The Supreme Court created a “hash” while determining that people under domestic violence restraining orders cannot own guns, according to a legal expert.
Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance made the remarks after the nation’s highest court ruled in an 8-1 decision on Friday to uphold a federal law from 1994 which bans people ordered to stay away from their partners to be allowed to keep firearms.
The law was challenged by a Texas man, Zackey Rahimi, who was placed under restraining order for assaulting his girlfriend in a parking lot and later threatening to shoot her. Rahimi claimed the law violated his Second Amendment rights to bear arms.
The decision from the Supreme Court justices reversed a ruling from the federal appeals court in New Orleans that had struck down the law. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion that the law uses “common sense” and applies only “after a judge determines that an individual poses a credible threat” of physical violence.
Writing in her Civil Discourse blog, Vance said putting limits on firearm possession if the person being restrained is a danger to others might be a “wobbly” standard to uphold.
“Does it apply to all people with prior felony convictions? Or does it apply only to violent offenders, but not to bank tellers convicted of larceny?” Vance wrote.
“What about other categories of people prohibited from owning a firearm under the statute Mr. Rahimi was prosecuted under?
“Our criminal laws are supposed to be definite and provide certainty so people can ascertain what conduct is criminal and what conduct they can lawfully engage in. The Supreme Court has created a hash in this area,” Vance added.
“After today’s decision, we know it can be used for people under domestic violence restraining orders, but we don’t know more than that. In that sense, this is a lackluster decision. That’s more a complaint about the way the Court has permitted the law to unfold across a series of Second Amendment cases than it is about this one.”
The Supreme Court has been contacted for comment via email.
Justice Clarence Thomas, one of the leading conservatives on the Supreme Court bench, was the sole dissenter on the gun ruling.
“The question is whether the Government can strip the Second Amendment right of anyone subject to a protective order—even if he has never been accused or convicted of a crime. It cannot,” Thomas wrote in his 32-page ruling.
President Joe Biden praised the decision from the nation’s highest court.
“No one who has been abused should have to worry about their abuser getting a gun,” Biden said in a statement.
“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.”
Uncommon Knowledge
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