GIFFORDS Applauds DOJ’s Appeal of Dangerous Fifth Circuit Rahimi Decision

Washington DC — Today, Giffords Law Center, the legal arm of the gun violence prevention organization led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, applauded the Department of Justice’s appeal of the dangerous Rahimi decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The decision held that, under the test mandated by the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision, denying individuals subject to domestic violence restraining orders the right to possess a firearm is unconstitutional. This reckless ruling put Texans, Louisianans, and Missisipians—especially women and children—at enormous risk. 

“We applaud the Department of Justice for petitioning the Supreme Court for review of this extreme decision by the Fifth Circuit. Now, the onus is on the Supreme Court to grant certiorari and clarify that those subject to domestic violence restraining orders should not be able to access firearms. We know that firearms in the hands of individuals who have been deemed by a court to be a credible threat to others leads to gun violence. The Supreme Court’s decision in NYSPRA v. Bruen does not require this result, and common sense instructs against it. The Court must see reason and overturn this reckless decision.”