(LibertySons.org) – The Supreme Court decided the last major Second Amendment rights case during the 2022 session, handing down a landmark decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen. The Court struck down New York’s law requiring concealed carry permit applicants to demonstrate a “special need” to exercise their Constitutional right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense. The Court’s majority held that states must base legal restrictions on traditional regulations in US history to fall within Constitutional guidelines.
On November 7, the SCOTUS heard United States v. Rahimi, an appeal from the Biden Administration’s Justice Department (DOJ), requesting the court overturn a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling. The appellate court used the Bruen ruling as its basis for striking down 18 USC section 922(g)(8), a federal statute prohibiting those subject to domestic violence protection orders from possessing firearms, as unconstitutional. The appellate court barred enforcement of the law in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi after its February 2, 2023, finding.
Now, pundits say the conservative High Court will likely hand the DOJ a win in its gun law challenge.
Who Is Rahimi?
Zackey Rahimi, 23, grew up in Texas after his family immigrated from Afghanistan, according to the New York Times. He experienced bullying as a youngster and teen but also felt a keen sense of responsibility to support his family. He built a successful business buying, refurbishing, and selling used cars. However, he admitted to associating with the wrong crowd after he achieved some success.
Rahimi and his girlfriend had a physical altercation in a parking lot in December 2019, resulting in injuries to the woman. He shot at a witness. When the woman ran, he threatened to shoot her if she told anyone about their fight. She filed for and received a restraining order against him in February 2020. The judge in the case suspended Rahimi’s handgun license, finding Rahimi had “committed family violence.” He deemed it likely to recur.
After violating the restraining order in August 2020 and threatening an unrelated woman with a handgun in November, Rahimi committed no less than five shootings between November 2020 and January 2021. Police arrested him after searching his home and finding the AR-15 and a handgun in addition to the restraining order prohibiting him from possessing weapons.
Conviction and Appeals
The North Texas Federal District Court initially convicted Rahimi of violating § 922(g)(8) in 2021. He appealed on Second Amendment grounds, but the court rejected his appeal. So, he appealed his case to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in early 2022, which initially upheld lower court rulings and the statute.
Then, the SCOTUS ruled on Bruen while Rehimi’s case awaited a rehearing, and everything changed. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals retried the case before a new panel of judges, and the panel vacated the conviction, finding the statute unconstitutional because it couldn’t find any analogous laws surrounding the time of the nation’s founding.
Yet, in her argument before the High Court on November 7, US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar explained tradition and history provide lawmakers and Justices with discernment regarding the Second Amendment, providing “clear application” of times when it’s Constitutional to “disarm dangerous people.”
~Here’s to Our Liberty!
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