Well, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has done it again. Not being satisfied with gutting other forms of protection against gun violence in Texas, the site of the Uvalde and Walmart massacres, the Court has now held that a person with a domestic violence order and who has also shot at various other people, is “part of the political community” and has a right to have a gun, in fact, many guns.
After all, the Court reasoned, women have no right in the Constitution to be free from domestic violence. It wasn’t until 1871 that a court held that a husband had no right to beat his wife. So, let’s cheer on domestic violence, shooting wives and ex-girlfriends, and, of course, only arrest a person after murder, not even mayhem.
Of course, you have to wonder what these judges are thinking. Living in their insulated worlds, one must think they will never face a gun from a spouse (two of the three court ruling were old white men), and when it gets to the Supreme Court, can we hope that the Court will show some common sense at last? Not so sure.
Prayer for the Day
Like the Psalmist, we ask you to hear us, O God,
To protect us from those who care not for the reality of violence;
Like the Psalmist, we cry to you in desperation, O Lord,
To give us strength and courage to end gun violence.
Be with us as we struggle against the idiocy of the day,
Fearful that we or those we love will die by a hand on a gun.
In the name of the One who is our strength,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
There is no real doubt that the 5th Circuit's decision is going to lead to more abusers murdering their wives and girlfriends. It will also increase mass shootings. Domestic abuse[rs] are vastly more likely to commit heinous acts of gun violence.
- Mark Stern, State Magazine, Georgetown University Law Center
Between 2 and 3 women are murdered every day in the United States by an intimate partner. Abusers with guns are 5 times more likely to kill their victims.
- National Center on Domestic Violence
To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, do not refuse to hear me, for if you are silent to me,
I shall be like those who down to the Pit.
Hear the voice of my supplication, as I cry for help,
As I left my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.
Psalm 28: 1-2