United States v. Silvers

When Brittney Silvers visited her estranged husband, Victor Silvers (defendant), an argument escalated, and Victor grabbed Brittney’s hair and struck her twice. Victor was arrested for domestic assault then released on bail under order not to contact Brittney. However, Victor texted Brittney multiple times, trying to ascertain her whereabouts. Brittney responded that she felt unsafe and wanted Victor to stay away. Once home in Kentucky, Brittney petitioned for a protective order against Victor, claiming that he had previously assaulted her and threatened her with a gun. Victor received notice of the hearing but did not attend. The judge concluded that an act or threat of domestic violence had occurred and might occur again and that Victor was armed and dangerous because the conduct involved a weapon. The judge therefore issued a domestic-violence order against Victor, prohibiting him from abusing, threatening, stalking, or having any unauthorized contact with Brittney. The order also prohibited Victor from possessing a firearm for the order’s duration. Five days later, Victor entered the military base where Brittney lived and shot her three times, killing her and wounding her friend. The federal government charged Victor with murder, attempted murder, and carrying a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8). Victor moved to dismiss the § 922(g)(8) charge, arguing that the statute’s ban on firearm possession by persons posing a domestic-violence threat violated the Second Amendment. The district court considered the motion.