federal law.

Domestic violence, Firearms, and Federal law

For nearly 30 years, federal law has recognized that domestic violence and firearms are a deadly mix:

• Since 1994, federal law has prohibited firearm possession for people under certain domestic violence protection orders.

• Since 1996 (the Lautenberg Amendment), people convicted of qualifying misdemeanor domestic violence crimes have been banned from owning guns.

• In 2022, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act expanded protections to include dating partners, closing the “boyfriend loophole” at the federal level.

• In 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that the government can temporarily disarm individuals who pose a credible threat to others.

39 states now have laws that mirror or build on these federal protections, restricting firearm access for abusers who have been found by a court to be dangerous.

Georgia is not yet one of them.