PA Domestic Abuse Laws to Change in 2006

This May, Pennsylvania's new domestic abuse gun law will go into effect. The law states that all people accused of domestic violence must give up all of their registered guns. The law is seen as a big change in a state that values its gun-rights laws, though it is a fairly common law in most other states.

For the past thirty years the state has only had the power to take away a gun from a person accused of domestic violence if that person used the gun in a threatening or violent manner. Many cases over the past years have proven that the relaxed gun laws had deadly consequences.

The laws were passed after several high-profile incidents occurred involving men who had been accused of domestic abuse later used their guns, sometimes leading to deadly results. In 2002 Michael Bechtel killed his estranged wife, the couple's 3-year-old son, and two other people. Bechtel killed them with a 9mm handgun that police were forced to return to Bechtel after an earlier domestic harassment incident.

Under the new laws all of Bechtel's guns would have been confiscated after the first incident.

The new law also makes the time limits longer for protective orders, going to three years. It also allows for the guns to be turned over to either law enforcement officials or some pre-approved third party, which can include a suspect's friend or relative. The law also calls for punishments if the third party returns the firearms without legal authorization.