(TargetLiberty.org) – The Department of Justice filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to have a lower court’s decision overturn the ban on people with domestic violence restraining orders from owning firearms.
Last month, a three-judge panel of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that those with a domestic violence restraining order should still be allowed to own firearms. They further noted that the law was unconstitutional as per the Supreme Court’s landmark New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen ruling.
Following the decision, Attorney General Merrick Garland noted that they would try to get the ruling reviewed further. In the petition, the Justice Department (DOJ) argues that both in the U.S. and England there is a legal tradition for keeping weapons out of the hands of those who could potentially pose a threat to the community or others. They added that following that history, they had “explained in Heller that the right to keep and bear arms belongs only to ‘law-abiding, responsible citizens.’”
The DOJ further added that the federal law follows “the long-standing tradition of disarming dangerous individuals.”
The case, United States v. Zackey Rahimi, specifically concerns a man who has a civil protective order that blocked him from harassing, stalking, or threatening his ex-girlfriend and their child. As part of the decision, he was also blocked from owning firearms. However, the Texas police had found both a rifle and pistol in the man’s home, which led to his indictment by a federal grand jury. While he originally pleaded guilty he later challenged the indictment claiming that it was unconstitutional for him to not be allowed to own a gun.
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