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On November 7, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in United States v. Rahimi, which involves the constitutionality under the Second Amendment of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8). This statute criminalizes firearm possession by individuals subject to certain domestic violence restraining orders. I just published an essay in Law & Liberty arguing that the law is unconstitutional under the novel holding in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen (2022), but suggesting that the Court may not apply that holding in this case. Even if the Justices return (openly or through “clarification”) to a more traditional legal test, they should conclude that the statute is unconstitutional. Additional thoughts on the Bruen decision can be found in my Federalist Society Review article published last year, Bruen’s Preliminary Preservation of the Second Amendment.
