Prohibit People With Dangerous Histories From Having Guns
Prohibit People With Dangerous Histories From Having Guns
What does this solve?
People with dangerous histories should be prohibited from having guns. Federal law prohibits gun possession by certain categories of people. States also set standards for who is too dangerous to have guns. People prohibited by federal or state law will fail a background check if they try to buy a gun from a licensed dealer.
Federal law prohibits certain categories of people from having guns,118 U.S.C. § 922(g) including:
- Convicted felons.
- Abusers under final domestic violence restraining orders, if they have been married to, lived with, or have a child in common with the victim.2A person who is “subject to a court order that restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of such intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child” (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8)(B)). Intimate partner is defined as “the spouse of the person, a former spouse of the person, an individual who is a parent of a child of the person, and an individual who cohabitates or has cohabited with the person” (18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(32)).
- Abusers convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence crimes.3Prior to passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), the misdemeanor crime of domestic violence prohibitor applied only to “any current or former spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim; a person with whom the victim shares a child in common; a person who is cohabiting with, or has cohabited with, the victim as a spouse, parent, or guardian; or a person similarly situated to a spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim.” BSCA expanded the prohibition to individuals who have or had a dating relationship with the victim. The law defines “dating relationship” to mean “a relationship between individuals who have or have recently had a continuing serious relationship of a romantic or intimate nature” and provides factors to determine whether such a relationship exists, including the length of the relationship, the nature of the relationship, and the frequency and type of interaction between the individuals involved in the relationship (18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(37)).
- People with dangerous mental illness.4A person who has “been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution at 16 years of age or older” (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4)).
- Fugitives from justice.
- Unlawful drug users.
While federal law applies in every state, without matching provisions in state law, in-state officials generally cannot enforce them. States can also fill gaps left by federal law and set even stronger standards.
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