SCOTUS Upholds Gun Ban For Those Convicted Of Domestic Violence

On June 27, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) upheld a federal law prohibiting gun possession for those convicted of domestic violence.

The case – Voisine v. United States – revolved around whether “reckless” domestic assault crossed the threshold of misdemeanor domestic assault, thereby barring gun possession. Two individuals from Maine – who forfeited their Second Amendment rights because of “reckless” domestic convictions – argued that their actions should not be equated with intentional domestic assault.

But Huffington Post reports that Justices Elena Kagan, Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Samuel Alito, Steven Breyer, and Chief Justice John Roberts ruled that “reckless” domestic violence does cross the threshold, thereby warranting a prohibition on gun possession.

Kagan wrote the majority opinion, which said, “A person who assaults another recklessly ‘use[s]’ force, no less than one who carries out that same action knowingly or intentionally.”

The Associated Press reports that Voisine reached SCOTUS after “a federal appeals court” also ruled against the two plaintiffs.

The SCOTUS ruling is an affirmation that violent acts “committed in the heat of an argument” will be viewed the same as “intentional acts of abuse,” when considering who can or cannot exercise Second Amendment rights.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.