It will soon be impossible for people with domestic violence convictions to legally purchase a gun in California. The Democratic-controlled legislature passed a new gun control bill that will place a lifetime ban on owning firearms for domestic violence offenders along with two other measures in the trio that now awaits approval from Gov. Jerry Brown.
Coming just days after a fatal shooting took place at a video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, the other two measure will place “a lifetime ban on people placed on involuntary psychiatric holds twice in one year and new standard for residents to obtain a concealed weapon permit (eight hours of training and pass a live-fire shooting test),” ThinkProgress reported.
While Oregon was the first state to pass legislature that prevents domestic violence offenders from owning guns, California might soon join eight other states to enact stricter gun control laws than what’s already in place, which “bans the purchase and possession of guns and ammunition of any person convicted of assault, battery, or stalking regardless of their relationship with the victim/survivor,” ThinkProgress reported. The new bill will place a lifetime ban on domestic abuse offenders.
While federal law prohibits anyone convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor from purchasing or carrying a firearm, there are many limitations to the law and loopholes that allow offenders to get guns. And for this reason, many states are closing those loopholes by enacting their own legislation.
As states try to tighten up the federal law, research shows a direct correlation between domestic violence and mass shootings. According to a study conducted by Everytown for Gun Safety, an advocacy group, NPR reported that the group “inventoried all mass shootings between 2009 and 2016,” and revealed that “mass shootings are, in the main, linked to domestic violence from the apparent in the locations of the incidents:”
- Home — 133
- School — 6
- Work — 6
- Multiple — 17
California is just one of the many states that is trying to enact common sense gun control with the hope to save lives.
“People at risk of harming themselves or others should not have easy access to firearms,” Assemblyman Evan Low, D-Campbell, said. “AB 1968 tightens our laws to keep firearms out of the hands of people who may be suicidal or violent.”
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