In the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in Texas information was released that the shooter, Devin Patrick Kelley, received a bad conduct discharge from the U. S. Air Force that involved assault against his then-spouse and their child. The Atlantic’s David Frum and journalist Jamil Smith have suggested that there should be laws making it illegal for those who commit domestic violence to own or purchase firearms. Do
In the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in Texas information was released that the shooter, Devin Patrick Kelley, received a bad conduct discharge from the U. S. Air Force that involved assault against his then-spouse and their child.
The Atlantic ’s David Frum and journalist Jamil Smith have suggested that there should be laws making it illegal for those who commit domestic violence to own or purchase firearms. Do such laws already exist?
In 1996 the Federal Gun Act of 1968 was amended to include “banning the possession of firearms by individuals convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” according to the United States Department of Justice.
“The 1968 Gun Control Act and subsequent amendments codified at 18 U. S. C. § 921 et seq. prohibit anyone convicted of a felony and anyone subject to a domestic violence protective order from possessing a firearm. The intended effect of this new legislation is to extend the firearms ban to anyone convicted of a ‘misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.’”
The amendment covers “all misdemeanors that involve the use or attempted use of physical force (e.g., simple assault, assault and battery), if the offense is committed by one of the defined parties.”
None of this is to pass judgment on the efficaciousness of either the scope of the law and the influence of state laws—but merely to note that under current law states it is already illegal to own a firearm if “convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.”
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