Keep loophole closed in domestic violence act
The U.S. House on Thursday approved renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, the law first adopted in 1994 that assists the victims of domestic and sexual violence.
The act expired in February, although funding has been maintained in the interim, but its passage in the House now adds important language that will extend protection to the victims of abuse, assault and stalking by dating partners, the absence of which has been called the “boyfriend loophole.” Previously, only those convicted of domestic abuse who were married or previously married to the victim were subject to losing their rights to firearms possession.
Closure of the “boyfriend loophole,” however, now depends on whether it survives attempts to strip the provision in the Senate under threat of harassment of members of Congress by the National Rifle Association. The NRA had already notified House members that it was “scoring” the vote, a threat to use that vote against them in advertising and in the organization’s rating of their voting record. The measure passed regardless, 263-158.
The provision’s common sense defies its opposition by the NRA, which objects to the measure’s prohibition of gun sales to those found guilty of abuse and stalking misdemeanors and those subject to restraining orders.
A NRA spokeswoman, Jennifer Baker, told The New York Times that for “many of those ‘offenses’ — and I’m using air quotes here — the behavior that would qualify as a stalking offense is often not violent or threatening; it involves no personal contact whatsoever.”
Baker’s “air quotes” don’t negate the seriousness of domestic violence, nor of stalking, especially since the potential loss of gun rights is based not on allegations but on convictions or a judge’s determination on the likelihood of a threat, which still requires a significant burden of evidence.
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