Gun rights lobbyists in Louisiana have helped soften a state bill meant to keep firearms out of the hands of people who commit domestic abuse, even as new research published this week recommends taking weapons away from potentially volatile people before they commit acts of violence.
Federal law already bans gun ownership for people convicted of abusing domestic partners, and the Louisiana bill would have extended the scope of that law to include “dating partners." But the National Rifle Association (NRA) has argued successfully to Louisiana lawmakers that the new rule would throw too broad a net, depriving some people of rights when they have done nothing wrong.
"The NRA agrees that more can be done to protect victims of domestic abuse from their violent abusers, but HB 488 is so overly broad that it could make a felon out of a girlfriend who pulls a cell phone from her boyfriend's hand against his will,” Jennifer Baker, an NRA spokeswoman, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune, arguing that penalties for violating restraining orders should become harsher instead.
Louisiana has a gun murder rate that is more than twice the national average, according to the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning public policy think tank.
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