The Associated Press reported that the sound of Thomas’ voice drew gasps from some lawyers watching the Monday session. The case was an appeal by two men who say their guilty pleas for hitting their partners should not bar them from owning a gun. With about 10 minutes left in an hour-long hearing, U.S. Justice Department attorney Ilana Eisenstein was about to sit down. She noted there did not seem to be “any further questions” from the Supreme Court Justices. “Ms. Eisenstein, one question,” Thomas said. Justice Thomas then asked if a “misdemeanor violation of domestic conduct” should result in a “life-time ban” on the right to own a gun. Eisenstein responded that Congress moved in 1996 to ban people who attack their partners from having a gun because they pose a greater risk “of killing, by a gun, their family member.” But Thomas questioned if that made sense when the conduct at issue in the case before the Supreme Court did not involve a gun. Thomas last asked a question on February 22, 2006, in a death penalty case. In a speech to Harvard University in 2013, Thomas said he does not think asking questions is helpful.