As a bipartisan group of negotiators hammers out a gun control package that will have enough support to pass the Senate, one seemingly uncontroversial proposal—closing the "boyfriend loophole" for firearm purchases—has proven unexpectedly contentious. Democrats want to expand the disqualification for people convicted of misdemeanors involving domestic violence beyond the current categories, while Republicans worry that the resulting legislation will rely on nebulous definitions and lack appropriate due process safeguards.
Federal law has long prohibited gun possession by people convicted of crimes punishable by more than a year of incarceration, meaning nearly all felonies. That lifelong ban does not allow for the possibility of rehabilitation, since it applies regardless of how old the conviction is, and it is clearly overbroad, since it includes nonviolent crimes such as fraud and even offenses, like drug dealing, that violate no one's rights. At the same time, the ban as originally enacted was arguably underinclusive, since it did not cover violent misdemeanors such as assault and battery—including misdemeanor domestic violence that might signal a potentially deadly threat.
