STEPHEN L. VOISINE AND WILLIAM E. ARMSTRONG, III, PETITIONERS v. UNITED STATES
Supreme Court of the United States, Kagan, June 27, 2016,
Firearm Possession – 18 USC 922(g)(9) – A charge based on the reckless form of domestic assault can trigger the ban for those convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.”

(Dissent – Thomas with Sotomayor in part – “using force” suggests a level of intent not found in recklessness)

According to the Court, 2/3 of state assault statutes extend to recklessness. And because the common-law is “confusing,” it’s too much of a bother to determine whether what we now consider “reckless” would have sufficed to constitute the mens rea required for an assault charge. It’s “anyone’s guess.”

Thomas’ dissent goes a bit further into differentiating the mens rea, but has some discontinuity with regard to its own examples.