By Ashlee Banks
Special to the AFRO
The Biden-Harris administration and members of Congress applaud the U.S. Supreme Court for upholding a law that temporarily bans domestic abusers from possessing firearms.
“As a result of today’s ruling, survivors of domestic violence and their families will still be able to count on critical protections, just as they have for the past three decades,” said President Joe Biden.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts penned the 8-1 majority opinion in the United States v. Rahimi case.
“When a restraining order contains a finding that an individual poses a credible threat to the physical safety of an intimate partner, that individual may – consistent with the Second Amendment – be banned from possessing firearms while the order is in effect,” wrote Roberts.
Vice President Kamala Harris stated that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling will keep “important” protections against domestic violence in place.
“This case is yet another reminder that some want to take our country back to a time when women were not treated as equal to men and were not allowed to vote—and husbands could subject their wives to physical violence without it being considered a crime,” said Harris. “The fight to protect common sense gun safety measures is not over.”
Respondent Zackey Rahimi, a domestic abuser, who was served a restraining order against his girlfriend for threatening her life with a firearm, contended that by being temporarily stripped of his weapon, his Second Amendment rights had been violated.
However, after the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to Rahimi’s case and heard oral arguments from both parties, it ruled to keep in place limitations prohibiting temporary gun use for domestic abusers.
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, (D-Ga.-4) stated that the majority-conservative court sometimes gets it right.
“In the span of a week, this same Court struck down a bump stock ban and upheld keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers,” said Johnson. “While I agree with today’s decision, we have more work to do to keep Americans safe from gun violence.”
Both Biden and Harris used the verdict to tout their efforts to curb gun violence across the nation and gun violence against women.
The Biden-Harris administration passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act which has prevented the sale of nearly 30 thousand firearms to convicted domestic abusers.
The vice president emphasized that U.S. Citizens need to vote for Biden this November or gun safety legislation could be at “risk” of being rolled back if former President Donald Trump were to be re-elected.
“Trump is a threat to our freedoms and our safety, and we must defeat him in November,” said Harris. “Trump has made clear he believes Americans should ‘get over’ gun violence, and we cannot allow him to roll back commonsense protections or appoint the next generation of Supreme Court justices.”
Following the ruling, President Biden vowed that he and Harris will remain committed to ending gun violence against women.
“We will continue to call on Congress to further strengthen support and protections for survivors and to take action to stop the epidemic of gun violence tearing our communities apart,” said Biden.
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