Guns: The Other Supreme Court gun case

The Heller decision should be coming later this summer, and if you follow firearms politics at all, you probably know about it. Another case that's related to gun rights (albeit tangentially) is United States v. Hayes.

Here's a rundown of the facts from the opinion (more info can be found on Doug Berman's blog):

In 1994, [Randy Edward] Hayes pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor battery offense under West Virginia law, in the magistrate court of Marion County, West Virginia (the "1994 State Offense"). The victim of the 1994 State Offense was Hayes's then wife, Mary Ann (now Mary Carnes), with whom he lived and had a child. As a result of the 1994 State Offense, Hayes was sentenced to a year of probation.

Ten years later, on July 25, 2004, the authorities in Marion County were summoned to Hayes's home in response to a domestic violence 911 call. When police officers arrived at Hayes's home, he consented to a search thereof, and a Winchester rifle was discovered. Hayes was arrested and, on January 4, 2005, indicted in federal court on three charges of possessing firearms after having been convicted of an MCDV [misdemeanor count of domestic violence], in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(9) and 924(a)(2) [the Lautenberg Amendment, which was passed in 1996].

The fact that the Supreme Court has taken this case (after a number of ex post facto challenges were denied in the '90s) could be a clue as to what's in store for Dick Heller.