Under federal law, you can’t own or possess a gun if you:
- have been convicted of misdemeanor abuse against your spouse (all felons are prohibited from possessing firearms, but can have those rights restored)
- are the subject of a permanent restraining order
However, you can have a gun if you:
- have been convicted of misdemeanor abuse against a dating partner
- have been convicted of a misdemeanor stalking offense
- are the subject of a temporary restraining order
These alleged loopholes were the subject of a Senate hearing today; Minnesota’s Amy Klobuchar and Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal have proposed bills that would extend the federal firearms possession ban to individuals in that second list above. The ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee (Iowa’s Charles Grassley) called the hearing a political stunt, though the Huffington Post says that the advocacy groups fronted by mass shooting victim Gabby Giffords and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg are hoping to persuade swing legislators in Congress to support the proposed prohibitions.
