• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Flowers bloom outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington June 20, 2023. In a case the U.S. Supreme Court will hear on whether abusive spouses have right to own guns, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has filed a amicus brief defending commonsense firearm restrictions that "recognize inherent dignity of each person, provide protection for the vulnerable." (OSV News photo/Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters)

USCCB argues protecting innocent life must be priority in gun rights case before high court

August 25, 2023
By Julie Asher
OSV News
Filed Under: Feature, Gun Violence, News, Supreme Court, World News

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Protecting the innocent “is a proper consideration” in the government regulation of firearms, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in a case over whether the government can prohibit a person with a domestic violence restraining order from possessing a firearm.

In the fall, the court will hear oral arguments in the case, United States v. Rahimi.

Besides the USCCB, members of Congress and a number of faith-based organizations and other groups that advocate for victims of domestic violence also have filed amicus briefs in the case.

“As the Church teaches, and this Nation’s historical traditions demonstrate, the right to bear arms is not an unqualified license that must leave vulnerable family members to live in fear,” said the USCCB’s amicus, or friend-of-the-court, brief, which was filed Aug. 22. “Abused victims are precisely the people whom a just government is tasked with protecting. The Second Amendment does not stand as a barrier to their safety.”

The Biden administration petitioned the high court to reverse a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit that invalidated one of the provisions of 18 U.S. Code Section 922 — specifically 922(g)(8) — that bars anyone “subject to a court order” in which they were found to be a threat to a domestic partner or child from possessing firearms.

“We filed the amicus brief to defend common sense firearm restrictions that recognize the inherent dignity of each person and are designed to provide protection for the vulnerable and to ensure peace in society,” a conference spokesperson said in a statement emailed to OSV News late Aug. 23. “We also believe that the Church’s long experience applying traditional principles to a changing world can be helpful to the Court as it considers whether a modern firearm regulation is consistent with the nation’s legal tradition.”

The case focuses on Zackey Rahimi of Arlington, Texas, who was issued a restraining order by a Texas state court Feb. 5, 2020, after his ex-girlfriend accused him of assaulting her. The order barred him from engaging in harassment-related behaviors toward the ex-girlfriend or her child. It also prohibited him from possessing firearms. He was told that violating the prohibition was a felony.

According to scotusblog.com, about a year later, while the restraining order was still in effect, Rahimi was a suspect in a series of shootings. When police officers executed a warrant at his home, the site noted, “they found (among other things) a pistol, a rifle, and ammunition — along with a copy of the restraining order.”

Rahimi was charged with a felony for possessing firearms, having been barred from having them because of the domestic violence restraining order he was under. His lawyers moved to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that 922(g)(8) is unconstitutional. The district court denied the motion and Rahimi pleaded guilty.

On appeal, Rahimi renewed his constitutional challenge to 922(g)(8). On Feb. 2 of this year, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, overturning his conviction in light of the Supreme Court’s landmark 6-3 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen on June 23, 2022, striking down a long-standing public carry law in New York “and casting doubt on gun control laws around the country” as Politico reported.

Citing the Bruen ruling, the USCCB amicus brief said, “The Second Amendment is concerned primarily with ‘the right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms’ for self-defense. … Accordingly, the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation includes many provisions focused on preventing those deemed a danger to others from possessing firearms.”

“Amicus accordingly recognizes the role that the duty to protect the innocent, and specifically victims of domestic violence, plays in the context of firearm regulation,” the brief said.

“All of us must do more to end violence in the home and to find ways to help victims break out of the pattern of abuse,” the brief continued, quoting the U.S. bishops’ November 2000 statement “Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice.” “As bishops, we support measures that control the sale and use of firearms and make them safer (especially efforts that prevent their unsupervised use by children or anyone other than the owner), and we reiterate our call for sensible regulation of handguns.”

Quoting a USCCB April 3, 2019, letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, the brief added, “Amicus has also advocated for ‘robust support’ for ‘law enforcement agencies so that they can better investigate, neutralize and hold accountable those who commit acts of domestic violence,’ and supports ‘measures to remove weapons, especially firearms, from persons who are deemed by courts to be threats to the people around them.'”

Read More Gun Violence

Campus Catholic ministry shelters students amid mass shooting at Florida State University

Kansas pastor fatally shot; Archbishop Naumann prays for priest and perpetrator

Supreme Court upholds effort to regulate ‘ghost guns’

Archdiocese of Baltimore parishes learn to be pastoral in the face of threats

Pope Francis, Sweden’s cardinal mourn victims of deadly mass shooting

3 dead, including teen suspect, in mass shooting at Wisconsin Christian school

Copyright © 2023 OSV News

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Julie Asher

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Who are the Augustinians, Pope Leo XIV’s order?

  • 10 things to know about Pope Leo XIV

  • New interim Hispanic, Urban delegates ready to serve Archdiocese of Baltimore

  • Catholic school academic honorees return to lead alma maters at Bishop Walsh, Archbishop Curley

  • Father Patrick Carrion offers blessing before Preakness

| Latest Local News |

Western Maryland parishes hit by devastating floodwaters

Sister of St. Francis Valerie Jarzembowski dies at 89

Schools Superintendent Hargens honored for emphasizing academics, faith

New interim Hispanic, Urban delegates ready to serve Archdiocese of Baltimore

Father Patrick Carrion offers blessing before Preakness

| Latest World News |

Pilgrimage launch coincides with papal inauguration, marks young Catholic’s ‘radical yes’

Catholic death penalty abolition group eager for new pope to build on Francis’ legacy on issue

U.S. pilgrims to Havana recall Francis’ impact in Cuba 10 years after visit

Homeland Security vetting reality show idea where immigrants compete for citizenship

Senate protest over USAID closure snares Vatican ambassador pick

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Pilgrimage launch coincides with papal inauguration, marks young Catholic’s ‘radical yes’
  • Catholic death penalty abolition group eager for new pope to build on Francis’ legacy on issue
  • U.S. pilgrims to Havana recall Francis’ impact in Cuba 10 years after visit
  • The pope is speaking my language
  • Homeland Security vetting reality show idea where immigrants compete for citizenship
  • Senate protest over USAID closure snares Vatican ambassador pick
  • As Trump returns from Middle East with massive arm deals, patriarch says ‘no’ to weapons
  • Pope Leo XIV’s installation Mass: A new beginning rooted in tradition
  • A new documentary, ‘The Inner Sea,’ tells a story of adoption, music and love

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED