More than 200 women and men in Texas were killed by their intimate partners in 2021, according to the Texas Council on Family Violence. In an abusive dynamic, leaving an abuser is the most dangerous time for a survivor.
Often this is when a person will request a restraining order to curb threats or incidents of domestic violence, which requires some effort and proof of impending or current abuse. For almost 30 years, there’s been a federal gun ban for people who have a restraining order imposed on them.
But in a Feb. 2 ruling, a three-judge panel of 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a law that made it a federal crime for those subject to a domestic violence restraining order to possess a firearm. The ruling has two major flaws: one as it relates more broadly to federal laws, the other more specific to this case.
