I’m Lance Rankin, owner and gunsmith at Western Sport here in Roanoke, Texas. When the Supreme Court took up United States v. Rahimi, my phone rang more than usual. Customers wanted to know if the case would change how gun laws get judged. Fair question. Here’s my read as a working Texas FFL, and where things stand as of this writing.
What the case was about
Rahimi centered on 18 USC 922(g)(8), the federal statute that strips gun rights from people subject to certain domestic violence protective orders. After the Court’s Bruen decision, the government has to show that a modern gun law fits within the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Rahimi’s lawyers argued there was no Founding-era practice of disarming citizens under these circumstances, so the statute had to fall.
That put the Court in an awkward spot. Bruen set a strict historical test, and this was the first big chance to see how strictly the justices meant it.
The amicus wave
What caught a lot of attention was the breadth of groups filing briefs on the Second Amendment side of the methodology question. The Second Amendment Foundation, Firearms Policy Coalition, Gun Owners of America, the National Association for Gun Rights, the Cato Institute, the National Association of Federal Defenders, the California Rifle and Pistol Association, and the National African-American Gun Association all weighed in. That’s not a narrow slice of the political spectrum. The shared concern was that courts should judge gun laws by constitutional text and history, not by whatever policy feels right this decade.
How it came out
The Court decided the case in June 2024 and upheld the statute, 8 to 1. Chief Justice Roberts wrote that when a court has found someone poses a credible threat to another person’s physical safety, that person can be temporarily disarmed without violating the Second Amendment. Justice Thomas was the lone dissent.
Two things worth knowing about that ruling. First, Bruen survived. The Court kept the text-and-history framework; it just clarified that the government needs a historical analogue, not a historical twin. Second, the ruling was narrower than the headlines suggested. It dealt with temporary disarmament after an individualized court finding of dangerousness. It did not bless every gun restriction on the books.
What it means for you
Lower courts are still working out how much slack the “analogue, not twin” language gives the government, and follow-on cases keep moving. If your rights turn on any of this, check the current status of the law and talk to an attorney; a blog post from a gunsmith is not legal advice.
Day to day, not much changed at the counter. If a protective order shows up in your background, that was a denial before Rahimi and it’s a denial after. If you’re new to all this, my plain-English guides on how to buy a gun in Texas and what an FFL dealer actually does cover the process.
I’ll keep following the court fights that actually matter to gun owners, including the suppressor cases that hit closer to home for us as an NFA dealer. Questions? Email me at [email protected] or call the shop at 817-393-4000.
Lance Rankin is the owner and Chief Gunsmith of Western Sport, a family-run Type 07 FFL and Class 3/SOT dealer in Roanoke, Texas, serving shooters since 2007. Born and raised in Texas with over 50 years of experience handling firearms, Lance purchased Western Sport in 2017 and turned his lifelong passion into his profession. He specializes in AR-15 and AR-10 platform rifles, manufactures Western Sport’s own AR-15 line under the Rankin Industries brand, and runs the shop’s in-house Cerakote coating operation. When he’s not behind the counter or the workbench, you’ll find him on his ranch deep into the night, hunting coyotes with an AR-15 and thermal optics. Lance holds an MBA and personally shoots and tests the products Western Sport sells.
