The 9th Circuit has ruled that §922(g)(9), also known as the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, does not violate the 2nd Amendment. Furthermore, they found that it continues to bar firearms ownership, even after all other civil rights have been restored.
The upshot is this:
- Despite restoration of other civil rights, the lifetime ban on firearms ownership is constitutional
- Intermediate scrutiny applies to 2nd Amendment challenges
- The “core” right acknowledged by Heller applies to “law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home.”
- Mr. Clovan’s misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence forever exempts him from that category.
Daniel Chovan was convicted of corporal injury on a spouse in 1996. In 2009, he attempted to buy a gun and was denied. Upon further investigation, the FBI found videos Mr. Chovan posted on YouTube in which he carried firearms while participating in improvised border patrols and fired guns across the border into Mexico. Continued...