Supreme Court upholds federal gun ban for domestic abusers

In a big win for gun control advocates, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday in an 8-1 decision to uphold a federal law that bans domestic abuse offenders from possessing a gun. Only Justice Clarence Thomas dissented.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion.

"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 applied to the facts of this case, Section 922(g)(8) fits comfortably within this tradition."

Read the Supreme Court ruling here:

🧑‍⚖️ What the justices also said

The case tested the limits of the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Assoc. v. Bruen, which expanded gun rights. That ruling said that proposed gun laws have to be "consistent" with the historical tradition of firearm regulation, requiring the government to provide examples of obscure or defunct regulations.

Roberts addressed that decision in Friday's ruling and wrote: "Some courts have misunderstood the methodology of our recent Second Amendment cases. These precedents were not meant to suggest a law trapped in amber."

⬅️ How we got here

At the heart of the United States v. Rahimi case was what kind of restrictions the government could place on an individual's rights to bear arms. Zackey Rahimi, a Texas man, has a history of domestic abuse and had an order of protection against him. He was also in possession of a firearm, which the order of protection prohibited. Rahimi was charged with violating criminal law for having a firearm in his possession and trying to also use that firearm against his partner.

Rahimi appealed that decision to the Fifth Circuit Court. The court said that based on the Bruen decision (New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, decided in 2022), the Fifth Circuit ruled that Rahimi could have his gun and that prohibiting people with an order of protection against them was outside of what the government could do based on the Bruen decision.

That was appealed by the Biden administration, which is how it ended up before the U.S. Supreme Court and oral arguments took place Nov. 7, 2023.

Read more: How SCOTUS's decision on a law disarming domestic abusers could impact you

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