Soldiers & Domestic Abuse

Soldiers convicted of committing acts of domestic violence against their spouse, children, or live-in girlfriends jeopardize their military  careers. The "Lautenberg Amendment" to the 1968 Gun Control Act makes it a felony for such soldiers to possess firearms. Further, the Lautenberg Amendment makes it a felony to issue a weapon to a soldier with such a conviction. 

To trigger the Lautenberg restrictions on possessing a firearm, the soldier must first be convicted of a misdemeanor offense involving domestic violence. The offense had to involve the use or attempted use of physical force or the threatened use of deadly weapon. The victim must have been a spouse, live-in girlfriend, ex-live-in girlfriend, child or guardian of a soldier, or a person with whom the soldier had a child. Second, the offender must have been convicted by a court. This means a civilian misdemeanor conviction or a special court-martial conviction. Summary courts, Article 15s, Chapter Actions, a substantiated case by the Case Review Committee (CRC), a CID/MP Blotter entry, or a deferred prosecution do not count as misdemeanor convictions under the Lautenberg rules. 

Soldiers with a qualifying conviction for domestic violence may not be issued an individual weapon. If the soldier receives an individual weapon, that is a felony. (Crew-served weapons do not count as "individual weapons" under Lautenberg.) 

Likewise, soldiers should get rid of their privately owned weapons once they have a qualifying conviction on their record. Since soldiers with domestic violence convictions cannot handle weapons, the soldier's military career is naturally at risk. Soldiers are subject to loss of MOS qualifications, involuntary MOS re-classifications, and administrative separation ("chapter") from the Military.