Supreme Court Upholds Louisiana Law Banning Domestic Abusers from Owning Guns

WASHINGTON – In a landmark decision on Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal law prohibiting domestic abusers from possessing firearms, reinforcing a similar Louisiana law passed in 2014. The ruling was praised by the former state legislators who championed the Louisiana measure.

The decision allays concerns that Louisiana's law might be declared unconstitutional following a previous Supreme Court ruling and subsequent appeals court decision questioning its compatibility with Second Amendment rights.

“Our bill passed in a majority Republican legislature with the tremendous help of advocates because common-sense gun laws are a bipartisan issue,” said New Orleans City Council Vice President JP Morrell, who sponsored the 2014 bill as a state senator. The legislation, co-sponsored with then-state representative and current Council President Helena Moreno, established a mechanism for law enforcement to confiscate weapons from domestic violence offenders.

“Councilmember Morrell and I fought for landmark protections for domestic violence survivors, including disarming aggressors through gun confiscation,” Moreno said. “This ruling affirms and endorses that work, and I’m thankful for survivors here and across the country that the Court ruled in their favor. We know this will save lives.”

The 8-1 decision in Rahimi vs. the United States, authored by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., upheld the 1994 federal law, noting it “fits comfortably within” the nation’s historical gun restrictions. The majority ruled that the law does not violate the Second Amendment if the individual is deemed a danger to others.

Zackey Rahimi, involved in five shootings in Arlington, Texas, between December 2020 and January 2021, was found with firearms despite being under a court order not to possess them due to alleged domestic violence. Rahimi argued the law was unconstitutional, violating his Second Amendment rights. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals initially agreed, citing the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which struck down a New York state law requiring proper cause for a concealed carry license.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, concurring with the majority, noted the difficulties courts have faced in analyzing gun control laws since the Bruen decision, finding the 5th Circuit’s approach too narrow. Justice Clarence Thomas, author of the Bruen decision, was the sole dissenter, arguing that the ruling undermines historical inquiry.

President Joe Biden praised the Supreme Court's decision and urged Congress to enact further gun control legislation. “No one who has been abused should have to worry about their abuser getting a gun. 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,” Biden said in a statement.

Charmaine Caccioppi and Kim Sport of United Way of Southeast Louisiana, who worked with Moreno and Morrell to pass the Louisiana domestic abuse ban, expressed their satisfaction with the decision. “When we brought this issue to the attention of the Legislature in 2014, we were told it would never pass,” they said in a press release. “We were determined, and under the leadership of JP and Helena, all legislators voted in support. The decision in Rahimi confirms that this is so, and we are beyond excited to see that our hard work was not done in vain.”