(VitalNews.org) – The Supreme Court has decided to take up a case challenging the federal law prohibiting people from firearm possession if also under a restraining order from a partner, spouse, or family member.
The Supreme Court Justices heard arguments on Tuesday in a gun case as significant as last year’s Bruen decision in New York that raised questions about many gun laws on the books. The law, intended to protect victims of domestic violence, was struck down by a New Orleans federal appeals court after the Supreme Court ruling in June 2022. That pivotal ruling changed the way courts should evaluate firearms restrictions and expanded gun rights for Americans under the Constitution.
Ultimately, the opinion of Justice Clarence Thomas threw out the previous confusion of how judges were to decide the constitutionality of gun laws, shifting the focus from focusing on whether or not a law makes people safer to only whether or not the law fits into the historical tradition of gun regulation in the United States.
Over a dozen laws have been struck down across the country in lower courts ever since the Bruen decision, including restrictions on age, homemade firearms, and ownership prohibition for drug addicts and nonviolent convicted felons.
This is particularly important because it will also have an effect on the case against President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, who was charged with purchasing a firearm while addicted to illegal narcotics. The first son’s defense team has indicated they intend to fight the indictment using the Bruen decision to prove the charges are invalid.
The current case challenging the laws prohibiting firearms possession for those under a restraining order involves a man from Fort Worth, Texas, Zackey Rahimi, who hit his girlfriend in the middle of an argument that took place in a parking lot. According to court documents, Rahimi then fired his weapon at a nearby witness. The incident occurred in December of 2019. Afterward, Rahimi threatened her over the phone and said he would shoot her if she reported the assault, after which she obtained a restraining order in Tarrant County against Rahimi in February 2020.
Rahimi was later a suspect in other shootings. Police found a gun in his apartment, and he pleaded guilty after being arrested and charged. The conviction was overturned in appeals court when the law was struck down. The Supreme Court will now hear an appeal from the Biden administration.
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