US Supreme Court mulls legality of domestic-violence gun curbs
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[November 07, 2023]
By Andrew Chung and John Kruzel
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday is set to weigh
the legality of a federal law that makes it a crime for people under
domestic violence restraining orders to have guns in the latest major
case to test the willingness of its conservative majority to further
expand gun rights.
Oral arguments are scheduled in an appeal by President Joe Biden's
administration of a lower court's ruling striking down the law -
intended to protect victims of domestic abuse - as a violation of the
U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment right to "keep and bear arms."
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that
the measure failed a stringent test set by the Supreme Court in a 2022
ruling that required gun laws to be "consistent with the nation's
historical tradition of firearm regulation" in order to survive a Second
Amendment challenge.
Advocacy groups for victims of domestic violence have warned of the
grave danger posed by armed abusers, citing studies that show that the
presence of guns increases the chances that an abused intimate partner
will die.
In a nation bitterly divided over how to address firearms violence
including frequent mass shootings, the court's 6-3 conservative majority
has taken an expansive view of the Second Amendment and has broadened
gun rights in three landmark rulings since 2008.
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Its 2022 ruling in a case called New York State Rifle and Pistol
Association v. Bruen recognized a constitutional right to carry a
handgun in public for self defense, striking down a New York state law.
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Confiscated illegal guns are displayed during a news conference at
New York City Police (NYPD) Headquarters in New York, October 27,
2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
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The case involves Zackey Rahimi, a Texas man who pleaded guilty to
illegally possessing guns in violation of the law at issue on
Tuesday while he was subject to a restraining order for assaulting
his girlfriend in a parking lot and later threatening to shoot her.
Police found the guns while searching his residence in connection
with at least five shootings.
Violating the law initially was punishable by up to 10 years in
prison but has since been raised to 15 years.
A federal judge rejected Rahimi's Second Amendment challenge and
sentenced him to more than six years in prison. The 5th Circuit in
February set aside Rahimi's conviction, concluding that although he
was "hardly a model citizen," the law at issue was an "outlier" that
could not stand under the new standard the justices announced in
Bruen.
Biden's administration has said the law should survive because of
the long tradition in the United States of taking guns from people
deemed dangerous.
Supporters of Rahimi have argued that judges too easily issue
restraining orders in an unfair process that results in the
deprivation of the constitutional gun rights of accused abusers.
A ruling is expected by the end of June.
(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)
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