US Supreme Court rejected Firearms Ban disputes involving Second Amendment

Listen to this article

On Monday, US Supreme Court rejected a batch of legal disputes involving the federal lifetime ban on firearms for people convicted of certain nonviolent crimes and sidestepping an argumentative issue involving the Second Amendment. The justices rejected appeals from 3 people who are barred from possessing firearms under federal law because of nonviolent misdemeanor and felony convictions. The court declined to take up the cases with lower court decisions that found their Second Amendment rights were not violated by the ban remain in place. The decision by the Supreme Court to stay away from the politically charged issue of gun rights comes in the wake of a spate of mass shootings in recent weeks, which have spurred calls for Congress to pass legislation restricting access to firearms.

However, it is still pending before the Supreme Court and at least one dispute over restrictions for carrying a concealed handgun in public. Point to be noted that gun rights advocates have hoped the high court would clarify the scope of the Second Amendment now that it boasts a 6-3 conservative majority. Some of the justices have taken note of the Supreme Court’s reluctance to wade into the debate over gun rights and called for the court to address the issue in the wake of its last major gun-rights decisions in 2008 and 2010 when it found the Second Amendment protects the right to have firearms in the home for self-defense.

The US federal law at the center of the 3 challenges bans the possession of guns by people convicted of punishable crimes by more than one year in prison. The court rejected one of the cases involving Ken Flick, who convicted of criminal copyright violation and smuggling for importing counterfeit cassette tapes in 1987. The second case involved Raymond Holloway, who pleaded guilty to driving under the influence at the highest blood content in 2005. The third case involved Lisa Folajtar was charged with a single count of willfully making a false statement on her tax returns. She pleaded guilty under federal law and her 2011 felony conviction prevented her from purchasing and possessing a handgun and long gun in her home.