221: The Path to Rahimi: What You Need to Know About this Dangerous Ruling

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The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (which  covers Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) ruled on February 2, 2023 that the federal prohibition on gun possession for people subject to domestic violence restraining orders (DVROs) is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. This decision is especially egregious as very month, an average of 57 women are killed with a firearm by an intimate partner, countless more are shot, and hundreds are menaced with a gun. Furthermore, in America, firearms are the weapons of choice for domestic violence homicides, with female intimate partners more likely to be murdered with a gun than by all other means combined. 

But how did this decision come about? What impact does this Fifth Circuit decision have on federal law? To find out, host JJ sat down with Shira Feldman, litigation counsel at Brady, who carried us through the long legal history that brought us to today (and shared possibilities of where we may be going). 

Further reading:
Gun Laws, Loopholes, and Violence (Brady)
Beyond Bullet Wounds: Guns in the Hands of Domestic Abusers (Brady)
Guns and Violence Against Women (Center for American Progress)
NCADV Appalled by 5th Circuit Ruling and Demands Better for Survivors (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence)
DOJ asks SCOTUS to review ruling that overturned firearm ban for those with domestic violence restraining orders (the Hill)

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Full transcripts and bibliographies of this episode are available at bradyunited.org/podcast.

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