GUN RESTRICTIONS ADDED TO SPENDING MEASURE

 

   Amendments to a Treasury/Postal Service spending bill 

passed by Congress mandate removing guns from the home of 

anyone convicted of a "domestic violence" misdemeanor. They 

also ban driving within 1,000 feet of a school with a loaded gun 

in a glove compartment or unlocked rack.

   Persons convicted of a felony were already barred from 

buying a gun but, according to Gun Owners of America, this law 

extends that ban, for the first time, to persons convicted a mis-

demeanor. GOA is concerned it will serve as a precedent and 

lead to other misdemeanor violations including non-violent 

ones becoming a bar to owning a gun. GOA also warns it could 

deny guns to parents in jurisdictions that have convicted par-

ents of "domestic violence" for spanking their children.    In 

addition to pro-gun groups, the measure was opposed by pro-

family groups because it treats homosexual arrangements the 

same as marriage.       The ban on guns within 1,000 feet of a 

school resembles a law struck down when a Federal court said 

it exceeded Federal authority.