Opinion: Will closing the ‘boyfriend loophole’ in gun legislation save lives?

The U.S. Congress has passed a bipartisan gun safety bill, representing the first federal gun safety legislation to be passed in a generation. The legislation, which has been signed into law by President Joe Biden, is limited in scope. But among its provisions is the closing of the so-called “boyfriend loophole” which allows some people with a record of domestic violence to still buy firearms. Under current federal legislation, intimate partner relationships are defined only as those in which two people are or were married, live or lived together as a couple, or have a child together. People who were in a dating relationship are largely excluded from this definition.