Tennessee Firearms Association joined Gun Owners of America and other entities in an
amicus brief that was filed with the United States Supreme Court on October 4, 2023, in the case of
United States v. Rahimi, No 22-915.
Rahimi
had been charged with and convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8),
which prohibits an individual who is subject to certain types of
restraining orders from possessing a firearm. The initial federal
district court denied his motion to dismiss the indictment. He appealed
that denial to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals which held, following
this Court’s decision in
New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. v. Bruen, 142 S.Ct.211 that § 922(g)(8) “is inconsistent with the Second Amendment’s text and historical understanding.”
United States v. Rahimi, 61 F.4th 443, 453 (5th Cir. 2023). Thus, the conviction was set aside.
The federal government has appealed the decision of the 5th Circuit
Court of Appeals to the United States Supreme Court and it has accepted
the case for review. This is the first major challenge to the 1968 Gun
Control Act that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear out of hundreds of
cases decided after its ruling in
Bruen and this decision signals that there is something that the Court wants to address regarding
Bruen and how the lower courts have applied it since the time of the
Bruen decision. Significantly, there are 68 total amicus briefs filed as of October 4, 2023.
It
appears that 26 states have filed a joint amicus brief in support of
reversing the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and seeking a finding that 18
U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), which prohibits an individual who is subject to
certain types of restraining orders from possessing a firearm, is
constitutional. At this time it does not appear that Tennessee neither
by its Attorney General or independent counsel have taken a position in
the action.
Further, while there are amicus briefs by Governor
Newsom and as many as 171 members of Congress have filed amicus briefs
to seek to defend the constitutionally of this law, it does not appear
that Governor Bill Lee, any of Tennessee members of Congress nor any
Tennessee state legislators have personally filed amicus briefs in the
action either supporting or opposing the law.
This appeal has the potential to be as significant as the
Bruen
case itself. It can have and likely will have a major impact on
eliminating at least one line of lower-court interpretations of
Bruen.
It does to the very core of the Supreme Court’s evolving
interpretation of the scope of the Second Amendment and its declaration
that the rights of citizens pertaining thereto “shall not be infringed.”
One
question every Tennessean that supports or believes in the Second
Amendment should be asking at this time is why, once again, are those
elected and appointed officials in Tennessee who are paid by taxpayers
and who take oaths to defend the constitutionally protected rights of
citizens – why are those individuals not doing so in cases of this
significance?
If you would like to help Tennessee Firearms
Association with the costs and expense of engage in the battle through
continued litigation to protect our rights which are being so clearly
and callously violated by government at the federal, state and local
levels, please consider making a voluntary member donation to the
Tennessee Firearms Association
(and leave a comment that its to help with litigation). In addition,
you now have the option to help in this category of public interest
litigation and public education by making tax-deductible, charitable
donations to the
Tennessee Firearms Foundation. Ask yourself if you are one of the “III percent” wiling to fight?