Domestic violence, guns shouldn't mix

Virginia isn't exactly known as a place with strict gun control laws, but its approach to convicted wife-beaters is commendably clear: They can't own a gun. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court helped clarify the issue for other states.

The justices, in a 7-2 decision, upheld a federal law designed to keep firearms out of the hands of people convicted of misdemeanor charges related to violence against a spouse, live-in partner, child, parent or other relative.

Felony convictions are already a disqualification for gun ownership. In 1996, Congress amended the federal Gun Control Act to extend the ban to include "a misdemeanor conviction of domestic violence," a move that's credited with blocking more than 150,000 abusers from buying guns.

The high court's ruling centered on a case involving a West Virginia man convicted of committing battery against his wife in 1994. A decade later, he was charged and convicted of a weapons violation after police found a gun while responding to a domestic violence complaint at his house.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond threw out the firearms conviction, stating that the 1994 conviction wasn't a bar to gun ownership for the man because the misdemeanor charge didn't specify domestic violence.

Twenty-five states don't have a specific domestic violence element in misdemeanor charges involving use of force, according to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Fortunately, Virginia's eligibility requirements for gun purchases are clear. People convicted of specific domestic violence charges are disqualified, as are people convicted of misdemeanors "that involve the use, threat of or attempted use of physical force (e.g. simple assault, assault and battery)" in a domestic situation.

Justices Antonin Scalia and John Robert dissented in the Supreme Court's ruling. They argued that the federal law, as written, was being interpreted too broadly. The view was shared by some advocacy groups, including the Second Amendment Foundation and the Eagle Forum.

But Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the majority, said it was clear Congress "sought to apply the firearm ban to all persons convicted of domestic-violence offenses, whether or not their [state] statutes of conviction happen to contain a domestic-violence element."

Perhaps the language of the law could be more precise, but words "conviction of domestic violence" are plain enough. The ruling sides with victims of domestic abuse and the law enforcement officers who respond to 911 calls. It sides with public safety and common sense.