The Major Supreme Court Ruling You May Have Missed

On Monday, the Supreme Court struck down the Texas HB 2 laws that were said to restrict abortion access. But, while pro-abortion rights advocates were busy celebrating the historic ruling, SCOTUS made another major decision: Convicted domestic abusers can lose their gun-buying privileges.

The case, Voisine v. United States, focused on two men from Maine who had both plead guilty to domestic abuse and were later arrested for possessing firearms, breaking a state-wide weapons ban for convicted domestic abusers. The plaintiffs, Stephen Voisine and William Armstrong, made the case that their convictions should not limit their right to own guns.

As NPR explained, the Supreme Court case put other state laws on the line as well: “Similar domestic abuse laws are now on the books in 34 states and the District of Columbia, triggering the federal weapons ban. But if the Supreme Court had ruled the other way today, that ban would no longer have applied in such cases.”

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But the case was more than just a victory for supporters of the weapons ban— it may also help those who are subjected to domestic abuse. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, a woman is beaten or assaulted in the U.S. every nine seconds. In 76% of domestic assault cases, the victim is female, and one in three women will face domestic violence in her lifetime. And these situations are exacerbated when firearms are involved: If there is a gun in a household where there is a domestic violence situation, the risk of homicide jumps by 500%.