US top court rules domestic abusers can't own guns [View all]
Source: CENT NEWS
United States - The US Supreme Court in a unanimous ruling Wednesday upheld a federal law barring anyone convicted of even a minor domestic violence charge from ever owning a gun.
The nine justices of the top court ruled against James Castleman, who argued that his past conviction in Tennessee of misdemeanor domestic assault against the mother of his child shouldn't keep him from owning a firearm under federal law.
Castleman had been charged with illegal possession of a firearm when he and his wife were later accused of trafficking weapons on the black market. One of these weapons was found at the scene of a crime in Chicago.
An appeals court in Tennessee had agreed with Castleman's contention that the Tennessee definition of misdemeanor domestic assault is less strict than the federal one, and that the incident for which he was convicted did not include physical force as described under the federal law.
But the Supreme Court overruled that decision.
Progressive Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Castleman's arguments "are unpersuasive" and the court saw "no anomaly in grouping domestic abusers convicted of generic assault or battery offenses together with the others whom (federal law) disqualifies from gun ownership."
The top court thus upholds the federal law on gun ownership, which is more strict than those of most states.
Read more: http://www.centnews.com/Politics/US-top-court-rules-domestic-abusers-can-t-own-guns/S-2014-03-26/50365.html
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