There is a U.S. law that says that someone convicted of domestic violence can’t own a firearm. The law is 18 U.S. Code 921, to be exact. Sounds pretty cut and dry, right?
This is the law. Of course it’s not that simple.
In 2002, a federal judge decided that the law doesn’t apply if a person served time in jail for the domestic violence conviction. The judge’s (twisted) logic was that if a person loses his civil rights by being incarcerated, when they are freed, their civil rights are restored, and with it, their ability to own a gun. The case is
Because of the Wegrzyn case, the Michigan rule became that if you are incarcerated because of your domestic violence conviction, you can have guns when you get out of jail. If you are never incarcerated, you lose your right to lawfully have a gun.
Later, in 2012, a defendant challenged that rule. He said that it was unfair to restrict his right to own a gun because he didn’t serve jail time for his domestic violence conviction, when someone who served even a day in jail could lawfully own a gun upon release. The court disagreed.
Today, this is still the rule: If you’ve been convicted of domestic violence, if you served jail time, you can own and possess a gun. If you didn’t serve time in jail, you can’t legally own a gun. By the way, if you’re thinking of ignoring this law, you should know that the defendant in the 2012 case received a 21-month prison sentence.
The ban on guns only applies to firearms. That is, a gun that uses an explosive mechanism to expel a projectile.
You should also know that a court can ban someone from having a gun if they are the subject of a personal protection order.