Focus at Four: Legal expert examines gun ownership case in front of Supreme Court
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – On Tuesday the United States Supreme Court heard a case originating from Texas surrounding gun ownership rights and protective orders.
Criminal Defense Attorney and KBTX Legal Analyst Shane Phelps joined First News at Four to discuss the case.
The case before the court involves a Texas man, Zackey Rahimi, who was accused of hitting his girlfriend during an argument in a parking lot and later threatening to shoot her.
“He had been the subject of a protective order and so they prosecuted him under a federal law from 1994 that prohibits people who are the subject of a protective order from possessing firearms,” Phelps explained.
Rahimi was convicted and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals initially upheld his appeal. However, a June 2022 ruling from the Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeals ruling.
“Basically judges who are attempting to analyze these regulations for firearm possession were having to search through 250 years of American history and find some similar regulation,” Phelps said. “The problem was in the 1700s, 1800s, there were no family violence offenses, there were no protective orders. So the Fifth Circuit said we can’t find anything that is similar to this, therefore it’s unconstitutional.”
Phelps believes, based on the line of questioning by the Justices towards the attorneys making arguments the court will uphold the regulations around protective orders.
“I think clearly the arguments, from the tenor of the arguments, they are going to find a way to uphold the constitutionality of that regulation but they’re probably going to do it in a really narrow way,” Phelps said.
