New York Gov. Kathy Hockle (D) congratulated the Supreme Court on upholding a federal law banning domestic abusers from owning guns, saying it represented a “ray of hope” for the justices.
Hawkle met with MSNBC’s Alex Witt on Friday to discuss the Supreme Court’s decision and New York state’s efforts to disarm abusers.
Witt asked Hockle if he was surprised that the justices upheld the law when the same conservative justices have struck down other gun control bills.
“That certainly was the case.” Hoffl replied:She then added that she was “not very optimistic about how they would feel about this case, where logically, most Americans would say, ‘Why should a domestic abuser be able to own a gun?'”
Haukl went on to say that while he previously “wasn’t sure” how the Supreme Court would rule on the case, he believes “victims across America can breathe a sigh of relief.”
“And I hope we’ll see a similar trend in other decisions as the Supreme Court recognizes how outdated its approach to keeping Americans safe is,” she said.
Hawkle noted that the issue is “very personal” to her because her mother grew up in an abusive home. As the state’s first female governor, Hawkle said she has “real accomplishments” on gun control legislation.
“As a result of our work in New York, more than 30,000 guns have been kept out of the hands of abusers, assailants and murderers,” she said.
Hawkle went on to argue that the Supreme Court’s decision in the case is “a glimmer of hope from the Supreme Court and hopefully this signals a change in the Court’s stance on people’s right to safety.”
The Supreme Court’s decision sided with President Biden’s Justice Department, which had appealed to the Supreme Court to defend the law after lower courts ruled it unconstitutional.
The original case involved Zackie Rahimi, who had a restraining order against him for dragging his girlfriend, the mother of his child, into a parking lot and attempting to shoot a bystander. Rahimi was subsequently implicated in five shootings and indicted on gun charges after police found two shootings in his home.
