WASHINGTON – The Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to allow a federal law to stand that criminalizes orders restricting firearms to people under domestic violence charges.
In February, a three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans declared the ban unconstitutional, saying it violates the US Constitution’s Second Amendment, which protects the right to bear arms. It was the latest victory for gun rights advocates since a Supreme Court ruling last June gave people a broad right to carry firearms outside the home.
The Supreme Court’s decision announced a new test for assessing firearms laws, stating that restrictions must be “consistent with this nation’s historic tradition of regulating firearms,” ​​and not merely forward an important government interest. Increase.
The Justice Department’s plea to appeal the case to the Supreme Court was posted on Twitter late Friday by Jake Charles, a Pepperdine University law professor with expertise on gun control issues. It may take several days for a petition to be posted to the public docket.
“There are more than one million acts of domestic violence in the United States each year, and the presence of firearms makes violence more likely to occur,” the petition states.
The Justice Department said it was pursuing the Supreme Court appeal on an “extremely expedited schedule” so that the justices could potentially take up the case before the current term ends.
In its decision, the 5th Circuit panel, which consisted of three Republican-appointed judges, rejected a guilty plea and six-year prison sentence for Jackie Rahimi, who kept guns at his Kennedale, Texas, home after prosecutors said he accepted the point of He participated in five shoots in December 2020 and January 2021.
Rahimi had been under a restraining order since February 2020 after an alleged assault by an ex-girlfriend.
Neither the Justice Department nor the federal public defender representing Rahimi immediately responded to requests for comment.
