In an 8-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a 1994 federal law that bars anyone under a domestic-violence restraining order from having guns.
Justice Clarence Thomas was the sole dissenter in the case of United States v. Rahimi. This is the court’s first Second Amendment case since it expanded gun rights in June 2022 in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.
The court on Friday ruled that the law does not violate the Second Amendment, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. writing, “When a restraining order contains a finding that an individual poses a credible threat to the physical safety of an intimate partner, that individual may — consistent with the Second Amendment — be banned from possessing firearms while the order is in effect.”
“Since the founding, our Nation’s firearm laws have included provisions preventing individuals who threaten physical harm to others from misusing firearms,” Roberts wrote.
As noted by SCOTUSblog, the challenge to the federal law came in the case of Zackey Rahimi, who was placed under a restraining order after he physically assaulted his girlfriend in a Texas parking lot and later threatened to shoot her if she reported the incident.
Rahimi also threatened a different woman with a gun, resulting in a charge for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to the court ruling. While Rahimi was under arrest for that assault, Texas police identified him as the suspect in at least five additional shootings. Police obtained an arrest warrant and discovered a pistol, a rifle, ammunition, and a copy of the restraining order.
Rahimi was charged with and pleaded guilty to violating the federal ban.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit initially upheld his conviction, but after the Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision, it issued a new opinion that threw out Rahimi’s conviction, according to SCOTUSblog. The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision, as noted by the Washington Post, required historical precedent for gun restrictions.
In Friday’s ruling, Roberts wrote that “some courts have misunderstood the methodology of our recent Second Amendment cases. These precedents were not meant to suggest a law trapped in amber.”
President Joe Biden praised Friday’s outcome in a statement, saying: “No one who has been abused should have to worry about their abuser getting a gun. As a result of today’s ruling, survivors of domestic violence and their families will still be able to count on critical protections, just as they have for the past three decades.”
