Claiming concern for domestic violence victims, right-wing Republican Rep. Helen Chenoweth (Idaho) introduced a bill that would repeal the Domestic Violence Gun Ban, passed last fall.

The Domestic Violence Gun Ban law is one of the toughest laws protecting victims of domestic violence. It prohibits anyone convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor from owning a gun. The ban does not exempt police officers or members of the military. Studies show that weapons are used in thirty percent of domestic violence incidents, and that police families have a higher rate of domestic violence than the general public.

Opponents of the Gun Ban law have introduced numerous bills to exempt police officers; to eliminate retroactivity so the law would only apply to those convicted of domestic violence after September 28, 1996, the day the law passed; and now to repeal the law entirely.

Chenoweth claims support from "women's groups" for her bill, such as the right-wing groups Concerned Women for America, Independent Women's Forum, Women Against Gun Control, and Women's Firearms Alliance. Chenoweth and her supporters argue that the gun ban hinders domestic violence victims from owning guns to protect themselves, because a domestic violence victim may be convicted of a misdemeanor for striking her offender in defense.

The Feminist Majority and other women's and domestic violence groups are strongly in favor of keeping the Domestic Violence Gun Ban.