HARTFORD, Conn. — Friday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) upheld a federal gun control law that prohibits individuals with domestic violence restraining orders from possessing guns.
Advocates in Connecticut say this decision is “simply common sense.”
“We're excited,” said Meghan Scanlon, president & CEO of Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV). “It keeps us motivated, and I think it really helps us push that survivor experience forward.”
SCOTUS decided nearly unanimously to uphold the 1994 ban on firearms for people with restraining orders.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the decision this law uses “common sense,” and added, “the right to keep and bear arms is among the ‘fundamental rights necessary to our system of ordered liberty.’ That right, however, ‘is not unlimited.’”
“If a court has determined that somebody poses a credible enough threat to issue a restraining or protective order, that means they pose a credible enough threat to an individual, but also to the community,” Scanlon said. “f that's the case, then they shouldn't have access to firearms, and they shouldn't have access to any other weapons.”
Advocates say in cases of family and intimate partner violence the risk of death increases significantly when a firearm is present.
70 women a month, on average, are shot and killed by intimate partners, according to the gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety.
“In a situation where there's an intimate partner abuse or family abuse happening, if there's a firearm in the house, you're seven times more likely to die from that,” explained Scanlon. “It makes survivors and their families safer, and it really, I think for at least from my perspective, really centered the survivor voice and experience in that decision.”
In a statement, Tong said, “We’re going to keep fighting tooth and nail against each and every one of these reckless challenges to protect families, victims, and survivors of domestic violence.”
Connecticut’s federal lawmakers also weighed in, Sen. Richard Blumenthal said “there was absolutely no sane legal argument for striking down this law, and I’m relieved that most of the Supreme Court agreed.”
He continued, “While I welcome today’s correct decision, I remain fearful about the fate of future gun violence prevention laws, in the hands of this ideologically inconsistent and extreme court.”
“I still think there's more to be done, and I'm excited,” said Scanlon. “This definitely gives us a little momentum.”
While this decision was applauded Friday, a lot of cases are still left on SCOTUS’s plate, heading into their final week of term.
The high court still has to decide a case on homelessness, about whether people can be banned from sleeping outdoors when shelter space is lacking, as well as the fate of a nationwide settlement with Oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma. That would allocate billions of dollars to combat the opioid epidemic, but also provide a legal shield for members of the Sackler family, who own the company and live in Connecticut.
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