GunsSupreme Court: Domestic violence perpetrators can be banned from buying, owning guns

Published 29 June 2016

The supreme court has ruled that individuals convicted of a domestic violence “misdemeanor” can be prohibited from owning or purchasing a gun. Previous law stated that only those convicted of intentional abuse would be barred from owning weapons, but a “reckless” assault could be pardoned. In the United States, around five women a day are shot to death by current or former intimate partners. At least 52 percent of American women murdered with guns every year are killed by intimate partners or family members.

The abuser can no longer obtain firearms // Source: theconversation.com

The supreme court has ruled that individuals convicted of a domestic violence “misdemeanor” can be prohibited from owning or purchasing a gun.

Previous law stated that only those convicted of intentional abuse would be barred from owning weapons, but a “reckless” assault could be pardoned. The judges voted 6-2 on the ruling, with Justice Elena Kagan wrting: “The question presented here is whether misdemeanor assault convictions for reckless (as contrasted to knowing or intentional) conduct trigger the statutory firearms ban. We hold that they do.”

The ruling came about after two plaintiffs, Stephen Voisine and William Armstrong of Maine, argued in the supreme court that their cases of domestic violence should not prevent them from owning a gun.

USA Todaynotes that both had pleaded guilty in state court to assault charges after slapping or shoving their partners, and were later found by the police to own weapons. Voisine and Armstrong had argued that the weapons ban was not applicable to them because they were charged for “reckless conduct” and not intentional abuse.

More attention has been given to Voisine v. United States following the mass shooting in Orlando.

The Republican majority in the Senate rejected two gun-safety proposals – one would have banned assault weapons, the other would have banned anyone on the FBI terrorist watch list from purchasing guns — but the Supreme Court brought offered gun-safety advocates some relief in the case of domestic violence.

NPR notes that the case also drew attention as Justice Clarence Thomas, a staunch advocate of the Second Amendment, asked the men’s lawyer whether there was any other misdemeanor conviction which could cause someone to lose “a constitutional right.”

This was the first time Thomas had asked a question from the bench in ten years.

NBC News reports that in the United States, around five women a day are shot to death by current or former intimate partners. The perpetrators often circumvent laws by purchasing weapons online or at gun shows, thus avoiding background checks.

Gun-safety advocacy group Everytown says that at least 52 percent of American women murdered with guns every year are killed by intimate partners or family members.