U.S. Supreme Court

June 24, Natalie Nanasi, associate professor at the Dedman School of Law, SMU Dallas, and director of the Judge Elmo B. Hunter Legal Center for Victims of Crimes Against Women, for an analysis of a Supreme Court ruling that maintains a ban on firearms possession for domestic violence offenders. Published in Ms. Magazine under the heading U.S. v. Rahimi Denies Abusers Firearms. The Decision Is an Outlier: https://tinyurl.com/3vcmchfz

Survivors of domestic violence have won a battle in the war for common sense gun regulations. In an 8-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held Friday, June 21, that abusers subject to protective orders can continue to be denied access to firearms.

The decision in Rahimi v. United States to uphold federal law will save lives. Over half of women under the age of 45 who are murdered in the United States are killed by their intimate partner. Guns are the weapon of choice in these heartbreaking, and preventable, crimes.

Disarming domestic abusers makes our communities safer. A sizeable percentage of men who commit mass shootings have a history of intimate partner violence, and perpetrators are more likely than the average citizen to endanger the life of a police officer.

Continue reading “U.S. v. Rahimi Denies Abusers Firearms. The Decision Is an Outlier.”

Nov. 6, Natalie Nanasi, an associate professor at SMU Dallas Dedman School of Law and co-author Kelly Roskam, director of law and policy at the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, for an op-ed advocating that the U.S. Supreme Court uphold laws prohibiting domestic violence offenders from possessing guns. Published in The Houston Chronicle under the heading When abusers have guns, everyone is at risk: https://tinyurl.com/4b9n5af9

You wouldn’t want Zackey Rahimi to be your neighbor, much less your boyfriend. In December 2019, he grabbed his girlfriend, knocked her down, dragged her to his car and hit her head on the dashboard while shoving her inside. Just a year later, he fired multiple shots into the home of someone he had sold narcotics to, twice shot at the driver of a car he had gotten into an accident with, shot at a constable’s vehicle, and fired multiple shots in the air after his friend’s credit card was declined at a Whataburger.

Most would also agree Rahimi isn’t someone who should have access to a gun. His girlfriend filed for and was granted a domestic violence protective order (DVPO), which under federal law meant Rahimi was prohibited from possessing firearms. Now he’s claiming it’s unconstitutional to prohibit him, and others subject to DVPOs, from possessing guns. In March 2023, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, and on Tuesday the case went before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Continue reading “When abusers have guns, everyone is at risk”