In the past, only a felony conviction would bar gun ownership. Lautenberg sets the precedent of denying gun ownership for a misdemeanor and opens the door to adding more petty incidents to the list barring ownership. The theory behind Lautenberg is that men must be disarmed to reduce an epidemic of wife-killing. But, according to the FBI, the rate of women killed by husbands or boyfriends since the mid-1970s has dropped almost 20 percent. This is a state issue, not a federal issue.
States already have the right and ability to disarm criminals, for felonies or misdemeanors.