities may still bring charges for unregistered rifles and shotguns, The Associated Press reported.
Pirro, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in May, said the shift follows Justice Department and solicitor general guidance and reflects recent Supreme Court rulings that expanded gun rights. She pointed to the court’s 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which struck down a handgun ban, and the 2022 ruling that invalidated New York’s strict carry law.
“A blanket ban on possessing shotguns and rifles cannot stand under the Supreme Court’s guidance,” Pirro said. “We will continue to seize all illegal and unlicensed firearms, and to vigorously prosecute all crimes connected with them.”
The new policy also applies to large-capacity magazines but does not affect handgun cases.
The decision comes as Trump has declared a crime emergency in Washington, deploying hundreds of National Guard troops and federal agents. Since the start of the crackdown this month, the White House says authorities have seized 76 firearms.
Pirro, a former Fox News host and frequent critic of the city’s crime policies, said the shift ensures her office will target “gun crime” while respecting constitutional protections.
Pirro, the former Fox News host now serving as a top DOJ official, announced Monday that a woman has been arrested for threatening President Donald Trump.
“Hi everyone, it’s Judge Jeanine. I just wanted to let you know here from the United States Attorney’s Office in D.C. that an individual by the name of Nathalie Rose Jones is now in custody, charged with two federal crimes for knowingly and willfully threatening to take the life of the President of the United States,” Pirro said in a clip she released on social media.
Threatening the life of the President is one of the most serious crimes and one that will be met with swift and unwavering prosecution. Make no mistake—justice will be served.
We extend our deepest gratitude to our dedicated law enforcement partners, especially the Secret… pic.twitter.com/P9qT0rHg2g
— Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) August 18, 2025
“She did come from New York to Washington, D.C. and she has been threatening and calling for the removal of the president and even worse as she got to D.C. Her threats were on Facebook and Instagram and she continued to call the president a terrorist and was working to have him eliminated. She is now in custody. She will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Make no mistake about that,” Pirro added.
Her office also put out a statement on the arrest, which read, “Nathalie Rose Jones, 50, of Lafayette, Indiana, was arrested in the District of Columbia on Saturday, August 16, and charged in connection with making a series of threats on social media in which she threatened to kill President Trump, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.”
“Jones was charged in a complaint in U.S. District Court with threatening to take the life of, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States, and transmitting in interstate commerce communications containing threats to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another,” added the statement.
“Threatening the life of the President is one of the most serious crimes and one that will be met with swift and unwavering prosecution. Make no mistake—justice will be served,” Pirro added in the statement.
“We extend our deepest gratitude to our dedicated law enforcement partners, especially the Secret Service Special Agents from New York and Washington, D.C., for their tireless commitment to protecting our leaders and our nation,” she said.
