The next major Second Amendment case before the Supreme Court is heating up. Amicus briefs are due this coming Wednesday, October 4th, in the case of United States v Rahimi. 2ALC is coordinating an amicus brief campaign and expects there could be as many as 30 or more briefs filed in this critical 2A case. Stay tuned next week for updates and analysis as the briefs are filed!
In the Rahimi case, the Court will consider whether a law barring gun ownership for people subject to certain domestic violence restraining orders is constitutional under Bruen‘s history and tradition-focused test for Second Amendment challenges. A unanimous Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel previously struck down the law, and the government requested the Supreme Court to reconsider the 5th Circuit’s ruling.
Supporting the case to strike down this law does NOT equate to advocating for domestic violence offenders and certainly should not be taken as supporting Mr. Rahimi’s actions. Courts will retain the right, as they should, to prohibit gun ownership in individual cases where that is warranted. And deonstrably dangerous individuals can have their Second Amendment rights taken away, provided they are afforded due process. But stripping rights from entire classes of people is the slipperiest of slopes and can be used to condemn and disarm any politically disfavored class. In the past, it was Native American Indians and freed slaves. Will “paramilitary patriots” be next?
The Supreme Court’s ultimate ruling in Rahimi may help settle some outstanding issues regarding how the clarified Bruen test for evaluating the constitutionality of gun laws should be applied. Straightening out the lower courts on the proper methodology to use when judging the constitutionality of a gun control law would be helpful. Several lower courts have gotten it wrong. But this case may be a mixed blessing because the case asks the Court to decide whether and when an entire class of people can be prohibited from possessing firearms without consideration of individual circumstances. Mr. Rahimi is not a sympathetic character. Bad facts can make bad laws. And that is what the gun ban lobby is hoping for - that the Court will water down the Bruen methodology so more useless gun bans will be upheld as constitutional.
2ALC still needs your help! Amicus briefs take a lot of time to prepare, and cost thousands of dollars just to print, because you have to use a printer that specializes in printing briefs for SCOTUS. Joining the 2ALC Founders Circle is a GREAT way to contribute. And remember to subscribe for updates!