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Gun Control: Federal Prohibitions on
Domestic Abusers Possessing Firearms and
the Boyfriend Loophole
August 9, 2019
The Department of Justice recently announced the establishment of a Domestic Violence Working
Group to explore challenges in prosecuting domestic abusers who violate federal firearms laws, with the
goal of using the tools of federal prosecution to stop and prevent domestic violence by keeping guns
out of the hands of convicted domestic abusers. Separately, in March 2019, the House of Representatives
passed legislation reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and part of that legislation
would amend 18 U.S.C. § 922, the primary statutory tool on which the Justice Department relies to
prosecute domestic abusers who possess firearms. Among other things, Scetion 922 prohibits certain
categories of persons from possessing firearms, and two of the categories relate to domestic violence: (1)
persons convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, and (2) persons subject to a
restraining order with respect to an intimate partner or child. One or both of these categories have been
viewed by some to contain a so-called boyfriend loophole that allows certain abusive dating partners to
continue possessing firearms under federal law when a similarly situated spouse could not. The VAWA
amendments would, in part, seek to close the purported loophole by expanding the domestic violence
provisions of Section 922 to dating partners and would also add persons convicted of a misdemeanor
crime of stalking to the list of those who may not possess a firearm. To place the VAWA amendments
and the Justice Department's contemplated working group in context, this Legal Sidebar provides an
overview of the domestic violence prohibitions of Section 922 and representative state laws, explores the
House-passed proposal that would supplement the relevant Section 922 provisions, and briefly addresses
constitutional questions that the proposal may implicate.
Federal Domestic Violence Firearm Prohibitions
Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence
In addition to prohibiting firearm possession by convicted felons, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) prohibits a person
who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from possessing a
firearm. [M]isdemeanor crime of domestic violence is separately dofinod as including certain federal,
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
LSB10339
CRS Legal Sidebar
Prepared for Members and
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