After years of expanding gun rights, Supreme Court sets a limit on Second Amendment

In a near-unanimous ruling Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court set the outer bounds on the constitutional right to bear firearms that it has been expanding for almost two decades.

As in other recent gun rights cases, the decision grappled with the Second Amendment and its implications for modern public safety. At issue, in particular, is the safety of people who are or were in abusive relationships.

The case challenged a federal law prohibiting an individual subject to a domestic violence restraining order from possessing a firearm. Also known as red flag laws, these have been passed in 21 states and the District of Columbia. The plaintiff, Zackey Rahimi, claimed that the law is unconstitutional, citing a Supreme Court ruling two years ago that gun laws must be consistent with America’s history and tradition of firearm regulation.

In an 8-1 decision – albeit one in which six justices