The US Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to uphold a federal law that makes it a crime for victims of domestic violence to be restrained from owning firearms.
In February, a three-judge panel of the US 5th Court of Appeals in New Orleans declared the ban unconstitutional, saying the order violated the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, which protects the right to bear arms. This was the latest victory for gun rights advocates since a Supreme Court ruling in June last year gave people a broad right to carry guns outside their homes.
The Supreme Court ruling heralded a new test for evaluating firearms laws, saying restrictions must be “consistent with this country’s historic tradition of firearms regulation” and not just to promote an important will of the government.
The Justice Department’s request for an appeal to the Supreme Court was posted on Twitter Friday by Jake Charles, a Pepperdine University law professor with extensive experience in gun control issues. It can take several days for a petition to be posted in the public folder.
“More than a million acts of domestic violence occur in the United States each year, and the presence of a firearm increases the chance that violence escalates into homicide,” the petition reads.
The Justice Department said it was advancing the Supreme Court’s appeal with a “much accelerated timeline” so justices could potentially take on the case before the current deadline expires.
In its decision, the 5th Circuit panel of three Republican-appointed judges overturned the guilty plea and six-year prison sentence for Zackey Rahimi, who admitted to possessing the guns found at his Kennedale home. , Texas after prosecutors said he participated in five shootings in December 2020 and January 2021.
Rahimi had been under a restraining order since February 2020 following his alleged assault on an ex-girlfriend.
Neither the Justice Department nor the federal public defender representing Rahimi immediately responded to requests for comment.
Source: Terra
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