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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWould a new federal gun law that addresses this problem be too restrictive for strict 2A adherents?
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)Maybe my bifocals????
Lee-Lee
(6,324 posts)'Stalking" means something a little different in every state under the law, and between some states varies wildly.
Here is what Federal law says about gun ownership:
The Gun Control Act (GCA) makes it unlawful for certain categories of persons to ship, transport, receive, or possess firearms. 18 USC 922(g). Transfers of firearms to any such prohibited persons are also unlawful. 18 USC 922(d).
These categories include any person:
Under indictment or information in any court for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
who is a fugitive from justice;
who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance;
who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution;
who is an illegal alien;
who has been discharged from the military under dishonorable conditions;
who has renounced his or her United States citizenship;
who is subject to a court order restraining the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of the intimate partner; or
who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence (enacted by the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997, Pub. L. No. 104-208, effective September 30, 1996). 18 USC 922(g) and (n).
I bolded the part that seems to come into play here. In those states the max punishment for stalking is evidently less than a year. Since the graphic is uncited and without explanation, that is the only explanation I can see.
If so, the problem isn't federal law, it is that state laws are not adequate with regards to how they punish stalkers. For example here in NC a first offense is class A1 misdemeanor, so punishable by 60 days max. A second offense is a felony.
That said, stalking victims as a matter of course are advised to, and walked through the process of getting an order of protection from the stalker, and with that order the person is prohibited from owning firearms anyway. Also stalking is rarely the only charge that is put forward when it occurs so there is usually a greater charge with it that can exceed the 1 year rule.
It would be hard to make a federal law addressing it unless you made all 50 states uniform in how they defined "stalking", or it would apply to someone in state A where the same actions in state B wouldn't be considered "stalking".