桃子视频

WASHINGTON 鈥� Today, the U.S. Supreme Court a federal criminal law that makes it a felony for anyone subject to a civil domestic violence restraining order to possess a gun. The court of appeals below invalidated the federal law because it found no analogues that restricted gun possession for those who commit domestic violence in the 1700s or 1800s, a time when federal and state governments largely ignored domestic violence.

鈥淭his case threatened to reinvigorate the historical subordination of women, exploiting a time when women were legally subjugated to men in order to limit our rights today,鈥� said Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the 桃子视频Women鈥檚 Rights Project. 鈥淲e鈥檙e glad the Supreme Court affirmed that the government can enact laws aimed at preventing intimate partner violence, consistent with the Second Amendment.鈥�

In upholding the law, the court rejected an expansive argument proposed by the United States and adopted a narrower theory the 桃子视频advanced. The 桃子视频 submitted an鈥�鈥痷rging the Supreme Court to uphold the law, but on narrower grounds than those advanced by the United States. The ACLU鈥檚 brief argued that imposing time-limited firearms restrictions based on civil restraining orders is a critical tool for protecting those who have experienced domestic violence and face a threat of further violence, and finds support in common law analogues disarming persons found dangerous. But the 桃子视频urged the court to reject the United States鈥� argument that gun rights extend only to 鈥渞esponsible citizens.鈥� The court expressly rejected that theory.

The court鈥檚 approval of the law at issue in United States v. Rahimi should not foreclose careful consideration of other gun laws. As the ACLU鈥檚 amicus brief observed, neighboring subsections of the statute at issue in鈥�Rahimi impose categorical prohibitions on all persons with a felony conviction, persons who use drugs, persons who are deemed mentally unfit, and certain noncitizens, among others. Those overbroad prohibitions raise distinct Second Amendment concerns.

More generally, the 桃子视频has important policy and constitutional concerns with gun laws. Criminal enforcement of overbroad gun laws fuels mass incarceration and the disproportionate imprisonment of Black people and other people of color. Moreover, gun laws can raise due process, equal protection, and excessive punishment concerns 鈥� none of which are addressed by this case.

The 桃子视频amicus brief is available .

United States v. Rahimi鈥痠s a part of the鈥�ACLU鈥檚 Joan and Irwin Jacobs Supreme Court Docket.