Last week, the US Supreme Court voted 8-1 to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. In United States v. Rahimi the justices found that the federal law prohibiting domestic abusers subject to protective orders from possessing guns is constitutional under the Second Amendment. The Court’s decision affirms that individuals who pose a credible threat to the safety of another person should not be able to buy or possess a gun. The sole justice to vote against came from Justice Clarence Thomas. 

Mariel Barnes, is a founding faculty member of UW–Madison’s Sexual Violence Research Initiative. She joined host Allen Ruff to talk about the Supreme Court case as well as statistics of domestic violence in Wisconsin, which Barns writes about in a recent article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Barns reiterates that persons with a record of domestic violence are likely to commit domestic violence again, especially if they have access to a firearm. 

If you need help with or want more information on domestic abuse, you can contact Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS) at 608-251-4445 or at abuseintervention.org.

Mariel Barnes is an Assistant Professor in the La Follette School of Public Affairs at UW-Madison. Her work primarily focuses on the interaction between social and housing policies, and domestic violence.

Photo courtesy of Bart Everson via Flickr.

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