Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
On June 25, 2022, President Biden signed into law the “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.” The new law changes Federal gun control.
You can see the text here: Link
While the bill makes a number of changes, here are two that are most likely to affect persons who own firearms or want to acquire firearms. First, the bill amends all of the categories of persons prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition to include actions taken against a person while they were a juvenile. For example someone got convicted or adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile because of an act that would be a crime punishable by more than one year’s incarceration if committed by an adult; that person is now be barred from gun ownership. Any juvenile adjudications will be considered the same as an adult conviction. The only exception in the bill is for an adjudication of a person as “mentally defective” or subject to involuntary mental health treatment had to occur when the person was 16 years old or older. Involuntary mental health treatment or other court finding of a mental health impairment done to a child under 16 does not count.
This change is “retroactive,” that is if a person were convicted of a juvenile offense in 1992, but is now 45 years old, she becomes ineligible to possess firearms when this bill goes into effect. Affected people have to dispose of any firearms he or she has. The bill does not limit it to only applying to juvenile offenses or adjudications that happen after this bill is enacted.
Second, this bill bars persons convicted of a violent misdemeanor where the victim is someone the offender was dating, from possessing firearms. The definition of a dating relationship is squishy and nebulous. The bill defines a dating relationship as “a relationship between individuals who have or have recently had a continuing serious relationship of a romantic or intimate nature. Whether a relationship constitutes a dating relationship . . . shall be determined based on consideration of— (i) the length of the relationship; (ii) the nature of the relationship; and (iii) the frequency and type of interaction between the individuals involved in the relationship. A casual acquaintanceship or ordinary fraternization in a business or social context does not constitute a dating relationship.”
Note the definition does not require any prior (voluntary) sexual contact between the perpetrator of the violent misdemeanor and the victim for example, for the relationship to be a dating relationship. Often people in a relationship that goes sour have had very different ideas of how serious the relationship is. It is not at all clear how a relationship is going to be judged as to its seriousness or continuity.
Unlike the first change to Federal law, the bill says that in order for this new bar on possessing firearms to apply, the conviction must have occurred after this bill became law. This change will not affect people convicted of a violent misdemeanor where the victim was someone they were in a dating relationship with, that happened before this bill became law.
Further, the bill says that if a person only has one such conviction as to a dating partner, and five years have elapsed since then with no other convictions for any crimes involving use or attempted use physical force or the use or threat of use of a deadly weapon then the dating partner conviction is no longer disqualifying for possession of firearms purposes.
The bottom line on these changes is that persons who had a juvenile adjudication should speak to an attorney about whether they can still possess firearms, and if this change applies to them, what can be done to expunge or nullify the juvenile adjudication. Persons accused of a violent misdemeanor where the alleged victim is someone they were arguably in a dating relationship with should carefully consider whether this firearms restriction will apply to them if they plead guilty or are found guilty.