Military members are held to a high regard, one of the highest. Specifically in this area, we see a lot of domestic violence cases. With the heightened awareness for PTSD and service related trauma, domestic violence seems to be on the rise for military members. To be clear, if law enforcement is called to the scene with an allegation of domestic violence, somebody's going to get arrested.
Unfortunately, that ends up being the service member. This creates a lot of complications for somebody in the military because the military may make a decision to discharge that service member before the civilian case has been resolved. That's where we come in. A domestic violence conviction is a career killer for anybody in the military.
The Lautenberg Amendment was passed in 1996, and what this is is a federal statute affecting all states that says anybody who's convicted of domestic violence can never possess a firearm again. For service members, this presents a particular problem because it means that they will be unable to possess a firearm for the remainder of their life based on a domestic violence conviction.
Although domestic violence is only a misdemeanor in Florida, it literally is a career killer for military members. The inability to possess a weapon for purposes of military service means discharge for most of our service members. If you're a member of the military and you've been arrested for domestic violence, don't plead and take a conviction that will take away your ability to own a firearm and to protect our country.
