The Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously bolstered the federal law that bars those convicted of domestic violence from possessing a firearm.

In United States v. Castleman, the question before the Justices was whether James Castleman’s state conviction for “misdemeanor domestic assault,” arising out of an incident involving the mother of his child, qualifies as a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” under federal law, thereby prohibiting him from having a gun.

The court gave a wide interpretation of the law’s requirement of “physical force.”  The federal government said that was important because in some states, misdemeanor domestic-violence laws are not specific about the force required.