Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban
Nick Hernandez
Johnson County Community College
Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban
The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, also known as the “Lautenberg Amendment” bans the shipment, transport, ownership and use of guns by individuals convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence or that are currently subject to a restraining order. It was named the “Lautenberg Amendment” after Senator Frank Lautenberg who sponsored the act. The act is an amendment to the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1996 (1996).
The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban applies to everyone. There are no exceptions to this law, which includes military and law enforcement. This law applies to any misdemeanor domestic violence conviction, even if it occurred before the 1996 Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban. The Offender Gun Ban law also makes it a crime to sell or give a firearm or ammunition to a person who is known to be a convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence or under a domestic violence protective order that meets certain qualifications.
Research has shown that 40% of police officer families experience domestic violence each year. Victims of domestic violence often feel that the officer will never be held accountable for the violence, which is usually the case. One study of the Los Angeles Police Department showed that the punishment for officers accused of domestic violence was “exceedingly light” (Neidig, 1992).
Soon after the enactment of the Lautenberg Amendment, the Domestic Violence Gun Ban had little effect on police officers. They were able to circumvent the ban and keep their firearms by having their records expunged or pleading guilty to a charge other than domestic violence. Most police departments now require officers to inform the department of pending or current Restraining Orders, Order of Protection, or other domestic violence charges (1997).
The law also has effects on military personnel. The law mandated the...