Bill To Expand Gun Restrictions Is Headed For Full House
People convicted of misdemeanor stalking or sexual assault would not be allowed to possess firearms and ammunition.
A bill to prohibit people convicted of misdeameanor stalking or sexual assault from possessing firearms and ammunition was approved by the House Judiciary Committee on a 12-1 vote Thursday.
Eleven states already have such a law. cites a of women in 10 cities that found 76 percent of murder victims and 85 percent of murder attempt survivors were stalked over the past year.
Other referenced in the bill show that having a gun in the home increase the chances of an intimate partner being murdered eightfold. This risk was multiplied by 20 if there was a history of violence in the family.
鈥淒ata indicates that people who stalk often end up resorting to violence,鈥 said Karl Rhoads, chair of the House Judiciary Committee. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to make it easy for (stalkers) to do anything extreme.鈥
The opposed a similar in the U.S. Senate and argued that the definition of domestic violence was too broad and stalking didn鈥檛 necessarily mean someone would commit an act of violence, according to a obtained by the Huffington Post in 2014.
Next up, the bill faces a floor vote in the House. If it鈥檚 passed there, HB 625 will move onto the Senate.
