Leaders Call Appeals Court’s Decision A ‘Dangerous Precedent’
Local and state leaders are condemning a federal ruling that allows people with domestic violence restraining orders against them to own firearms. Advocates who have been demanding stricter gun laws, particularly in the wake of recent mass shootings, call it a step backwards.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Feb. 2, striking down a previous law that prohibited abusers from having access to guns. The court’s decision stemmed from the case of a White man, Zackey Rahimi, convicted of a handful of shootings near Arlington, Texas, from December 2020 to January 2021. Rahimi had been under a domestic violence restraining order after allegedly beating his girlfriend.
Sacramento-based organization WEAVE (Women Escaping A Violent Environment) called the decision a “dangerous precedent.”
“Any ruling or action that makes firearms more accessible to abusers increases risk of serious injury or death for victims,” said Julie Bornhoeft, WEAVE’s chief strategy and sustainability officer. “At a time when actions should focus on making it safer and easier for a victim to leave a violent situation and keep victims and children safe, the ruling accomplishes the opposite.”
The California Partnership to End Domestic Violence shared the sentiment.
“California Partnership to End Domestic Violence and anti-violence advocates across the state are rightfully disturbed by the precedent that Judge [Cory] Wilson’s opinion on United States v. Rahimi sets for the safety of domestic violence victims and all Americans. This ruling puts domestic violence victims and their communities in grave danger,” reads a statement provided to The OBSERVER.
While the fifth circuit’s decision applies only to Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, some fear what it could mean in California.
“While the ruling does not impact California today, it creates an opportunity to weaken common-sense gun laws intended to protect families,” Bornhoeft said.
In the opinion, Judge Wilson referred to the previous ban on gun ownership as a “regulatory straightjacket” that is “an outlier that our ancestors would never have accepted.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom has called out Wilson and the court’s other two judges, James Ho and Edith Jones, who made last week’s decision, calling them “zealots” who are “hellbent on a deranged vision of guns for all.” All three were nominated to their roles by ultraconservative, Republican presidents: Wilson and Ho by Donald Trump, Jones in 1985 by Ronald Reagan.
“Wake up, America – this assault on our safety will only accelerate,” Gov. Newsom said in a statement. “This is serious – and it’s coming to California. We are probably only weeks away from another activist judge, Judge Roger Benitez, striking down California’s bans on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. California will continue to fight against these extremist judges to protect our residents’ right to be free from gun violence.”
Jessica Merrill, a spokesperson for the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, said California as a national leader bears responsibility for working to prevent domestic violence and community homicides.
“Guns must be kept away from people who commit acts of domestic violence. It is essential that California’s courts and law enforcement agencies effectively uphold these firearms prohibitions,” Merrill said.
While gun rights issues continue to be debated in and outside of courtrooms, advocates urge people to remember what’s really at stake: human lives.
“There is no doubt that firearms and domestic violence are a deadly combination,” Merrill said. “A person who causes harm is five times more likely to kill their partner when they have access to a firearm. According to the state attorney general’s 2021 Homicide in California report, communities and survivors of color are disproportionately impacted.”
The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention places Black women as twice as likely to be shot and killed by an intimate partner as White women. According to 2020 data from the Violence Policy Center, in the 571 homicides for which the murder weapon could be identified, 72% of Black female victims were shot and killed with guns. The number of Black females shot and killed by their husband or intimate acquaintance was more than three times as high as the total number murdered by male strangers.
“The ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ignores research and places not only victims and their families at risk, but entire communities,” Bornhoeft said.

Sacobserver

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