HUGE decision, huge. It could crack that bloody NRA wall, the ugly proposition that no one in the United States should be banned from owning guns.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court doesn’t agree: under federal law, domestic abusers can’t buy guns.<\/p>\n
I picked up news about this case only a few days ago. Here, again, is the SCOTUSblog summary:<\/a><\/p>\n Voisine v. United States<\/a> (argued February 29, 2016). Stephen Voisine and William Armstrong, the other petitioner in this case, both pleaded guilty in state court to misdemeanor assaults on their respective domestic partners. Several years later, each man was charged with violating a federal law that prohibits the possession of firearms and ammunition by individuals who have previously been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence<\/strong>.\u00a0 Voisine and Armstrong contend their state convictions do not automatically qualify as misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence because the state-law provisions can be violated by conduct that is merely reckless<\/strong>, rather than intentional. <\/em>[My utterly unnecessary bolding]<\/strong> I suspect it’s because of the major Supreme Court decision today slamming down Texas’s abortion laws that the media haven’t yet paid the sort of attention this decision, Voisine v United States<\/span>, deserves.<\/p>\n One paragraph in this Times article is supposed to dampen my excitement:<\/p>\n The case isn’t among the more important ones of the term. White House spokesman Eric Schultz said while the Obama administration is pleased with the ruling, he suggested it wouldn’t have a significant impact on the debate in Congress about gun control, a debate renewed by a mass shooting earlier this month that left 49 people dead at a gay nightclub in Florida.<\/em><\/p>\n But, hey, no, I’m still excited because I predict this crack will be opened further by further municipal actions barring all sorts of people–such as psychotics and terrorist suspects–from buying weapons. Congress may not do anything yet but cities have and can. So can states. I bet they will.<\/p>\n Today is a good day for all of us, thanks to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the broad reach of a federal law that bars people with misdemeanor domestic violence convictions from owning guns.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Source: Court Upholds Reach of US Gun Ban for Domestic Violence – The New York Times<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" HUGE decision, huge. It could crack that bloody NRA wall, the ugly proposition that no one in the United States should be banned from owning guns. The Supreme Court doesn’t agree: under federal law, domestic abusers can’t buy guns. I … Continue reading
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