The Boyfriend Loophole: What It Is and Why We Should Care
As a law student, I don’t have as much free time as I would like. However, when I do, I love using the time to watch documentaries — specifically true crime documentaries. Over the weekend, I was watching “Partners Who Kill,” a documentary marathon on Investigation Discovery. As I watched, I wondered: why are people so obsessed with murder? Maybe it’s because it could happen to any of us at any time and these documentaries shed light on the fact that murder is more commonplace than we think. For example, approximately 4.5 million American women alive today have been threatened by intimate partners with firearms.One million have actually been shot or shot at by their abusers. What is even more shocking is that current law does not prohibit either people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence against a current or former dating partner or people convicted of misdemeanor stalking from possessing firearms.
After reading that, if you’re like me, you’re probably thinking: what can I do to prevent known abusers from getting guns? Well you’re in luck. On Thursday, April 4, 2019, The U.S. House of Representatives voted to renew the Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”). The Violence Against Women Act is U.S. federal legislation that uses judicial tools to combat violence against women and provide protection to women who have suffered domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Specifically, the act aims to address violence against women by providing prevention education and direct services for survivors. Basically, the act designates federal dollars for grants to non-profit organizations and government entities serving survivors and communities on the ground.
Through the renewal of the VAWA, legislators are hoping to add a new provision that closes the “boyfriend loophole” by extending existing gun restrictions to include current and former dating partners convicted of abuse or stalking charges. Before the change, the law only prohibited firearm purchases for people who are married to, lived with, or have a child with the victim and who have been convicted of an abuse felony or are under a restraining order. The new provision will extend the law to unmarried partners and misdemeanor convictions of domestic abuse or stalking.
Thinking about this new provision, I began to wonder how it would implicate Pennsylvania’s Protection from Abuse (“PFA”) orders. A Protection from Abuse order is a civil order that provides protection from harm by family or household members, sexual or intimate partners, or someone with whom you have a child in common. Under Pennsylvania law, if someone is served with a PFA order, one of the first steps the abuser must take is to surrender all firearms, ammunition or other weapons if ordered to do so by the court. When the PFA has expired, then the abuser may regain possession of the firearms providedthat he is otherwise eligible to lawfully possess the items. However, under the new law, if the abuser has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime against a dating partner or stalking, then he cannot possess a firearm. Thus, in Pennsylvania, if you have a PFA order against your abuser and he is convicted of either abusing or stalking you, he will not be able to regain possession of his firearms when the PFA order expires.
It is imperative for the Senate and President to renew the VAWA with its new provisions. Over 50% of women murdered in 2017 were slain by an intimate partner. 82% of homicide victims targeted by intimate partners are women. The weapon of choice in over half of female homicides is a firearm. Please consider contacting your local senators and asking them to reauthorize this vital piece of legislation so we can close the boyfriend loophole!
