Court opinion · 2024

United States v. Rahimi

In an 8–1 decision, the Court upheld the federal law barring people subject to certain domestic violence restraining orders from possessing firearms, as applied to a man a court had found to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of his intimate partner. Applying Bruen, the Court held that the nation’s tradition of firearm regulation allows the government to disarm individuals who present a credible threat to the physical safety of others; Justice Clarence Thomas dissented.

“Rather, we conclude only this: An individual found by a court to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of another may be temporarily disarmed consistent with the Second Amendment.”

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. (majority opinion), June 21, 2024

Why it matters

The ruling clarified that Bruen’s historical test asks whether a modern law is consistent with the principles underlying the nation’s regulatory tradition, not whether it has a “historical twin.”

Read the full text at supremecourt.gov

Primary Source

The original record, reproduced or linked from the institution that holds it. Primary sources show what people said and did in their own words.

Subjects

second amendment supreme court domestic violence public safety

From the library

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