Supreme Court upholds domestic violence gun restriction
The Supreme Court upheld a federal law that prohibits people subjected to domestic violence restraining orders from having firearms, taking a step back from its recent endorsement of a broad right to possess a gun.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a federal law that prohibits people subjected to domestic violence restraining orders from having firearms, taking a step back from its recent endorsement of a broad right to possess a gun.
The court on an 8-1 vote ruled in favor of the Biden administration, which was defending the law — one of several federal gun restrictions currently facing legal challenges.
The ruling indicates that some longstanding gun laws are likely to survive despite the court's 2022 decision that expanded gun rights. In that case, the court for the first time ruled that there is a right to bear arms outside the home under the Constitution's Second Amendment.
Attendees hold Ruger revolver pistols during the National Rifle Association annual meeting at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston in 2022.Patrick T. Fallon / AFP - Getty Images fileWriting for the majority in Friday's ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that since the United States was founded "our nation's firearm laws have included provisions preventing individuals who threaten physical harm to others from misusing firearms."
The provision at issue in the case "fits comfortably within this tradition," he added.
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