Justices to hear gun ban case

[October 02, 2013]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court will decide whether a man's Tennessee misdemeanor domestic assault plea should ban him from owning a gun.

The high court on Tuesday agreed to hear an appeal of James Castleman's case.

Castleman pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor domestic assault in 2001. He was then charged in 2009 with illegal possession of a firearm by a person convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence. A federal judge threw those charges out.

Federal law bars a person convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence involving physical force or a deadly weapon from possessing a firearm. The judge said that the Tennessee misdemeanor domestic assault conviction does not require that physical force be used, and so the federal ban could not apply to Castleman.

The government wants that decision overturned.

[Associated Press]

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