(The Center Square) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a federal law that bans people under domestic violence restraining orders from having firearms.
In an 8-1 ruling, the high court sided with the Biden administration, which was defending the law.
The court held, “When an individual has been found by a court to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of another, that individual may be temporarily disarmed consistent with the Second Amendment.”
The ruling comes one week after the high court gave gun-rights supporters a victory in a ruling that overturned an ATF regulation, enacted during former President Donald Trump’s administration after the Las Vegas mass shooting, which defined a semi-automatic rifle equipped with a bump stock attachment as a machine gun.
Friday’s ruling concerned a case before the justices involving Zackey Rahimi, a Texas man whose partner obtained a restraining order against him in February 2020.
“The ruling is fairly narrow and I think people should keep that in perspective,” said Dave Workman, editor in chief for gunmag.com, a publication of Bellevue, Wash., based Second Amendment Foundation.
“The focus is on Rahimi’s behavior here and not on a broader vista of gun rights versus gun control where you draw a line,” said Workman.
“I think both sides are going to be able to live with it,” he said. “And it really just amounts to a big blow to Rahimi, and that’s his tough luck.”
While the protective order was in place, Rahimi was implicated in a series of shootings. He is currently in prison.
The case before the justices concerned his separate prosecution by the Justice Department for violating the federal gun possession law.
Only conservative Justice Clarence Thomas dissented with the decision, but five justices wrote separate concurring opinions explaining their views.
The high court faces several pending gun cases.
Workman said lower court judges considering gun rights cases, especially on the West Coast, could be moving slowly for good reason.
“I think the reason for that is they’re waiting to see what the Supreme Court may or may not do so far as semi-automatic magazine bans,” said Workman. “That case out of Illinois involves both of those issues and if the court takes that, we’re going to see a grinding halt to the Gator’s Case and any other (similar) cases out there.
The Gator’s Guns case out of Kelso, Wash., concerns a ban on large capacity magazines of more than 10 rounds.
“They’ll all stop to wait and see how the Illinois case shakes out before SCOTUS,” said Workman.
The makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court could also play into how fast gun cases move through the courts.
“They are also waiting to see who retires on the Supreme Court and maybe if Joe Biden gets reelected, he’ll appoint another liberal,” said Workman. “I think the hope is at some point from their perspective they want to see some of the recent rulings on gun cases rolled back, but good luck with that.”
