United States v. Hayes
2009 United States Supreme Court case
United States v. Hayes, 555 U.S. 415 (2009), is a United States Supreme Court case interpreting Section 921(a)(33)(A) of the federal Gun Control Act of 1968, as amended in 1996. The Court held that a domestic relationship is not necessarily a defining element of the predicate offense to support a conviction for possession of a firearm by a person previously convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
Background
The Gun Control Act had long prohibited convicted felons from owning firearms. In 1996 the Act was amended to extend this prohibition to persons convicted of a "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence."
The question before the Court was the statutory meaning of this prohibition, and how far it extended: did it require a state to have a specific statute that prohibited misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence, under which a person charged with an Act violation was convicted? Or did it only require that a person was convicted of a misdemeanor which in fact constituted "domestic violence," without regard to whether the misdemeanor statute specifically proscribed crimes of "domestic violence"?
Facts and Issues
The facts of the Hayes case illustrate the distinction. In 1994 Hayes had been convicted in West Virginia of the misdemeanor of simple battery. The offense was committed against his wife in a domestic dispute. In 2004, the police found him in possession of firearms.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “United States v. Hayes” is 2009 United States Supreme Court case. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through United, States and Hayes, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “2009 United States Supreme Court case” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7893317. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2009, 1968, 1996 and 1994.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “United States v. Hayes”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow United States v. Hayes primary sources, United States v. Hayes archive and United research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “United States v. Hayes”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “United States v. Hayes” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.