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    Criminal Law Blog

    John M. Stone

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    Convicted Domestic Abuser's Gun Rights Go Up in Smoke

    Posted by John M. Stone on Tue, Oct 16, 2018 @ 11:10 AM

    John Stone—Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group

                The Gun Control Act of 1968 bars firearm possession by certain groups of individuals, including convicted felons and those “adjudicated as a mental defective or who ha[ve] been committed to a mental institution.” 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), (4). In 1996, Congress added a domestic violence misdemeanant restriction.  Id. § 922(g)(9). Recognizing  that  “[e]xisting felon-in-possession  laws . . . were not keeping firearms out of the hands of domestic abusers, because many people who engage in serious spousal or child abuse ultimately are not charged with or convicted of felonies,” Congress extended the federal firearm prohibition to persons convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence to “close this dangerous loophole.” United States v. Hayes, 555 U.S. 415, 426 (2009) (internal quotation marks, citation, and bracket omitted).

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    Topics: constitutional law, second amendment, firearm prohibition, misdemeanor crime, gun rights, domestic abuser

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