Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/22-915_8o6b.pdf
Page Number: 74.0

Cite as:  602 U. S. ____ (2024) 

3 

THOMAS, J., dissenting 

Rahimi presented a credible threat and prohibited him from
using physical force against C. M., the order automatically
triggered  §922(g)(8)’s  firearms  ban.    A  year  later,  officers
discovered  firearms  in  Rahimi’s  home.  Rahimi  pleaded 
guilty to violating §922(g)(8).

Before his guilty plea, Rahimi challenged his conviction
under  the  Second  Amendment.    He  pointed  to  District  of 
Columbia v. Heller, 554 U. S. 570 (2008), which held that 
the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep
and bear firearms.  Section 922(g)(8), Rahimi argued, vio-
lates that right by penalizing firearms possession.  The Dis-
trict  Court  rejected  Rahimi’s  claim.    At  that  time,  the 
Courts  of  Appeals,  including  the  Fifth  Circuit,  applied  a 
form of means-end scrutiny to Second Amendment claims. 
See, e.g., United States v. McGinnis, 956 F. 3d 747, 753–754 
(2020).  Applying  Circuit  precedent,  the  Fifth  Circuit  af-
firmed the District Court.  2022 WL 2070392 (2022).

Roughly two weeks later, this Court issued its opinion in 
New  York  State  Rifle  &  Pistol  Assn.,  Inc.  v.  Bruen.  The 
Court  rejected  the  means-end-scrutiny  approach  and  laid 
out the appropriate framework for assessing whether a fire-
arm regulation is constitutional.  Bruen, 597 U. S., at 17– 
19.  That framework requires the Government to prove that 
the “regulation is part of the historical tradition that delim-
its  the  outer  bounds  of  the  right  to  keep  and  bear  arms.” 
Id., at 19.  The Fifth Circuit withdrew its opinion to apply 
the correct framework to Rahimi’s claim.  Relying on Bruen, 
the Fifth Circuit concluded that the Government failed to 
present historical evidence that §922(g)(8) “fits within our 
Nation’s  historical  tradition  of  firearm  regulation.”    61  F. 
4th 443, 460 (2023).  The Fifth Circuit, accordingly, vacated 
Rahimi’s conviction.  We granted certiorari.  600 U. S. ___ 
(2023). 

II 
The Second Amendment provides that “[a] well regulated