SB 224 (and its House counterpart,
HB 992) would only apply to crimes committed on or after its effective date--if it becomes law. I strongly agree with VCDL's strong opposition to these bills. Under current Virginia (and West Virginia) law and the Fourth Circuit's decision in
U.S. v. White, 606 F.3d 144 (4th Cir. 2010), assault and battery convictions in states like Virginia and West Virginia that still follow the common law theory of assault and battery (i.e., any unwanted touching of an insulting or provoking nature, no matter how gentle the touch) do not count as a "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" under the Lautenberg Amendment because the crime does not include, as an element, "physical force," defined by federal case law as violent force--more than a mere touching.
Second, I note that
18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(B)(ii) excludes from the definition of a "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" any conviction
if the conviction has been expunged or set aside, or is an offense for which the person has been pardoned or has had civil rights restored (if the law of the applicable jurisdiction provides for the loss of civil rights under such an offense) unless the pardon, expungement, or restoration of civil rights expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms.
Ignore the "civil rights restored" exception, as misdemeanors do not result in a loss of civil rights in Virginia West Virginia and a state cannot "restore" civil rights if civil rights were never lost in the first instance.