{"id":351823,"date":"2016-04-04T10:46:03","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T15:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/family\/domestic-violence\/the-domestic-violence-offender-gun-ban.html"},"modified":"2025-03-04T12:37:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T17:37:00","slug":"the-domestic-violence-offender-gun-ban","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/family\/domestic-violence\/the-domestic-violence-offender-gun-ban.html","title":{"rendered":"Domestic Violence Offender Gun Bans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban<\/h1>\n
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\n By Christie Nicholson, J.D.<\/a> | Legally reviewed by Laura Temme, Esq.<\/a>\n | Last updated\n
\n \n <\/i>\n Legally Reviewed\n <\/summary>\n\n
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This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n\n

\n \n <\/i>\n Fact-Checked\n <\/summary>\n\n
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The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n<\/section>\n

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The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, enacted in 1996, prohibits individuals with misdemeanor domestic violence convictions or those under qualifying restraining orders from owning or possessing firearms. But, enforcement varies by state; not all states require offenders to surrender their firearms immediately. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n

Perpetrators of domestic violence<\/a> frequently use guns to threaten, injure, and even kill their victims. Most intimate partner homicides in the U.S. involve a gun or firearm. In light of this, lawmakers have passed domestic violence offender gun bans that prohibit convicted offenders from owning firearms.<\/p>\r\n

Domestic violence gun bans<\/a> aim to lower the risk of harm for domestic violence victims and survivors. Of course, these laws cannot wholly prevent domestic abuse. However, they go a long way to protect domestic violence victims.<\/p>\r\n

Here, we\u2019ll discuss federal laws<\/a> that restrict domestic violence offenders from owning, possessing, or using guns and other firearms.<\/p>\r\n

Laws that Ban Domestic Violence Offenders from Using Guns<\/h2>\r\n

In 1996, Congress passed the Lautenberg Amendment<\/a>, known as the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban. This law was an amendment to the Gun Control Act of 1968, which prohibited people with misdemeanor domestic violence convictions from possessing a firearm.<\/p>\r\n

The Gun Control Act<\/a> already banned firearm possession by people convicted of a felony, but this new law took it a step further and banned DV offenders as well. The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban extended the ban to a person subject to an intimate partner protection order.<\/p>\r\n

You can find the federal Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban at 18 USC 922 (d) and (g)<\/a>. It contains key provisions to keep guns out of an abuser’s hands.<\/p>\r\n

Two of these provisions include:<\/p>\r\n