Law takes guns out of abusers’ hands

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Even police officers are covered by the law, which goes beyond an old law that prevented anyone with a felony conviction for domestic abuse from getting a clearance to buy a gun.

The federal law was expanded to include misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors. And it goes a step further, saying it's illegal for anyone in that category to possess guns or ammunition.

Under the old law, police officers could buy a private weapon even if they had a domestic violence conviction. But under the new law they're treated the same as anyone else.

In addition, the attorney general's office is studying whether police officers with such convictions will be able to carry guns on duty.

Joni Kaiser, executive director of the Committee to Aid Abused Women in Washoe County, said the new federal law is a step in the right direction. She said there are lots of guns in Nevada and her group advises victims to get the guns out of the home.

"Police officers are madder than heck" about the law and it may mean many will have to be reassigned to jobs where they won't carry a weapon, she added.

There could be a loophole. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has sent out instructions that a person wouldn't be considered convicted if he wasn't entitled to a jury trial on the charge.

Jury trials aren't part of the judicial process in Nevada in misdemeanor cases.

Also, people who had a conviction a long time ago and who have since led a clean life could ask a court to seal the record. If that happened, they'd would be free to have or apply for a gun.

Dennis Debacco, chief of the state's criminal history records program, says that the Brady Law started being enforced 2 1/2 years ago, many Nevadans with minor convictions for domestic violence were able to buy guns since they had no felony convictions.

However, he said permits aren't issued if there's a protective court order against an individual to stop such things as stalking.

Debacco's office processes about 35,000 requests a year for such clearances. Records are checked to determine if the person is a felon, drug user, mentally stable, a fugitive from justice or an illegal alien.

Nevada has long had a law prohibiting ex-felons from possessing weapons. The 1997 Legislature may be asked to extend that to those convicted of misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor convictions of domestic violence to comply with the federal law.