No Guns for Batterers: New Federal Law
Protects Domestic Violence Victims

Director Bonnie J. Campbell, Violence Against Women Office
Director Aileen Adams, Office for Victims of Crime

Victims of domestic violence an important victory in the midnight hours of the 104th Congress when the Federal Gun Control Act of 1968, persons convicted of any qualifying misdemeanor crime of domestic violence are prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm [18 U.S.C. & 922(g)(9)]. The law also adds domestic violence convictions to the "Brady checklist" sent to local law enforcement for a background check prior to each handgun sale from a federally licensed firearms dealer. With the 1994 Violence Against Women Act amendment, which added persons subject to a valid civil restraining order to the classes of prohibited gun purchasers under 18 U.S.C. && 922(d) and 922(g), the Federal policy against batterers possessing guns is crystal clear.

The new law is a powerful prevention tool because it is frequently the presence of a gun that turns an abusive relationship into a homicide case. This fact is confirmed across the country by countless case examples. In Berberton, Ohio, Marilyn Garland was physically abused and beaten by her husband. He was convicted of misdemeanor offenses but no law prevented him from owning a gun. The violence continued and he finally used his gun to kill his wife. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Gloria Heising was shot to death by a man she had dated. Both of them were postal workers. After a history of abuse, he was convicted of harassment and terminated from his job. He sent a certified letter to a house on her route and shot her when she delivered it. Recently in Los Angeles, California, a 16-year old pregnant girl, Veronica Daniel, was gunned down by her husband after he served less than a third of his sentence on misdemeanor domestic violence charges. A temporary restraining order against him expired while he was in jail, and his gun was never confiscated.

These are hardly isolated crimes. According to a study prepared by the Centers for Disease Control, firearm-associated family and inmate assaults are 12 times more likely to be fatal than assaults not associated with firearms. In California, Department of Justice Law Enforcement statistics for 1994 show that only a small portion of domestic violence calls to the police involve firearms. But when the incident is fatal, guns were used in a large majority of cases. Only 1.7 percent of domestic violence calls involving weapons included a report of firearm (3,089 out of 182,240); however, in 68 percent of domestic violence homicides, firearms wereused (153 out of 224).

We know that domestic violence involves a pattern of control that ranges from verbal/pyschological threats and public humiliation to physical harm in the form of slapping, chokingm kicking and other abusive behavior. Because firearms can be used to intimidate and frighten, as well as to maim and kill, a gun in the hands of a batterer is clearly a potent force for gaining and maintaining control. Now Federal prosecutors have a new tool to use in the fight against domesitc abuse.

The first case under the new statute is in the Northern District of Iowa. The defendant faces charges under Section 922(g)(9) for possession of a firearm after a domestic violence misdemeanor conviction.

The 1996 admendment also criminalizes the know transfer of a firearm to a person convicted of a qualifying domestic violence misdemeanor [18 U.S.C. & 922(d)(9)]. Violations of && 922(d)(9) and 922(g)(9) subject the defendant to a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years [18 U.S.C. & 924(a)(2)].

Removing firearms from abusive relationships may save peoples's lives. Recently, the Office for Victims of Crime provided funding for a domestic violence specialist within EOUSA to provide training and technical assistance to the United States Attorneys' offices across the country. Assistant United States Attornery Margaret S. Groban, Southern District of New York, was selected for this position and would be happy to respond to questions regarding the prosecutionof domestic violence cases or the new Federal laws prohibiting possession of firearms. She can help you compile information to present to your local Violent Crime Task Forces to enhance state and local prosecutions and enforcement of new laws, as well as help you develop strategies to encourage appropriate referrals for prosecutions to your office. She can reached in the United States Attorney's office in Portland, Maine, or by beeper, (800) 405-0581. Preventing revictimization and escalating violence is the best service we can provide to victims of domestic abuse. Taking guns away from abusers won't solve the domestic abuse problem, but the abuse to the victim may not be fatal.

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This document was last updated on March 19, 2007