Looks like a guy in New York is using Heller to challenge being prohibited to possess a firearm because of a restraining order. I’m going to agree that this guy probably isn’t the best plantiff, but using Heller like this was probably inevitable. It’s worthwhile to consider that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in Emerson ruled that there was sufficient due process in the restraining order hearing, but probably barely so. This is an area the courts are going to be very reluctant to overrule the legislature on, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the door gets left open for misdemeanors and restraining orders to be disabling offenses if the legislature chooses to do it.
2 thoughts on “Lautenberg Challenge”
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Seems I recall an incident in TX wherein a guy had his firearms confiscated and was charged because he was in divorce proceedings, and even in an amicable divorce (which this was), a protective order was granted as a matter of course. The guy wasn’t a criminal until he tried to divorce his wife, and the law made him one.
This NY plaintiff was charged with assault, (reduced to a violation, but still…) Impossible to judge, without all the details of the case, but I’ve seen way too many guys get misdemeanors just because they pissed their girlfriends off in some way. Cops, at least in my town, will almost ALWAYS take the woman’s side, and the judge will almost ALWAYS take the cop’s testimony as gospel (even when it’s demonstrably false). Personally, I think if it’s not bad enough for felony charges, it’s probably not bad enough to restrict someone’s rights.
The flip side is that given how easy it frequently is to get a restraining order, a man wanting to kill his ex-whatever can get her disarmed this way. I seem to remember some cases like this, there certainly was one akin to it in NY state.
– Harold