Reply #35: I'm also curious about these "orders of protection"

[Euromutt]

Yes, the Lautenberg Amendment to the Gun Control Act of 1968 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00000922----000-.html">18 USC §922(d)(8)) prohibits individuals subject to restraining/protection orders from possessing firearms, but only if the protection order pertains to an intimate partner of that individual, or a child of the intimate partner and/or the individual himself. Moreover, for the prohibition to hold, the order has to have been issued pursuant to a hearing at which the subject had the opportunity to participate--temporary injunctions issued ex parte don't count--and the court had to find that the subject presented a credible threat of physical injury to the beneficiary of the order (threats of "mental and/or emotional harm" don't cut it).

It's fairly safe to say the overwhelming majority of TROs do not meet these criteria, and the individuals subject to them are therefore not prohibited from possessing firearms.