Boyfriend loophole
[1] The boyfriend loophole was introduced in 1996 with the Lautenberg Amendment, which established stricter gun control restrictions in the United States in order to combat domestic abuse.
[3] Both before and after the introduction of the boyfriend loophole, there were attempts to increase governmental action in relation to domestic abuse, but they were unsuccessful, on constitutional grounds.
[9] This federal legislation significantly narrows the boyfriend loophole, denying access to firearms for five years to people convicted of violence in dating relationships.
[3] On March 21, 1996, the United States Senate voted nearly unanimously and passed the bill as an amendment to help combat domestic violence.
[19] This position was amplified in 1989 in Deshaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services, where the Court held that a "State's failure to protect an individual against private violence simply does not constitute a violation of the Due Process Clause.
Ms. Gonzales sued the town of Castle Rock for violating her right to substantive and procedural due process, but based on precedent established in Deshaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services, the Supreme Court found that no constitutional responsibility was imposed by the Fourteenth Amendment’s procedural Due Process Clause.
[22] This being the case, the police or government's inaction in response to intimate dating partner abuse involving firearms is constitutional.
[23] Additionally, reports published by The United States Department of Justice showed that firearms were involved in over two-thirds of ex-spouse homicide incidents over the period 1980 to 2008.
[5] Furthermore, the National Institutes of Health conducted a study in 2003 which found that a perpetrator's access to a gun led to a significant increase in risk of intimate partner violence.
[26] Furthermore, the American Journal of Epidemiology published research on whether the strength of policies prohibiting domestic violence offenders from obtaining firearms is associated with intimate partner homicides.
However, according to research conducted by advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, intimate partner violence disproportionately impacts women.
[8] In 1994, two years before the introduction of the boyfriend loophole, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.
VAWA provides funding for federal investigation and prosecution of domestic violence, and incentivizes states to require the mandatory arrest of abusers.
During his candidacy, President Trump was endorsed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), which is the oldest firearm advocacy group in the United States.
[33] While the Democratic House of Representatives reauthorized VAWA, the Republican-controlled Senate did not allow it to pass because they had concerns about the provision that would make it more difficult to obtain a firearm for people convicted of a violent crime or subject to a restraining order.
However, this specific Act not only reauthorized previous programs from earlier versions of VAWA, but it also increased services for marginalized groups, such as LGBTQ+ survivors of intimate partner violence, and created the National Instant Criminal Background Check System Denial Notification Act, which was intended to help law enforcement officers investigate those who try to purchase a firearm when they are prohibited from doing so.
Additionally, S. 2938, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in June 2022.
[10] The wider provisions, however, expire after five years and never extend to dating partners subject to a restraining order but not convicted of a violent crime.
