Government
Barring Abusers From Guns Is a Small, Solid Step Toward Gun Control
Monday’s Supreme Court decision bans those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from purchasing firearms.
The U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-2 Monday in the case of Voisine v. United States, upholding a lower-court judgment that bars those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from purchasing firearms. In the wake of the recent mass shooting in Florida, this is a small but significant step to decrease gun violence—particularly against women and the LGBT community.
When the arguments in Voisine v. United States were being heard earlier this year, Justice Clarence Thomas spoke up for the first time in almost a decade. Mark Joseph Stern at Slate explained why: