Devil in the Details: Disorder in the Court

Cohn, Edward, Zengerle, Jason, The American Prospect

DRAW, DOMESTIC PARDNER

Idaho Representative Helen Chenoweth has never been a fan of gun control. Nevertheless, her latest foray into the public debate over the issue seems a little bit odd. Chenoweth is the lead sponsor of a bill to repeal the Lautenberg amendment, a 1996 provision that effectively prohibits gun ownership by anyone convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense. The amendment, she claims, violates the Second and Tenth Amendments, and is an ex post facto law (because it's retroactive) as well as an unfunded government mandate.

What's more, she says, police sometimes charge both parties in a domestic violence dispute, so the Lautenberg amendment might prevent abused women from defending themselves. According to the Family Violence Prevention Fund, nearly four million women have been abused by their husbands or boyfriends over the past year, and 26 percent of all murdered …

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Publication information: Article title: Devil in the Details: Disorder in the Court. Contributors: Cohn, Edward - Author, Zengerle, Jason - Author. Magazine title: The American Prospect. Issue: 35 Publication date: November-December 1997. Page number: 14+. © 1999 The American Prospect, Inc. COPYRIGHT 1997 Gale Group.

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