As the Supreme Court Prepares to Hear Oral Argument in United States v. Rahimi, Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action and Everytown Law Urge the High Court to Disarm Abusers and Protect Survivors

Hundreds of Gun Safety and Domestic Violence Prevention Advocates to Rally this Morning in Front of Supreme Court as Oral Arguments Get Underway;Experts and Survivors of Gun-Related Domestic Violence with Available for Interviews Today, See Below for More Details 

WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in one of the most consequential gun law cases in American history: United States v. Rahimi, a case that centers on an extreme and deadly decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to strike down the longstanding federal law that prohibits domestic abusers subject to protective orders from possessing guns. If the Supreme Court upholds the Fifth Circuit’s shocking decision, domestic violence survivors across the country will face the deadly reality that their abusers can purchase and own guns under federal law. 

As the Supreme Court hears oral argument in United States v. Rahimi, hundreds of gun safety and domestic violence prevention advocates will rally in front of the United States Supreme Court to call on the Justices to disarm domestic violence and protect survivors. 

“Last year, the Supreme Court handed down two extreme decisions, one gut punch after another, rolling back our gun safety laws and stripping women of the fundamental right to make decisions about their bodies and their futures. Now, the Supreme Court has the lives and safety of millions of women in its hands yet again and we refuse to be silent,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, Executive Director of Moms Demand Action. “The Court has a choice to make: give the gun lobby what they want in their all-out assault on public safety, or protect survivors. The choice should be simple – the Supreme Court must reverse the Rahimi decision.”

“The Fifth Circuit’s Rahimi decision is the result of a multi-decade effort by the gun lobby to upend virtually every gun safety law, no matter the human cost,” said John Feinblatt, President of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Right now, women and families across the country are waiting with bated breath to see how far the courts will go in granting people with abusive histories access to guns. The Supreme Court must reverse the Rahimi decision, or the results will be deadly.”

“Our country stands at a tipping point as the Supreme Court prepares to decide if 18th- or 19th-century beliefs—from a time before women even had the right to vote—carry more weight than the lives of millions of women and families across the country. This case perfectly illustrates the dangers of the Court’s turn towards originalism,” said Janet Carter, Senior Director of Issues and Appeals at Everytown Law. “Make no mistake, even under Bruen, the Supreme Court should reverse the Fifth Circuit’s deadly decision. Domestic abusers do not —and should not — have the constitutional right to possess a gun.”

As the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral argument in United States v. Rahimi, experts and survivors of gun-related domestic violence with Everytown for Gun Safety are available for on the record interviews today, including:

• John Feinblatt, President of Everytown for Gun Safety
• Angela Ferrell-Zabala, Executive Director of Moms Demand Action 
• Eric Tirschwell*, Executive Director of Everytown Law
• Nick Suplina, Senior Vice President for Law and Policy at Everytown for Gun Safety
• Janet Carter*, Senior Director of Issues and Appeals at Everytown Law
• La’Shea Cretain, an Everytown Senior Survivor Fellow, volunteer with California  chapter of Moms Demand Action, and gun violence survivor whose ex-boyfriend shot her five times in front of her young children in Louisiana. She recovered from a coma and still lives with all five bullets in her body.
• Taina Patterson, volunteer leader with the Florida chapter of Students Demand Action and fellow with the Everytown Survivor Network. When Taina was 15-years-old, her mother’s ex-boyfriend came to her house and threatened her family with a gun. Taina and her younger sister laid flat and hid under the bed. While no gunshots were fired, Taina and her family continue to deal with the aftermath of being threatened by a firearm.

*Denotes experts who will be inside the Supreme Court for oral arguments.

Domestic violence and gun violence are inextricably linked. Every month in America, an average of 70 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner and the presence of a gun makes a woman five times more likely to die at the hands of her abuser. Women of color particularly bear the brunt of America’s domestic violence crisis. Black, Indigenous and Hispanic women are victims of homicide at the highest rates, and more often than not, it’s at the hand of an abusive partner.

Research also shows an outsized connection between mass shootings and domestic violence perpetrators. At least 54% of mass shootings between 2009 and 2018 involved domestic violence and in nearly half of mass shootings in America, the perpetrator shot an intimate partner or family member as a part of their rampage.
To speak with someone from Everytown about United States v. Rahimi, please contact press@everytown.org