NRA Is Right About Violence Against Women Act: The House Version of the Reauthorization Bill Includes New Gun Restrictions That Sweep Too Broadly, by Jacob Sullum

After the National Rifle Association urged legislators to oppose the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act that the House approved last week, Amy Klobuchar said the organization had shown its true colors. The Minnesota senator, who is seeking the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, claimed the NRA's position "shows where they are when it comes to safety and when it comes to protecting women." The NRA, in other words, does not care about violence against women, or at least, it does not care enough to accept the new gun control provisions in the House version of the bill. This blithe dismissal of the NRA's legitimate complaints about those provisions makes Klobuchar, a former prosecutor, sound like an authoritarian demagogue who equates concern about civil liberties with indifference to crime. Criticism of the NRA's opposition to the bill has focused on the least objectionable gun provision, which would close the so-called boyfriend loophole by expanding the list of violent misdemeanors that disqualify people from owning firearms. Those crimes currently include violence against a boyfriend or girlfriend only if he or she has cohabited or produced a child with the perpetrator — a requirement that makes little sense if the aim is to disarm people who are inclined to assault intimate partners. The provision dealing with protective orders is more problematic. Under current law, people subject to such orders may not possess guns, but only when they have had an opportunity to contest claims that they pose a threat. The House bill would expand the disqualification to ex parte orders, which are issued without a hearing, can last a few weeks and may be renewable after that. That change should trouble anyone who cares about due process, as it takes away people's constitutional rights based on allegations they have had no chance to rebut.

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